You do find the most unusual things in the most unusual places in Miami. That's why we like it. The old Bimini Grill, a storied seafood dive alongside Little River in the northern part of the city proper, a block south of Northeast 79th Street, has morphed into a popular venue for Bangladeshi and Indian cuisine.

Life is spicy indeed for husband and wife team A.K.M. ''Tipu'' and Bithi Rahman, who run Renaisa, this cozy spot for some of the town's best Indian. It's nearly a 24-7 venture -- they do lunch and dinner every day but Monday, and there is not much staff, but they are doing what they love to do. They happened onto Miami by accident, took a liking to the waterfront spot, and business is thriving.

There is no liquor license, not even wine and beer. Plus and minus: You must bring your own, or buy it at the minimart next door and brown-bag it in, but that makes life a lot less expensive. This is a most affordable dining experience, all around, and if the environs seem makeshift, the food is stunningly good.

Menu is vast and varied, with plenty of Indian and Bangladeshi options. The smaller country, part of India until the 1940s when it became East Pakistan, is webbed with rivers, and fish swims into the cuisine from every direction. Take a lush fish soup ($5.95), a sort of spicy Provençal treatment, a bouillabaisse with Indian spices. Delicious. Starts with baked mahi-mahi, which is then sautéed with onion, garlic and green pepper. Ginger, cumin, cardamom (call it the Indian trinity) and other spices go into a tomato broth, and the result is a fragrant, light soup that starts things off well.

A chat in Germany is a kaffeeklatsch. In India, it's a yogurt-based kind of porridge, with mint chutney, bits of potato and more. The Bombay Chat ($5.95) sets afloat a somosa, the deep-fried vegetable fritter, into the yogurt pool for an unusual treat. Slice off a hunk of the somosa and swirl it around in the yogurt, as if your falafel had fallen into the hummus. Takes getting used to. Give it a try.

The tandoori oven, a high-temperature clay bake, yields plenty of Indian treats. Among them are homemade breads, or naans. We tried the alu naan ($3.95), flavored with potatoes, onion, cilantro and cumin, and the peshwaree naan ($3.95), with raisins, coconut and ground nuts. The bread is soft and hot, and the flavorings emerge as loudly as in a cake. A must go-along for your meal.

Also out of the oven is a great-deal appetizer, the tandoori mix ($12.95). A grand sizzling platter arrives, laden with juicy chicken, beef, lamb, goat and tiny shrimp, all specked with mild seasoning. These are delicious drizzled with chutneys -- mango, tamarind, cilantro and mint, onion -- some spicy, some savory, some both. The chutneys make the Indian cuisine come alive, and Renaisa does them right.

Entree list is overwhelming, with plenty of vegetarian choices. Veggie korma ($9.95) is a sauté of mixed vegetables (cauliflower, potato, eggplant, broccoli) in onion, garlic, coconut, raisins and nuts. They're served in a thick sweet-sour sauce made with yogurt. Homey and warm.

The karahi is an iron wok fired by hot coals, and Renaisa puts it to good uses. Fish karahi ($14.95) is one, a mess o' mahi-mahi wok-sautéed with green pepper, onion and garlic and, of course, a lot of spices, including cumin, cardamom, clove and coriander. As with any dish here, you can specify how spicy to make it . . . our medium was mighty hot, to American taste buds.

Curry is the Indian specialty, and they do it in many ways. Maybe the spiciest is vindaloo, and it's great with lamb ($12.95). This is a complex curry, as Rahman says, ''very little of a lot of things.'' In go tomato, onion, cilantro, yogurt, coriander, fennel, cumin, mango powder, and that's just a start (some secrets must be kept). The lamb is tender and meaty.

Curry gets darker and meatier for garlic beef ($12.95). The tiny cubes of beef are sautéed with garlic, plus ginger, onion and green pepper. This is one that's pretty good mild, akin to pepper steak, but you won't resist slathering it with spicy mint-cilantro chutney.

Desserts do not escape the spicy touch. Rich, creamy pistachio ice cream ($3.50) is store-bought and enhanced to the good with Indian spices. Gazar halwa ($3.50) is a cocktail glass of shredded carrots flavored with raisins, cardamom, cinnamon, milk, rose water and sugar. It's like eating your vegetables at dessert time (hint). But Renaisa is full of surprises.