Some of the best restaurants in Bucks are tucked away in public houses and Smile Thai Restaurant is a fine example . Housed in three back rooms of The Old Red Lion in Bourne End, Smile does a roaring trade with locals who have long discovered its charms and families who appreciate value for money.

It is open Tuesday to Saturday evenings with pub food being served at all other times.

Thai chef, Lek, provides authenticity to the cooking here and her efforts are appreciated by regular visitors and take-away clientele.

The traditional way to eat Thai food is, apparently, with a spoon and fork from a flat plate. The plate is filled with rice and individual small helpings of each main course dish are taken in turn. The Thai prefer not to mix their food in order to retain the subtleties of the flavours of each dish.

The British palate is obviously not quite as sophisticated for all around people were ordering dishes to share and mix - including us.

My dining companion, who prefers Thai to Chinese cooking because of the spicy rather than sweet flavours, was scouring the menu for the hottest soup possible. I think he found it with Tom Yum Goong, a hot and spicy concoction with mushrooms, lemongrass and prawns which is, according to the menu, one of Thailand's most popular soups.

There are four soups to choose from, each with varying degrees of hotness or spiciness.The Tom Yum Goong was very hot, but still kept its flavours.

One or two Thai starters are similar to Chinese offerings, most notably the spring rolls - called duck rolls - prawns wrapped in rice pastry and deep fried, and prawn crackers.

But there are many different ones such as the Tod Man Pla, a spicy minced fish with red curry paste and green bean, deep fried and served with chilli sauce or the breaded crab claws served with sweet chilli sauce or Nuah Or Mu Dad Diew, fried marinated strips of pork or beef, crushed coriander seeds and peppercorns.

The best way to discover what you really like is to do as I did. Order the mixed starter which comprises chicken satay, lean chicken marinated in spices, grilled on a skewer and served with peanut sauce, Thai dumpling stuffed with minced pork and a light soya sauce, spring roll, a chicken wing marinated in Thai sauce and a crispy wan tun stuffed with minced pork and a sweet and sour sauce.

The mixed platter was a real treat. The chicken satay was my favourite - superbly tender and tasty - with the crispy wan tun and spring roll coming a close second.

There are five Thai curries at Smile, eight stir-fries and a staggering 17 vegetarian dishes to choose from for a main course along with seven varieties of rice and noodles.

Descriptions of each dish are pretty detailed so you're unlikely to get any nasty surprises.

For example, my companions curry, Gaeng Ped, was described as red curry paste in coconut milk, courgette, bamboo shoots and basil leaves with chicken, pork, beef or prawns.

It didn't look particularly attractive, but was declared delicious.

He selected Khao Ga Ti, coconut rice, to go with it and was delighted with his choice.

I chose stir-fried chicken with sweet and sour sauce accompanied by egg-fried rice with prawns, pineapple, red and green peppers and cashew nuts.

Thai people might like their food separate, but I thoroughly enjoyed combining my rice and chicken dish and it was packed with flavours.

A cooling orange sorbet and ever-popular banana fritter rounded off the meal a treat.

The lively restaurant was very busy on the Saturday evening we visited with people waiting in the bar for late space.

It's no surprise that it does well. The food, service, atmosphere and prices all combine to make you Smile!

Reviewed by Leslie Parks

December 4, 2001 13:00