This is my favourite local - I always respect a place that is not afraid to give you something very spicy if that's what the dish claims.

What better cue for authenticity? Having grown up in the Far East, I am a lover of genuine oriental food. So I couldn't believe my luck when Kai Fusion turned up just over a year ago, right round the corner from my house.

I go there, or get delivery at least once a week. I am absolutely addicted to the pork noodle soup, which has the tastiest spicy broth, soft yummy bits of pork and cabbage.

The vegetable dishes are another favourite - kai lan (Chinese broccoli, which is a leafy veg, not like broccoli at all), is always perfectly cooked, tender and crisp.

And the asparagus (tips only) comes with prawns, which is a glorious surprise as it doesn't mention it on the menu...

Other things definitely worth trying are the Thai sausages which come with pickled ginger and chili, the glass noodle salad (which also comes with some surprise prawns...), the som tum (which is properly pickled and spicy), and the tamarind duck which has the crispiest skin.

And when you go, be sure to look out for Kai (in English, chicken!), the owner, as well as the slightly strange chintzy decor with cryptic quotes hanging on the walls!

I am not personally a fan of Thai food, after being put off in my twenties in Oxford, but the need to earn some brownie points, with the wife and heard they were running a special early in the week so on a rain soaked Monday evening we were the 1st there.

The food was excellent until I tried some of my wife's who choosen the spicy option! Ouch half a bottle of wine later I calmed back down!

To give an idea of the service I forgot my umbrella, and the waiter tracked us down and returned it after we had left the restaurant.

The food is beautifully presented, and tasted so good that I will have to include thai food into our next option of where to go, and if your about in Shad Thames then check out this place!