The Thai Garden - Bethnal Green

From the outside, this looks like a run-of-the-mill East End café, until you see the sign and – more importantly – read the menu. It specialises in home-style Thai food using top-drawer ingredients, banning MSG and focusing exclusively on seafood and vegetarian dishes.

The idea was dreamed up in 1989, when Suthinee Hufton got together with her cousin Vatcharin Bhumchitr – well known from his days at the Chiang Mai restaurant in Soho and author of several books of Thai cooking.

Since then, Suthinee has run the place with husband Jack and these days she holds sway in the kitchen as well. There are two separate menus. The piscine version promises things like crispy tuna marinated with hot-and-sour sauce, pomfret with red curry sauce and stir-fried scallops with ginger and oyster sauce. Vegetarians should look for a version of satay using marinated shiitake mushrooms, curried Thai aubergines and stir-fried morning glory with garlic, chilli and black bean sauce. Finish authentically with Thai egg custard.