There are some nights when you need to be quicker than a Bangkok taxi driver to get a good table at Taste of Asia - such is the reputation of this eatery that’s become one of Mount Maunganui’s worst kept secrets. For nearly a decade, Taste of Asia to use its original name, occupied tiny premises a couple of doors along the road, squeezing around 20 diners in like sardines, admit the owners, Mark and Lee Caldwell. In a smart move to grow the business, the pair moved into the bigger, higher profile premises a few doors along the road.

Le Cafe Taste of Asia’s decor - with softly-lit walls of a deep, restful red - is pleasant and unpretentious: this is an Thai eatery that thankfully spares its customers all the carving, gold leaf and gleaming buddhas that some restaurants insist on having, in a bid to conjure up an Oriental ambience.

That’s not to say that the restaurant doesn’t have the right credentials. The driving force behind the cuisine, says Mark Caldwell, is wife Lee – who’s a mix of Thai and Laotian. Her parents immigrated to New Zealand in 1979, and since then, her family has run no less than five Thai Cusine restaurants at different times.

The Thai Cusine does differ from traditional Thai dishes, Mark says, in that for example, ‘we concentrate more on taste than (chilli) heat.’ Popular dishes include Kinnaree Chicken, grilled chicken breast marinated with Thai herbs, and coconut cream and served with seasonal vegetables, and peanut sauce. Locals seem to have a thing for coconut, as another is Pad Met Mamaung – chicken, beef, pork or seafood, cooked with cashew nuts, coconut milk, chilli and seasonal vegetables.

Le Cafe is fully licensed with a good selection of white and red wines that Mark Caldwell reckons is hard to better at the Mount. But you can also BYO for a modest corkage charge. The bar is also well stocked with a variety of Thai and other Asian beers.

The restaurant lends itself to the Mount’s sultry summer evenings, with front doors that open out onto the street for al fresco dining. Rather sit by the beach? Le Cafe has big takeaway menu. If you’re dining in, we suggest be there early, as tables fill up fast.