By ANNE HILTON Wednesday, February 10 2010

IT WAS with some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to sample the new executive lunch menu at Tamnak Thai. I’d been told (and took it as gospel) that Thai food is very, very hot and spicy - that is to say peppery - and pepper and me do not agree. But, for the sake of Newsday readers, my friend Cherry and I arranged a lunch date for January 26.

We chose to eat inside at a table by a window with a good view of the garden, goldfish pool and outdoor dining terrace. This, we reckoned, was an oasis of calm from the traffic hurtling by on the Savannah.

Tamnak Thai’s is a buffet lunch with a difference. Instead of leaving the table to face a bewildering selection of dishes, the buffet comes to your table for you to select as much from as many (or, though that’s unlikely, as little from as few) food from the dishes in the “buffet”.

We did, however, have a choice of starters, Cherry chose the mixed vegetable soup, I the Spring Roll; since there were only two of us, we were not able to sample the third choice on the starter menu: the Thai Vegetable Salad (Som Tam) of Shredded Green Papaya, Carrot and Cucumber with a Lemon Dressing and Cashew Nut Garnish. First to begin, though we were given Prawn Crackers that we dipped in Sweet Chili Sauce, admiring, as we did so, the unusual cutlery with a bamboo stem motif and the blue and white dishes.

My Spring Roll was, as you can see, three mini rolls, I was relieved to find the sweet and sour sauce wasn’t peppery, instead it was the perfect accompaniment to the light, delicious rolls.

I didn’t taste Cherry’s soup, but, by the very fact that she emptied her bowl, one could see that she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then came the “buffet”, a heaping bowl of fragrant Steamed Jasmine Rice, a dish of Herbed Potatoes, another of Sautéed Mixed Vegetables, the Grilled chicken served on a dish in the shape of a duck, the Fish of the Day in a dish to suit and the Braised Shank of Lamb in a bowl like the rice.

How to describe that feast? The lamb was excellent, not too spicy, not too bland, just right. Cherry and I both removed the skin from the chicken, that done, the bird was tender, moist and very good indeed. Surprisingly, I found the fish a little bland, however, we could find no fault with the rice, or the potatoes, or the steamed vegetables.

Our food was tasty but it wasn’t peppery, I imagine we could have asked for hot (peppery) Thai sauces to accompany our meal, if we’d liked, but we didn’t. We leave that for others to discover, preferring to savour the delicate tastes, the orchestra of flavours of the Oriental herbs and spices in the sauces accompanying the lamb, the chicken and the fish.

We wished we could have eaten all the food on the dishes before us, but delicious and truly scrumptious as it was, we couldn’t; however we were offered, and accepted with alacrity a “doggy” bag to take home to re-live the experience of lunching at Tamnak Thai by feasting on the leftovers.

Lastly came the dessert, a Red Velvet Cake and Coconut Cherry Ice Cream - what more could one want to complete a midday meal that is a feast as much for the eyes as for the inner woman (or man)?

And coffee, of course - or tea, if you prefer. And all - and this is the icing on the top of the lunchtime buffet in Tamnak Thai - for the incredible price of TT$125 (plus taxes). That is indeed a bargain in food in these hard times, especially when you factor in the quiet, tasteful surroundings, the elegant cutlery and dishes, the variety (the menu changes every week), the excellent service, the convenient parking.