Chiang Mai Kitchen can be found just off the High Street in a Grade II listed building with a rich and varied history. It's been a place to eat since 1928 - in that time it has hosted tea rooms, Chinese, Indian and French restaurants, and since 1993 has been home to Oxford's most exciting independent Thai kitchen.

Hidden away down Kemp Hall Passage, it would be easy to walk straight past Chiang Mai if it weren't for the enticing aromas wafting out through the kitchen windows. I can imagine many a passer-by has been tempted into the restaurant by this alone. Inside, the building is gorgeous. Period features abound, with panelled walls, stone fireplaces and an especially beautiful carved oak staircase.

The waiting staff were polite, attentive and courteous throughout our visit. When we ordered a few vegetarian dishes we were particularly grateful that they double-checked exactly what our dietary requirements were. The service was quick too - the only waiting we had to do was for one of our own party to turn up at the start of the meal! In addition to a history of the building, the Kitchen's menu provides some information about eating Thai food. It suggests that a selection of dishes are chosen to be divided amongst the table - as many dishes per course as there are people at the table. This was advice we were more than happy to follow, and selected three starters and mains to share.

To start, we ordered Pak Chup (deep fried vegetables served with a sweet chili sauce), Tofu Tord (deep fried tofu served with sweet chili and crushed peanut sauce) and Popia Thod (vegetable spring rolls with plum sauce). We probably should have thought about the amount of fried food we'd ordered between us and tried a soup or some of the vegetable dishes instead, but the speed at which the starters disappeared proves we didn't make a bad decision! A particular highlight were the sauces, all of which were delicious and evidently lovingly homemade.

For the main course, I opted for Kang Lueng, a vegetable yellow curry, and my companions chose the Pad Pet Pak, stir fried vegetables with curry paste and Thai aubergines and the Kung Gratiem Prik Thai, prawns cooked with garlic pepper and coriander, plus some jasmine and egg-fried rice to share. As a tip - you definitely don't need to order as many rice sides as there are people at the table! My curry was flavoursome, if slightly salty, with the vegetables cooked perfectly; the same could be said for the Pad Pet Pak - the aubergines were a welcome addition to the dish. However, the standout choice was the garlic prawns, a dish so good that my friend insists on ordering it every time he visits.

Feeling very full, we headed home, certain that we would head back to Chiang Mai Kitchen at some point in the (very) near future with more friends in tow. After all, the more people around the table, the more dishes you get to try!

Remember that beach in Thailand? Sand under your tanned toes, longtail boats bobbing lackadaisically under a setting sun? Forget it. Have Chiang Mai Kitchen's coconut soup and save yourself the air fare, carbon footprint and ill-advised tattoo.

Simple, fragrant, filling and refreshingly (but not exclusively so) veggie friendly - I had forgotten how startlingly popular Chiang Mai Kitchen is and foolishly, I'd forgotten to add a 'please seat us upstairs' to my booking. An error clearly, with the downstairs tables being a little more cramped and a steady stream of toilet-goers edging politely past our chairs. CMK are forgiven however, with the whole back page of the menu reserved for enough meat-free delights to get even the most carnivorous of our party salivating.

Once we had (finally) decided on our courses, the starters arrived promptly and very prettily on pristine white plates embellished with fresh fuchsia flowers. The king prawns (I'm assured) were perfectly cooked, soft in their shell of crispy batter and there were certainly enough of them, piled high on a liberally garnished platter. I myself had the (aforementioned) coconut and mushroom soup. Next time I will order this again, only twice. Topped with a healthy dose of coriander; chunks of oriental ginger, lemongrass and spring onion were slowly excavated from the bottom of the bowl as everyone at the table couldn't help but taste it.

With no sense of being rushed, our plates were whisked away as soon as the last prawn was gone, to be replaced with Khoa Krati (chicken coconut curry), Ganeng Phet Lychee (red curry) and a raw vegetable salad with a spicy peanut sauce. The curries were, once again, beautifully presented but lacked something of the aromatic simplicity of the starter courses. The lychee curry, ordered for its surprising and surprisingly spice-friendly fruity ingredient, had a 'one chilli' rating with a soft fiery undercurrent that was easily calmed by some coconut rice (£3.50 and more than enough to share). The chicken arrived luke warm but the dish was lauded as flavoursome nonetheless and I once again lost more of my dinner to eager triers of my satisfyingly crunchy peanut dip.

While waiting for our desserts, an ebullient member of staff kept us entertained with tales of his mother's haggling for his shirt (shiny, stripy, very purple). This same smiling waiter was later heard uttering a string of very colourful expletives as he rushed downstairs. 'It's the new coffee machine', a waitress added with a knowing glance at the kitchen door. 'It's got everyone on edge. So many buttons.'

The desserts themselves were presented in glass goblets and the sorbet, served in a large frozen lemon, resembled something of an ice sculpture. And while the non-alcoholic drinks selection is disappointingly a little sparse, the newly printed menus boast Chang beer on every page - do not be fooled, it really isn't that nice. The restaurant could do with sprucing up their floral decorations in a similar fashion - the one underneath the ancient fireplace looked a little tired, all the more so in contrast with the sparkly elephant tapestry that shields the facilities.

Sadly not a coconut shake in sight, but otherwise as authentic and tasty a selection of Thai cuisine as I've had this side of Bangkok - and at only 1000 baht each.