Tucked away off a side road in South Auckland’s Otahuhu is a restaurant that takes you as close as you can get to Thailand once you walk into its gates.
Although this restaurant, Secret Thai Garden, has been around for more than 20 years, for many it still remains a little secret hideaway.
Once upon a time, Aranya Clark and her husband Nobby at the time decided to bring Thailand to Auckland - and they weren’t thinking of just food.
So they bought a bungalow house on Station Road and embarked on a project to turn it into a little Thai garden.
They turned their driveway into a boardwalk tunnel lined with plants and arches shaped like elephant tusks. Then they added little Buddhas and tiny fountains and waterways.
The couple imported handmade teak furniture from Chiang Mai, and tuk tuks from Bangkok.
“My name is Aranya, but am better known as Tommy, and I am a trained chef, born in Surat Thani, Thailand” said Clark, who has been the sole owner of the business after parting-ways with her husband.
“I’ve been working as a chef my whole life, and I proudly call myself a self-taught chef.”
She first moved to New Zealand in 1995 and lived and worked at a restaurant in Tauranga before moving to Auckland.
The Clarks officially opened Secret Thai Garden in 2002.
“Our dream is to bring Thailand and not just Thai food to Auckland. We wanted people to walk into our restaurant and feel a sense of discovering Thailand here in New Zealand which can’t be found anywhere else,” Clark said.
“The ‘secret’ comes from the fact that when you look from outside the restaurant, you can’t see anything but when you walk in, you will find this amazing hidden garden inside.”
For me, this place really makes me feel at home - complete with the warm hospitality and happy smiles that Thailand is known for.
Our evening began with a platter of nibbles; Angel wings, or chicken wings stuffed with pork mince and vermicelli, steamed and lightly fried; tiny, handmade spring rolls; light, golden fish cakes.
To supplement the usual dipping sauces, my dinner partner asked for a dish of chopped Chornobyl heat chillies, and we got ones that were freshly plucked from the garden.
Then we had the tom yam soup, or sour sweet and spicy soup, and Chef Tommy’s version was a little out of the ordinary. The usual sweet and spicy chicken, mushroom and spiced broth is enhanced by lime juice and lemon grass.
We enjoyed mains such as prawns, stir-fried in the wok with soya bean and chilli paste, cashews and veges and my favourite, green chicken curry. Yes, the chicken: none of your flash Ponsonby Thai duck with grapes in red curry here, but so delicious.
Finally it was dessert and it was recommended that we have the fruit platter, which made up of mango, melon, pineapple, grapes. Fresh. Cleansing. Simply sliced, not carved into little rosebuds.
We finished the last of our BYO wine - there's a small wine list and a better beer selection - but we did bring our own.
Tommy asked what I thought of my dinner experience.
I told her I thought it was a good night out.
The atmosphere, the service and fresh ingredients. It was a Thai dinner that was simply cooked, subtly improved, tastier and friendlier to the wallet.
I've paid much, much more for similar dinners closer to the city - and you don’t get the Thai garden ambience.
Address: 25 Station Rd, Otahuhu
Phone: (09) 276 3093
Open: Mon-Sat from 6pm
Cuisine: Thai
From the menu: Handmade fish cakes; sour, sweet and spicy chicken and mushroom soup; wok-cooked prawns with soya bean and chilli paste
Vegetarian: Ask your waitress
Wine: BYO, limited house selection
This article is brought to you in partnership with Secret Thai Garden.