Baitong, Dominion Rd

Herald rating: * * 1/2

The votes are in, the returning officers have counted - and no, we didn't have to wait a fortnight to stitch up a deal. When the Viva Diva sought feedback for our takeout awards, it was obvious from the earliest polls what was going to win in a landslide as our favourite pick-up'n'go taste.

We were urged to try Thai from Ruant Thong in Mercury Lane, the Thai Room in the old Avondale Post Office, Thai Gardenia in New Lynn, Jasmine Rice in Upland Rd, among others. Zap2 in Balmoral is apparently "the greatest Thai takeout this side of the Mekong" (though the praise for the "nice wee serving wenches" did seem slightly politically incorrect).

Aha, I hear you cry, but this is supposed to be a column about eating out, not taking out. So when we got this note, we raced down to Dominion Rd:

"Please could you do a restaurant review on the best little Thai restaurant east of Sawadee, who are doing their best to put themselves out of business through minimalist signage/decor and lack of business nous? They have been open about two months. I never thought that I would find a Thai eatery to rival Sawadee. This it does with ease and with a healthier twist. Yet customers seem scarce."

My bump of geography tells me that the Valley Rd shops - sorry, it's re-branded as Eden Quarter these days - are south-west of Sawadee in Ponsonby, but we won't quibble. It was far enough from the CBD that the Valley Girl had never been that way before.

And our informant was right about the scarcity of customers. We ate alone, though there was a constant stream of coming, picking up and going from other takeaways up and down the strip.

The menu is more limited than many Thai places but touches all the bases: deep-fries, soups, curries red and green, fried rices and noodles, sautes and seafoods. The vegetarians get a page to themselves. Lord, they got a day to themselves last week. They'll be wanting the vote next.

Our first courses were excellent: her soup of king prawns, mushrooms and lemon grass met the taste, quantity and spicy tests; my purses of minced chicken and herbs tenderly fried.

Not so sure about the mains. We'd ordered several dishes to get a handle on the place - a green curry because that's surely the benchmark for a Thai restaurant; beef with typical trimmings of oyster sauce, capsicum, onion and mushroom; and seasonal vegetables.

They were colourful but as the Valley Girl pointed out, pineapples aren't exactly in season, unless that means when you open the can, neither are they a vegetable, and they dominated the platter. Along with baby corn which felt recently frozen. Unlike the curry, which was gratifyingly hot. But that was all it was. "This food isn't alive," said the Valley Girl, summing it up perfectly.

She investigated the kitchen and bathrooms and reported that they were very clean. I mention this after being taken to task at a recent seminar for failing to do so at "ethnic restaurants" (a term I abhor).

The participant mentioned a place that won raves from reviewers for its food but where the facilities mightn't earn such high marks from environmental health inspectors. Have no such fears at Baitong.

Address: 257 Dominion Rd
Phone: (09) 639 0839
Open: Tue-Sun
Cuisine: Thai
From the menu: Seafood soup with galangal mushroom and kaffir lime leaf $7
Roast duck red curry with coconut milk, pineapple, tomato, grapes $13.50
King prawns, green curry, seasonal vegetables, coconut milk, basil $17.50
Vegetarian: Excellent vego menu
Wine: BYO plus a dozen supermarket options