Although only open for less than two months, Patara Thai in High Street Wimbledon has already established itself on the Wimbledon Village scene.

On the warm Wednesday evening we visited last month, tables at the new 80-seater restaurant were already packed with diners enjoying their food and the famous Thai hospitality.

The restaurant has a 'Yum Bar' for diners that want to grab something light, but any diner can order from the menu and watch it cooked in front of them to wet their appetite.

We rated the Thai fish cakes for starters - made with red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves, it was unusual to see them served with crushed peanuts and cucumber relish. Less inspiring were the herbed chicken wings, though which had less Thai flavour than we'd hoped for.

Mains turned out to be a game changer, as our curried seabass arrived rather impressively in a banana leaf, and the riceberry rice turned out to be an interesting shade of purple. The alternative rice dish is supposed to be more nutritious than it's white cousin - think brown rice versus white. This no doubt taps into the health conscious crowd in the Village.

We also recommend the massaman curry of braised Somerset lamb and new potatoes. The fish and vegetables tasted incredibly fresh and cooked to perfection and all was going swimmingly.

It was at this point, we were unfortunately asked to switch table by the manager due to an overbooking. This no doubt proves our point the restaurant is already becoming extremely popular with Wimbledonians, but nonetheless no-one likes to move too much after consuming two main dishes, two vegetable sides and two portions of rice.

Desserts served at our new table were as beautifully presented as the mains, and we enjoyed seeing the Thai twist on a cheesecake, sundae, and sorbet amongst other choices.

All in all we think Patara Thai is the perfect choice to replace the old Aubaine restaurant in High Street Wimbledon - food was authentic, fresh and tasty. We hope the buzz around the restaurant doesn't die down, as it is well deserved, but perhaps more forward planning of tables and bookings would have made our dining experience a little smoother.