If you love oily Shanghainese food, but long for that slash of Thai lime, kaffir leaves, sour aubergines, and ingredients attainable only from old Siam, then a visit to Simply Thai is in order.

The local chain, with three outlets around the city and another opening soon, has become an institution in the city; even the Thai royals dine at Simply Thai when visiting Shanghai.

Simply Thai, open for seven and a half years, describes itself as the first authentically Thai restaurant in China.

In the historic Xintiandi area of Shikumen houses, Simply Thai's second outlet is nestled in a setting of restaurants, bars, galleries, jazz clubs, boutiques and other allures.

All its restaurants have simple, elegant decor, outdoor seating, music and Thai dancing. It also provides catering and parties through its Party People business, another arm of parent company Simply the Group.

But Simply Thai is more than authentic Thai food, something especially welcome in Shanghai where much of the local food is oily.

The Simply menu is everything you've ever dreamed of or eaten in Thailand. There are all the traditional fares with complex flavors, such as red and green curries - the green is especially memorable since it is thick and creamy. There's tom yam seafood soup and simple steamed fish with ginger, scallions, mushrooms, a bit of garlic and onions. There's also classic steamed curried, marinated fish.

The ingredients - robust chilies, sweet coconut milk, fragrant Thai basil and savory fish sauce, to name but a few - are imported from Thailand because they are not available in China.

Chris Day, the Simply Group's food and beverage manager, says it's been amazing to see the enterprise grow so quickly.

"It has been a lot of hard work to get where we are. But we are proud of our achievement. We all loved Thai food and when we started this restaurant, there were no Thai restaurants in Shanghai.

"Our Thai food is authentic and as Thai as we can provide. All of our chefs are from Thailand and people seem to respond positively to the fact that it is genuine Thai food. We don't try to make it taste like Chinese food to suit local tastes."

Day says the company imports from Thailand ingredients it cannot obtain in China, such as strong-tasting kaffir lime leaves, the mini egg plants that look like peas in the Thai curries and special basil, among others.

"Things have changed over the last seven years as more ingredients are available locally. We still bring in the limes - local limes don't have the sweetness and the sourness of Thai limes.

"Every two months the chefs do a special menu. There is currently a summer menu that is heavy on salads. We try to maintain the interest of the customers so that every two months there is something new for them to try. It also maintains the interest of the Thai chefs."

Some current offerings include an apple salad over a crispy fish floss that is very refreshing, a mushroom salad, and beef and shrimp roasted with a red curry base.

Later this month, Simply Thai will open a Jingqiao outlet in Pudong. It will seat about 140 people inside and another 30 outdoors.

Outlets:

1)Address: Xintiandi, intersection of Madang and Xingye roads
Tel: 6326-2088
2)Address: 5C Dongping Road
Tel: 6445-9551
3)Address: Lane 3338, House 28, Hongmei Entertainment Street
Tel: 6465-8955
4)Address: Green Sports and Leisure Center A6, 600 Lantian Road, Jingqiao, Pudong (opening late August)
Tel: 5030-1690