I'VE always wondered why the planners allowed a restaurant, not to mention a wine bar, to open on Chorley New Road when there is nothing else remotely similar nearby.

This lone beacon of food and drink is surrounded by private medical facilities, exclusive tennis clubs and posh homes.

And judging by the number of new top of the range motors parked outside on the night we visited, half of those living nearby appeared to be quaffing an aperitif or two in the wine bar.

The latest incarnation of this eaterie is the Mai Thai restaurant offering authentic Thai cuisine.

Well, if authentic means hot and spicy, then it is certainly as authentic as they come. My tastebuds are still in therapy following the full five course chilli assault.

I last visited the place when it was known as Vettriano's and I remember it being very good value (and not at all spicy) but with erratic service.

We arrived intending to try the early diner's £9.99 menu but not liking the look of the dishes on offer we decided to try the five course night owl banquet for £15.95.

The restaurant itself has an ambience, although on the night in question the staff seemed to be ushering everybody into one room immediately next to the wine bar leaving another dining room virtually empty.

Quite why we never found out.

Regular readers of this column will know I'm not at my best when hot spices are involved but I did ask for everything to be made milder than normal.

Clearly this wasn't possible with the first two courses which presumably had been pre-made.

The hot and sour vegetable soup, for instance, was quite spicy but in a restrained way and I just about coped with it. But my wife, who generally has a greater tolerance for hot and spicy things than me, said she found it too spicy for her taste.

We both found the soup a little busy; too much going on in a small bowl with an overdose of different tastes and too many unidentifiable "bits" floating around.

The next course was called heavenly beef salad which started off well. I thought the beautifully tender marinated sirloin strips were superb even venturing that it didn't seem as hot as the soup. I had the foresight to remove the obvious bits of sliced chilli and felt quite pleased with myself for being so observant.

Seconds later I realised the error of my ways. A spice army led by evil chilli generals had crept up on my tastebuds.

My mouth was on fire. Waves of heat reverberated around the inside of my mouth and lips.

Swigs of cold beer did nothing to assuage the fiery bite and I just had to sit and suffer until the heat subsided.

My wife couldn't finish her beef salad because of the fiercely spiced dish. I always joke with her that she could have been a dragon in another life but this time she almost breathed fire.

This was then followed by the appetiser course which included Thai fish cakes, nicely cooked salmon and hot but bearable, spicy pork and noodle balls, chicken wantons which were quite palatable and chicken wings with a sweet chilli dip which were good. This was a filling course though.

The fourth course of the banquet included a choice for each diner of two dishes from five options. These were small, almost tapas style dishes which, thankfully, were quite mild and tasty. We ordered different dishes so we could try a little of each.

We chose chicken stir fry sweet and sour, Malaysian chicken kari ayam, pork fried with ginger and pineapple and beef stiry fry with oyster sauce accompanied by fried rice and jasmine scented rice. The fifth choice was red curry pork which we didn't choose on account of the word curry.

Fifth course was a choice of mango or coconut ice cream great for cooling off seared tastebuds.

The restaurant also offers a choice of soups, starters and tapas, stir fries, noodles and rice and curries even dishes where you can decide what the ingredients are.

Now I know that Thai food is supposed to be spicy but sometimes I think Asian food is over spiced the chillis kill off any last vestiges of other, more subtle spices and herbs. For me, spices should titilate your tastebuds, not annihilate them.

But for those who like tongue-singeingly hot food then Mai Thai is obviously the place for you. Thai afficionados say it is one of the best restaurants around.

Including drinks each we spent £45.25 a little more than we had intended but good value for five courses which arrived promptly at our table.