I've got this theory and I want to run it past you. Okay, it's not thought out to the nth. degree, but as a working hypothesis it's got legs, I think. It might even go some way to explaining how come so many ethnic restaurants are proliferating in Ireland - Thai, Asian, Japanese, Mexican, as well the old stalwarts of Italian, French and Chinese. So to the theory: countries with a long and evolved tradition of cuisine don't import ideas from elsewhere too easily, they're too chauvinist to do that. The obverse of this is that countries that don't have such intensely entrenched views on cooking are more inclined to take the best from other places. An example from the first part could be Italy. Even today, despite all the creeping cultural imperialism of America, it's still hard to find a burger there. Italians would rather buy a slice of pizza for a fast food snack. As an example of the second part of my theory you don't have to look any further than here. Ireland has embraced American fast food, Italian pastas and pizzas, and food from nearly every country around the globe. The recent growth in restaurants offering Asian and Asian Fusion seems to fit the pattern.
This week I met my old friend Sonia Thornton, who was over from London doing more of the MTV stuff that she does, and we decided to try Kwai, a recently opened restaurant offering a melange of oriental cuisines. If you're a certain age, the word 'Kwai' will evoke images of Alec Guinness saying things like 'Officers will not work' while gangs of starving British POWs whistled Colonel Bogey's march as they built the eponymous bridge for the Japanese. The river Kwai runs through Burma, but for part of its course it forms the boundary between Burma and Thailand, so already as a name it covers a couple of countries. When you look down Kwai's menu, this makes sense, as there are dishes from most of the Central Asian countries on offer.

Sonia's flight from London was delayed and we didn't get to meet until 8.30 or so, a couple of hours later than the original plan. This may have worked to our advantage, because when we got to Kwai without a reservation, some of the tables had begun to empty, which thankfully meant there was a free one for us. Inside it has a modern feel, with bright lights, hard surfaces and plenty of wood. This is softened a little by padded plush walls, which form some of the side walls and backs to the benches that line those walls. Much of the wood in evidence, on the tables and finishes, is made of laminated bamboo, which fits rather well with the ethnic origins and there are bamboo place mats to complete the effect. The tables aren't very big; by the time you've put down you bits and pieces, a wine bucket and plates of food have a problem finding a home. Sonia solved this by putting the wine bucket on the floor and all of my impedimenta on the bench beside her. One day, I promised myself, I'm going to sit looking out at the restaurant.

But I'm running ahead of myself. First we looked at the menu. There's an eclectic range of dishes from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Penang, and Singapore. It lists chilli and green mango salad, fried vegetables with soy and garlic, Satay chicken skewers, Thai fish cakes, crispy Peking duck pancakes, crispy fried prawns with Wasabi mayonnaise and an Asian selection, all of which fall into the £4 -£6 range. Main courses comprise three different curry styles; a mild yellow, a medium green and a hot red. You can adjust your chosen dish to your preferred curry strength. Chicken, beef, pork and prawns figure largely in combination with curry, stir fried vegetables, bean sprouts, bok choi, bamboo shoots, stir fried rice noodles, plain and egg-fried rice. Four main courses are under £10 and all except for the fillet of beef and under £14. Eventually we reached a decision; crispy Peking duck pancakes followed by a medium prawn curry for Sonia, and crispy prawns followed by lamb Massamam curry for me. A couple of mineral waters and a bottle of the Collavini Pinot Grigio at £20 completed our order.

Sonia was over looking for new MTV face of 2001 and had a couple of intense days in front of her of casting and interviews. Despite having been sitting on an airport apron in Heathrow for two hours, she was happy be back in Ireland for a while, albeit briefly. We were engrossed in reminiscences and catch-up news of communal friends when the starters arrived. Instead of having to roll up her own pancakes, Sonia's crispy variety arrived as little triangles that had been lightly fried. They were tasty, but not as good as my crispy prawns, which were perfectly cooked, lightly breaded and served with a ramekin of excellent Wasabi mayonnaise. I felt obliged to trade forkfuls, but it was definitely the short straw for me.

With the main courses the roles were reversed, with Sonia's prawn curry out-classing my lamb one. Both came in a bowl with a serving spoon and a separate dish of rice, accompanied by a large plate each. It took careful arranging to get everything to fit onto our table. I spooned out my rice and then began to cover it with my lamb curry. I seemed to find a large number of small potatoes, but the lamb pieces were surprisingly rare - and I don't mean undercooked. I looked ruefully at Sonia's plate with its abundance of prawns and wondered plaintively why I should have been so hard done by. All I can think of is that it must have been because of a previous life, since this one has been largely blameless.

It was getting late by this stage and the restaurant had started to empty. A phone call informed me that two friends wanted to come and meet us and eat too, if it were possible. I asked the manageress who said instantly 'No problem, we'll keep the kitchens open until they come.' Now that's what I call service. While our friends ate a main course each washed down by a glass of wine each, Sonia and I picked on a dessert, which in truth I have no memory of, other than the fact it was there. Coffees all round and the bill for the four of us came to £99.85, which I thought was good value. Bright lights, hard surfaces and high decibel levels means however, that Kwai is not for lingering dinners.