The simple life

Whether you're a vegetarian or a carnivore who simply fancies a break from meat, Thamna is a small, friendly and healthy restaurant that serves modern veggie dishes based on organic dairy products.

Olive oil is used for the stirfries while deep-frying is done in rice-bran oil. Eggs come from a free-range farm, coconut cream is shunned in curries in favour of soymilk and meals are served with germinated brown rice. Organic rules, right down to the dishwashing liquid.

Writer Suphan Thamna and his wife, Palika Limpichart, a daughter of noted writer Maitree, have converted the first floor of a shophouse on Samsen Road into a homey, 20seat eatery. The interior is rustic but stylish, with retro ceiling fans and lamps and walls of unfinished red brick.

Among the appetisers are crispy mushroom balls with mustard yoghurt sauce for Bt95 and spicy barley salad in a tofu pocket for Bt80. A variety of salads are also offered, with a choice between sesame, mustard yoghurt or balsamic vinegar dressing.

For a main course, Supan combines papaya salad with germinated brown rice in seaweed and serves it with mushroom stems and fresh vegetables for Bt100. Other signature dishes include shitake mushroom kebab with pita bread and couscous salad for Bt110, and tender and aromatic grilled abalone wrapped in chapoo leaves for Bt90.

Curry lovers should try the kaeng kee lek - cassialeaf curry - served with brown rice, vegetables and sweetandsalty minced mushrooms for Bt95.

The restaurant is also open for breakfast and offers a delicious mushroom rice soup with tofu for Bt95, as well as fresh fruits with yoghurt and whole wheat toast.

A range of organic products are on sale including olive oil, washing liquid and shampoo and soap, and a couple of rooms are also available for both short and long stays, complete with free Internet.

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Thamna is on Samsen Road between Sois 3 and 5 and is open daily except Sunday from 8am to 9pm.Call (02) 282 4979.