I was tasked with organizing a venue for a mid-week dinner recently to welcome the new starter in our office.  Normally we’d embark on a rowdy, pint-swilling pub session to impress, but for a change the newbie was of the female variety so we opted for something more demure – an alfresco table at My Thai.

My Thai was established in 1993 and as a kid I remember this place having a waiting period in the order of months and you had to know someone who knew someone, in order to get a table on a Saturday night.  These days, I’m not sure their waiting lists are so long, but they do pull a great crowd any night of the week, and there’s no surprises why – they do real, fresh, flavoursome, Thai-hot, Thai food.

My Thai is BYO wine, but we didn’t realise it before arriving, so settled for a bottle from their impressive (but slightly over-priced) drinks menu.  The Isabelle Estate Sav Blanc ($44) kicked things off nicely and perfectly complimented our mixed entrée.

The spring rolls were freshly made and piping hot (which admittedly resulted in some minor burns as we elegantly scoffed) and the calamari rings were fried to my satisfaction; however others at the table commented that the batter was too thin.  The golden parcels had visible, sizable chunks of water chestnuts and minced beef which gave them a lovely texture against their light and crispy, deep fried shell.  The satay sticks were juicy, with a light peanut sauce.

The mains are always a tough choice at My Thai – they do have quite the range of curries, stir fries, salads and noodle dishes to choose from, each sounding as good as the next.  The five of us decided after much deliberation to settle for 4 dishes, although if we’d agreed to pick a dish each there may have been less arguing and more displays of the good office culture and teamwork which we are often commended for.

I can’t even suggest my favourite of the dishes we picked, because they were all excellent and each had their own unique, spicy and fresh flavour.  The duck curry was outstanding with tender slices of duck breast, shitake mushrooms, pineapple, red grapes, cherry tomatoes and basil in a red paste with coconut milk ($26.90).

Everyone’s favourite and never-fail dishes, the chicken with cashew nuts ($19.90) and red chicken curry ($18.90) were of course on the bill of fare and they didn’t disappoint – they did however raise a mild sweat!

The Golden Secret dish was a stand out and if you’re a fish lover it’s the dish for you; steamed barramundi fillet on a bed of tender green beans topped with My Thai’s original green curry flavours of Thai basil and Kaffir lime leaves.  The fish was cooked perfectly and fell away in moist and juicy chunks.  The green flavours it was bathed in were flavoursome and complimented the fish perfectly.

I would normally end a Thai night with a lychee ice cream or deep fried something, and while the menu was going to allow me to indulge, there was no room, not even in the normally reserved, in-case-of-emergency desert pocket.

The My Thai staff were outstanding and as our demure introduction didn’t last long they were very accommodating to our banter and rowdiness (they even put up with my poor attempts at speaking Thai).  The bill from My Thai will be slightly inflated to what you may pay at other venues around the city and suburbs, but the quality of food will make you feel pretty good about parting with the extra dollars.

• My Thai, 113 Haig Rd, Auchenflower, +61 7 3217 7277

I had the confit duck leg with white bean and porcini puree, red cabbage marmalade and duck neck and pistachio sausage. Sounds good, right? It was divine. My better half had the slow cooked pork belly and blacklip mussels with thai basil, saffron coconut milk and crispy prosciutto – also excellent. Most of the mains were $32 and the starters $19, and the quality more than lives up to the price. For desert, I highly recommend the brazzo mercedes, a meringue with a butterscotch fudge centre. It’s served with an expresso which you can pour over the top. Sounds strange, but the contrast between the slight bitterness of the coffee and the sweet butterscotch works perfectly.

I have a habit of ordering anything I don’t understand (just for the hell of it), and occasionally it brings me unstuck. Peking duck cappuccino? I couldn’t resist. Served in expresso cups, these $3.50 starters looked kind of like actual cappuccinos, complete with a generous head of foam, but there the similarities end. It was essentially a duck stock with – forgive me – a healthy layer of scum on top. Intriguing, inventive… but just a bit wrong.

But please don’t let me turn you off because of that one little detail. Overall the experience at Sprout was excellent. The atmosphere was lively and the service friendly. The wooden floors and walls gives it a slightly echo-ey acoustic that might be a bit loud for older diners, but it didn’t worry us too much.

It’s great to have a chef who is willing to push the boundaries and be a bit adventurous. All Brisbanites should give Sprout a try at least once.

• Sprout Cafe, 111 Haig Rd, Auchenflower +61 7 3870 3030