It is only in recent years that restaurants specialising in Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Nepalese food have appeared on the Surrey restaurant scene.

Thus, I guess, it was only a question of time before a restaurant offering Vietnamese food opened its doors. And, from the delicious taste of it, not a moment too soon.

Saigon Nights, located in Victoria Road, Horley, behind the Air Balloon pub which fronts the A23, has, in fact, been going for nearly three years.

It is owned and run by Phung Morgan, who herself was born in Saigon. The bubbly and vivacious Phung has extensive experience within the catering industry and has put together a young and enthusiastic team that includes several talented Vietnamese chefs. The result is that Saigon Nights offers mouth-watering food cooked in authentic traditional style. It also specialises in Thai cuisine, with all purely Thai dishes clearly marked as being so.

My wife and I dropped into the 40-seater restaurant for dinner one recent Friday night. I was immediately impressed by a mural on one wall, which ran the entire length of the restaurant, depicting a typical Vietnamese village scene. The area below the mural, as was the case with the wall opposite, was covered with bamboo sticks. The overall effect was very striking and, coupled with the distinctly exotic piped music, did much to give the interior a true South East Asian feel and aura.

The restaurant, with its warm, cosy and friendly atmosphere, was starting to fill up but a waiter wasted no time in offering us a menu each containing details not only of the food courses but the drinks list and the desserts. I glanced at the wine list and noticed that in addition to wines from Europe, South America and Australia was one from Thailand, called Monsoon Valley.

With all food items clearly marked out as mild, medium or hot, or vegetarian, it wasn't difficult to place our order. We opted for three individual items – prawn sateh (£4.90), which came served with peanut sauce, see krong moo yang (£4.50), delicious tender pork ribs cooked in honey sauce, and spring rolls (£4.50). The latter item turned out to be a serving of five rolls with a prawn, crab and vegetable filling, topped of with sweet and sour sauce.

By now we had already begun making comparisons between the typical Vietnamese dishes we were eating and the Thai and Chinese cuisine we had eaten in the past. Presented as beautifully as it was, and tasting as good as it did, I have to confess that I became an instant convert to Vietnamese cuisine (though I gave the rabbit and frog items a wide berth).

We moved swiftly onto the main courses and selected two from the 'Telay', or seafood section. These were a dish called goong nam prik pao (£7.50), which turned out to be stir fried tiger prawns with chilli, garlic, onion, pepper and Thai chilli oil sauce, and another preparation, called pad kratiem goong (£7.50), which consisted of prawns marinated in garlic and pepper. We each ordered a bowl of Thai special fried rice (£5.50), which came embellished with prawns and pieces of chicken, pork, egg and vegetables.

Owner Phung suggested that we try what she said was the restaurant's most popular dish: neau rong hai – or Crying Tiger. Coming in at £10.50, the dish consisted of tender grilled marinated sirloin steak served with spicy chill sauce. It was truly delicious.

We still had room for dessert and ordered an item intriguingly called Royal Pot (£3.25 each). It was toffee flavoured ice cream topped with delicious milk toffee pieces, in an attractive pot.

Saigon Nights is open six a days a week (11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch, 5.30pm to 10.30pm for dinner), being closed on Mondays. It offers a takeaway service with free home delivery within a five mile radius on orders over £15. Takeaway food that is collected attracts a 10 per cent discount. It also offers an outside catering service.

With its superb customer service and inexpensive but exhilarating menu, Saigon Nights is a welcome and inspiring addition to the local restaurant scene.

Alf De Araujo

167 Victoria Road Horley RH6 7AR 01293 824474

At a glance...

Rating: Four stars

Food: Authentic Thai and Vietnamese

Price for two, not including drinks: £56.90

Vegetarian choice: A whole section

Service: Excellent

Disabled access: Yes

Parking: Off street

Value for money: Definitely