TIGER Bay, Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay 029 2048 3388. Visitors to Cardiff Bay are spoilt for choice these days and Tiger Bay has added a twist of Thai spice to the wide range of food on offer.

Like most news-ish Bay eateries it's housed in a modern building. Bright. light, airy and smart, the large dining area is patrolled efficiently and calmly by a small army of uniformed staff, which is just as well as the place can get pretty busy when weekend evenings are in full swing. One reason for that popularity is relatively good value. We opted for a set meal for two option at £26 which offered some of our eastern favourites.

A generous portion of finger-scorchingly hot sweet and sour spare ribs was a perfect starter, succulent with plenty of meat, not the gristly twigs we have occasionally been palmed off with.

Our main dishes were spicy beef, honey and lemon chicken and satay pork, served with particularly good fried rice. The meat dishes - especially the chicken - were spot on but were inevitably rather eclipsed by the extra dish of excellent spicy king prawns we ordered on the side.

In the spirit of no particular occasion we opted for a bottle of reasonably priced sparkly to help the evening along, which it did with distinction.

The price, including pre-meal drinks, came to just under £50, but you could eat and drink well here for considerably less should you wish to. Paul Traynor