Red Hot Cafe, located in DLF II's Park `n' Shop behind Privat Hospital, which opened about a year ago, is run by three women entrepreneurs, Suneeta Chopra, Ritu Mehra and Sudha Kukreja. The trio did not have any previous restaurant experience, though Mehra's father owns one of Delhi's most famous restaurants, the Standard, in Connaught Place.

Mehra and Kukreja are also cousins and both have grandparents who migrated to Thailand years ago. So, they have been eating Thai food since they were knee-high and when they thought of starting a restaurant, Thai seemed the obvious choice. Kukreja also has an outdoor catering service, specialising in serving Thai food, which started much before the cafe was born.

The little restaurant has an extensive menu, with 59 Thai specialities listed. And what's more, 50 per cent of the dishes are vegetarian, as two of the partners themselves are vegetarians. The three entrepreneurs make all the sauces and pastes themselves and have done away with the ubiquitous shrimp paste in the vegetarian dishes. Instead, they serve fish sauce separately on the table, in case diners want to add the flavour to their food.

I had a Chicken Satay (Rs 100), which had five sticks of well-done boneless chicken with a tangy peanut sauce. For the main course, I opted for Prawns in Spicy Green Curry (Rs 225), Stir-Fried Chicken in Herb Sauce (Rs 145), Flat Thai Noodles with Chicken and Peanut Topping (Rs 125) and Stir-Fried Vegetables with Basil and Chilli (Rs 100).

When you visit a Thai restaurant, you need to be prepared to have the steam coming out of your ears. But here, the chilies have been toned down following requests from customers. But there's always hand-ground chilli sauce handy on the table if you wish to set your stomach on fire.

The advantage of Red Hot Cafe is that it has a very personal touch, with the partners making sure that the food is being cooked the way it should be and not leaving the onus to their cooks.

-- Vidya Deshpande