I have always loved Thai food, but I also love Indian style curries, which have mostly come out on top when choosing a restaurant for a special meal. While Thai food also includes curries, they tend to have a lighter taste, although can be just as hot if required.

So, just for a change, we decided we would try Thai. At the Giggling Squid. The Giggling What? I hear you say.

Yes, the Giggling Squid.  One of a chain of Thai restaurants with a difference that have popped up around the country in the last 20 or so years. In 2002 co-founders and owners, Andy and Pranee first dreamt up their Thai tapas menu in the basement of a little fisherman’s cottage in Brighton.

The object was to bring a true Thai mealtime buzz to the UK, they said. The cottage became the first of the chain as Pranee worked her Thai heritage expertise into the first menu. The Giggling Squid was born, named, says Pranee, after the nickname for one of their kids.

It works very much on a tapas style menu, served in a colourful setting and run by professional staff who really do seem to care.The varied menu comprises a competitively priced lunch menu and a more extensive evening offering, also competitively priced.

There are around 50 across the country, but only two in the West Midlands. One in Harborne, Birmingham and the other, the one we visited, in Sutton Coldfield. Situated in a newish parade of cafes, restaurants and pubs in Mere Green, the Giggling Squid gives a whole new meaning to a splash of colour.

Decorated in a floral style, tables are well spaced and with the centrepiece, a table set in a gazebo decorated by flower arrangements.It was a pleasant evening and we could have sat outside in true Parisian cafe culture style. Well, the Olympics were on, but instead settled in our colourful gazebo to enjoy the air conditioned comfort. The menu is comprehensive, catering for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans.

So it’s wise to look online to get an idea of what’s on offer. You could be there all night otherwise. There are familiar names, with starters like Salt & Pepper Squid, (a best seller, obviously) and Yummy Duck Spring Rolls.Mains dishes feature signature dishes like Thai Melting Beef in red curry sauce, Giant Butterfly King Prawn Pad Thai and more traditional Thai Red Curry.

Also on the menu is the signature Soft Shell Pranee Prawns.  Never slow to offer help and advice, our server suggested prawn crackers. They were a surprise, dark, flavoursome and plentiful and served with a spicy chilli sauce. We nibbled away as we decided on starters. Mine was the Samui Zing Prawns, while the other half plumped for a new to the menu Caramelised Pork Belly.

The butterflied prawns arrived and looked like art on a plate. I like hot food, but be warned. These took my breath away. The restaurant describes the dish as zingy, citrusy and fresh sauce drizzled on the grilled prawns. They were hot, but not unpleasantly so as the prawn flavour wrestled with the chilli heat. I just loved them and in my opinion just enough for a starter.

The pork belly was altogether different, a large plate of chunks of sweet, sticky pork, marinated with honey, chilli and tamarind.It came garnished with pickled ginger, fried garlic and chilli powder and served with a side salad of peppers, jicama and spring onion.

She loved it and so did I, it was, after all, a substantial dish. The meat was so tender it fell apart and the garnish nicely offset the sweetness. On to the mains, still nibbling at the prawn crackers. I chose Chilli & Basil Chicken Gra Pao, a traditional street food with fiery chillies, garlic, bamboo shoots, green beans and peppers, while my wife ordered Honey Crisp Seafood.

It sounds a bit bland, but is anything but. It is a substantial meal of lightly battered squid, prawns and sea bass tossed with mussels. It is served with ginger and green peppercorns and coated with caramelised honey and lime sauce. It proved an explosion of colour and flavours, with again the spices biting through the sweetness of the honey and the crispness of the batter. An absolute winner in her book.

And mine. It was, after all, a substantial meal. Mine had a hard act to follow. The chicken was tender, the veg and bamboo nicely crunchy and the sauce tasty. But I couldn’t help feeling I had ordered the wrong meal after the fiery baptism of my starter prawns. However the plate was cleared with gusto.

But the other half could not finish her meal and a doggy bag was ordered. As is often the case with nibbles and side orders. You can fill up before the main event.

So the crackers and the side orders of egg fried rice and the lightly toasted roti made finishing the fish dish a bridge too far.

Obviously no room for dessert, but a glass of wine and a couple of small beers rounded off an eye-opening dining experience. The food was simply excellent.

With a menu like that, many visits beckon. The staff were brilliant, polite, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu and well deserving of a tip. Just a word of caution an eight per cent discretionary service charge is added to the bill.

Well worth it I thought, and we added a little extra. The Mere Green restaurant also operates as a takeaway and will also deliver via Deliveroo.

Tender Pork Hock with Roti . £15.50