 A fullish carpark and a nice hum of conversation inside must be the signs of a good restaurant, so the rather oddly titled Thai at the Copper Kettle satisfies on both points. It's not difficult to find, plonked squarely on the main road just outside Tarvin on the way to Kelsall, and perhaps keeping the Copper Kettle in the name reminds us all where it is, even if the bits don't quite go together. We booked just ahead for a Friday evening, but might have got away with an unheralded appearance, although the big rooms filled up very briskly during the evening, with plenty of cheerful parties enjoying that unique something about Thai food, supported in this case by excellent service, part Thai and part local. When you think of it, Thai cuisine shows how a small country and people have grown up between several larger foody neighbours and it's all reflected in the mixture. The general style may look Chinese, with everything chopped to bite size and stir fry giving the basic effect, but curry from India to the westward is there too, although with the rapier rather than the Punjabi bludgeon; delicate and hot without being fierce. Malaysia to the south and Indonesia just across the sea all make their mark, and the Arab use of meat on a spit shows how many cultures have met in a country whose people are Mongolian but use Indian script, one of the few outside Europe that got through the colonial days without being colonised. But enough history and rambling; what about the food? We opted for one of those well planned feasts that usually follow a good deal of advance planning by the management, in this case £22.95 a head, with three quid more or three less as the variations, each bringing a variation on the theme. Starters arrived very attractively on one of the square dishes that were a feature of the house, with the tenderest of chickens on skewers teamed with a tasty fish cake, a skillfully stuffed chicken wing, and the pleasantly named toasties which amount to delicately fried bread with a touch of prawn and spices. Wine arrived at the same time, a pleasant, and pleasantly priced, Chilean Semillon Chardonnay at £11.95 a bottle, well served by a brisk young man who had mastered that challenging technique of holding the bottle at the base. | 
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