It's new. It's classy. It's got that Old World ambience that makes one feel comfortably special. Baan Klung Jinda Restaurant in Phuket Town is buzzing with attentive service. And what a nice feeling it is to have a smiling attendant greet you at the door, take your coat, seat you right away, and find a chilled Chardonnay in your hand before you've even warmed the sofa. Live jazz music melts into the air, and soft light caresses the entry lounge of this newly decorated, but century-old building furnished with sumptuous silks and antiques.

We sit on cosy lounges and admire the staff in their swanky uniforms: handsome young men in silk Chinese-style jackets, coloured gold or rich red and blue, depending on staff rank. Flowing white silk shawls over elegant evening wear adorn our hostesses' shoulders. Have you ever had someone take your order before showing you to your table? And the aperitifs are waiting by the time you're seated at the table. Marvellous. Bravo. Unheard of on Phuket. Until now.

Thai Restaurateur Khun Kitti Phatanachinda, who had his sights set on this Sino-Portuguese mansion for years, and business development manager Darren Michelin, have their eyes on the grand prize. They aim to up the ante for fine dining on Phuket, providing a new level of customer satisfaction. Khun Kitti takes time out from entertaining the Governor to welcome us. He explains that, before he acquired the lease and began extensive renovations, the run-down mansion, built in 1907, was once the residence of the provincial treasurer. The building was transformed into a modern version of the most popular period in Thai history, the reign of King Rama V, in the late 19th century.

The "Siamese Spice Cuisine" menu features a wide selection of classical Thai dishes, as well as some family secrets and a few Chinese-Thai fusion specialties. K. Kitti developed the menu to reflect original Thai cuisine, which has over the years been re-invented to cater for Western tastes. Darren confides that a great deal of effort went into staff training, as well as several weeks of taste testing to refine the menu. Just two weeks after opening, it's obvious the experience is five star.

Given the selection of dishes on the menu, it's difficult to decide on our meal. For the game lover, there's a venison dish cooked with Thai basil. An ample selection of vegetarian dishes also presents itself. After a starter of prawns wrapped in string noodles and some flash-fried mashed potato balls stuffed with minced spiced pork, we honed in on the seafood platter, a medley of fish, mussels, prawns, calamari and rock lobster. Everything was presented, together with a brief explanation of each dish, with expert timing and care. The somtam, a traditional Thai papaya salad, is prepared at the table according to your preferred ingredients and degree of chilli heat.

Although we dined in the larger of the two open banquet halls, Baan Klung Jinda also features exclusive themed dining rooms upstairs for larger groups, beautifully decorated and very intimate. After dinner, we were escorted back to the lounge for dessert, port and liqueurs, plus some more of that delightful house-band jazz. Darren's well-trained staff made sure our wine glasses never ran dry, and our gracious host rendered a few Sinatra tunes with the band. He's a very smooth operator.