Starters include sateh; pork and crab meat sausage rolls; tom yum (clear soups); gaeng ped (red curry with bamboo shoots, peppers and coconut milk); gaeng massaman (Malaysian-style curry with onions, potatoes, peanuts and coconut milk); and sweet and sour and shallow fried dishes with meats (pork, beef, chicken, duck) and fish (prawn and cod).
Naturally, there are rice and noodle dishes, and vegetarians are equally spoiled for choice with egg curry Massaman, fried mixed vegetables, sweetcorn fritter and sweet and sour vegetables as well as a red curry vegetable dish.
On the menu are nearly 100 choices – so come early to digest the list. Among them are noodles of all types including pad kee mow – traditional spicy, thick ones fried with ground spices, meat, fish or vegetables – and speciality dishes such as dressed prawns wrapped in spring roll pastry and deep-fried. Thai cooking, be it Royal Thai or the street stall variety, is often disappointing outside Thailand itself.
The magical ingredients – kaffir lime leaf, galangal, lemongrass, Thai basil, dried shrimp, fish sauce and glass noodles – are often not allowed to shine.
Too often they are substituted by swamping dishes in chilli, bean, oyster or soy sauces without any vestige of what makes Thai food stand out.
Can the Bangkok Spize, open for six months, be the genuine article?
As part of the same empire as the Albert Road Bangkok Café, which didn't thrill me, I wanted to be won over this time around.
The corner business overlooking Elm Grove with its large plate-glass windows and blue blinds is on two levels – the downstairs one housing the bar and tables, the next dining level a few short steps up.
Green tablecloths, coloured lights and brightly coloured long flags add a dash, while an overactive air conditioner creates a cool spring breeze, blowing the daffodils around on the table. Language difficulties kick off the evening.
I spied some of the coveted ingredients – kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass – in a fisherman's fish soup for two and asked for them to be added to a coconut milk curried dish.
But this simple request was not understood, or the kitchen simply declined to cook a dish more
akin to food I have eaten in Thailand.
Thai fishcakes, usually made with filleted fish, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, coriander, curry paste and perhaps some green bean, had no vestige of taste here.
I set them aside in favour of a chicken curry with potatoes. The fine, creamy coconut sauce deserved quality chicken, but that wasn't what I got, and again the dish seemed to lack many genuine Thai ingredients.
I left, disappointed at the language barrier and the lack of service.
My plates were not cleared between courses, and the food took ages to appear despite there being only a handful of customers.
The young men smiled a lot which is in itself a bonus in any restaurant – but just where were those authentic Thai flavours?
Some of us like the real taste of Thailand, but it wasn't here. My bill came to £15.85 not including a tip.

Bangkok Spize, 119 Elm Grove Southsea. (023) 92 347338.
Open: 5.30pm-12pm, every day.
Food: ***
Service: ***
Atmosphere: ***
Disabled access: Yes
How to get there: Elm Grove runs between Victoria Road South and Kings Road. Parking on-street. Bus: X47, 3, 15, 43 and others.

Diners' view:
Ellen Watkins and Sam Woodman, both from Portsmouth: 'We both shared the fisherman's soup with mussels and other fish and were really pleased with it. It was something quite different,' Ellen said. 'We also shared sateh which were fine and some sweet and sour vegetables which had too much sauce.'
'I don't think the waiter could understand us but it didn't matter too much,' Sam added.