A NEW Thai restaurant has opened in Dalton to the delight of food-lovers.

Rattanawadee Satterthwaite has opened a dedicated Thai restaurant, Nicha's Thai Kitchen, in the former Crown Court House in Market Street.

Despite only opening at the weekend Mrs Satterthwaite, who moved to Broughton from Thailand nine years ago, she has already received hugely-positive feedback.

"It's been really popular since we opened," the 40-year-old mum-of-one said.

"You might expect to have a few teething problems in the first few days or weeks of opening but touch wood it's all gone without any problems and the feedback from customers has been really good."

Following the decision to close the restaurant at Clarence House the number of sit-down restaurants in Dalton is limited.

Other than Hartley's and the Steakhouse the only other venues are traditional pubs although of course they are hugely popular in their own right with the likes of the Brown Cow packed for lunch every Sunday.

And while there is an abundance of takeaways none serve traditional Thai fare to match the fish cakes and curries on offer at Nicha's.

Making the most of her Thai upbringing, Mrs Satterthwaite does all the cooking herself, and employs two members of staff.

The restaurant is currently open from Wednesday to Sunday but opening hours might increase depending on reception to the venue.

The menu includes deep fried king prawns, skewers, Thai fish cakes, and well-known dishes such as Thai green and Thai red curry, with main courses very reasonably priced at £7.60 each, and while alcohol isn't sold from the bar customers are able to take their own drinks with a corkage fee of £2.

"It brings something a bit different to Dalton," Mrs Satterthwaite added.

"We've tried to do it up really nice inside the and the building itself is amazing so there's lots we can do with it.

"I absolutely love cooking so being able to do something I love for work is a dream come true for me."