Casuarina Tree opened this autumn after following the closure of the Crown Inn and now boasts a sleeker decor and a bigger car park.

Its new owners have clearly tried to provide an attractive and vibrant dining experience - even the walls are hand-painted by a local artist.

My eating companion and I were seated by a waitress who offered us a ‘Casuarina special’: a zesty pre-appetizer fruit juice laced with a mildly alcoholic liqueur – the true contents of which were apparently “a secret”.

The menu is a collection of speciality south Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine but also offers a limited selection of Chinese and Japanese dishes. There is even the option of ‘steak and chips’.

The portions are very reasonable for between £4- £6 and easily shared between three people. A particular delight was the devilled king prawn served in a sumptuous bed of peppers, bathed in a warm and sweet chilli sauce. Other highlights were the grilled chicken tikka - so soft you could cut it with your fork – and a chili paneer in a fruity and peppery sauce.

For mains, we sampled three curries with two parottas for sundries. Parotta is a Sri Lankan speciality. It is a flat, which is served plain or chopped up with prawns and lamb. We found it a welcome change from the conventional pilau rice (also on the menu).

The chettinadu lamb curry offered a lovely creaminess with south Indian spices and the lamb dopiaza will please those who like a strong oniony flavour. But the surprise of the evening came from the Casuarina fish curry featuring fish perfectly cooked in a creamy tomato-based sauce.

For dessert, we were recommended the vanilla ice cream, fried in paper-thin batter and drizzled with honey. It was a match made in heaven and transformed an average pudding into a triumph.

What Casuarina Tree does well is beautiful and memorable, but its eagerness to please too wide a clientele may take the shine off what has the potential to be an excellent jewel in Mitcham’s crown.

Traditionalists won’t be disappointed by more familiar dishes while adventurous diners may well discover a new favourite. But I would be more interested in seeing more of their excellent curries and grilled meats and less of what seem like token gestures for the sake of a pan-Asian menu.

Casuarina Tree 407 London Road Mitcham