Straight from plot to the pot

He continues: ''The building was formerly used as a hotel and this was its garden, with lots of rose bushes. It had been neglected for a long time before my dad took over the basement and opened the restaurant.

''I remember when I was about 10, we could not get half way into the garden because it was so overgrown with weeds. Now look at it.''

Neatly tucked behind the listed Victorian townhouse on Alexandra Place that is home to the Balaka, this charming walled kitchen garden provides coriander, spinach, spring onions, potatoes, marrow, mint and bay leaves to flavour and enhance the award-winning menu of dishes.

Walking down the steps to the restaurant, you understand why it has won the prize for ''best kept front'' in St Andrews five years in a row. Beautifully presented hanging baskets provide a cascade of colour and numerous pots show signs of a green-fingered touch.

''A local gardener puts the baskets and tubs together and we maintain them,'' Michael admits. ''We keep them watered and deadhead the flowers when necessary.''

When walking through The Balaka, the walls of which are lined with signed photographs of the great and the good who have dined here, we are passed by a waiter carrying a basket of freshly cut roses ready to be put into vases to adorn the tables for the evening guests.

A quick shimmy through the Swilken Bridge room, a private eating room that has been booked by Connery for his visit to St Andrews in September, and we are into the garden. The kitchen garden, which is organic, is split into three separate walled areas. Dominating the first garden is the eight foot tall bay tree that was planted as a one foot sapling by Michael and his father two years ago. Colourful borders of Tiger lilies edge a lawn with a circular flowerbed in which Abdur plants artistic displays, marking local occasions and golfing championships.

''When we take bay leaves off the tree we dry them out for a week before using them in dishes,'' says Michael. ''This one tree provides us with enough bay leaves. The garden is 100% organic - we don't use any chemicals, just horse manure as fertiliser.''

The second walled section contains a crop of flowering coriander that will be left to overgrow so that head chef Abdur Monem can use the coriander seeds produced. Neat rows of spring onions wave in the wind beside the coriander, while borders of scented roses line the walls.

Michael, who studied hotel and catering management, pulls a bunch of coriander from the crop and says, ''smell this'', holding the fragrant serrated leaves up for me to savour.

''We use coriander to garnish everything from curries to salads,'' he adds. ''As this crop of coriander has flowered we will now let it overgrow and get coriander seeds from it. We replant some seeds and crush others into a Dhanya powder that is used in many curries. It is quite difficult to make the powder - we have to roast the seeds and then crush them.

''We get a crop of coriander from May to November. We have to buy it in during the other months but at the moment we are self-sufficient for coriander, spinach and spring onions.

''We planted the rose bushes about 10 years ago. They are used, along with the Tiger lilies, in vases on the tables.''

Following the path through to the third walled garden another crop of coriander is found, along with spinach that has been left to overgrow as an experiment, as well as some marrow. A tree that was blocking sunshine from getting to much of the garden was recently removed, enhancing the outlook for the surrounding properties that now get a perfect bird's-eye view of the entire kitchen garden.

The walls in the garden were listed along with the townhouse in which the Balaka resides and Abdur has recently spent (pounds) 2000 re-pointing them.

Standing at the foot of the garden, the waft of cooking from the restaurant is

inviting. A look at the menu shows a clever use of the best of Bangladeshi cooking with fine Scottish ingredients.

On tasting Mas Bangla, Scottish salmon marinated in lime, turmeric, green chilli and spices, then fried in mustard oil with garlic, spring onion, tomato and aubergine, the photographer and I need little convincing of the Balaka's award-winning titles of best curry house in Scotland (1995) and best in the UK (1999).

The curry house is the traditional second home of many university students and the Balaka is no different. Michael admits that around 50% of the restaurant's business is from students at St Andrews University. Abdur is Honorary President of the university's cricket club.

The rest of the business is made up with other locals and tourists, many of whom now put the restaurant on their itinerary along with their hopeful rounds of golf.

The garden has undoubtedly enhanced the restaurant's reputation for using fresh herbs, but it has also proved to be a cost-effective means of getting those herbs. Nevertheless the Balaka is not the only St Andrews restaurant to benefit from the kitchen garden, as Michael explains.

''A bunch of coriander costs about one pound in the shops so it is very cost-effective for us to grow it. We have about 20 local restaurants that also help themselves to the coriander.

''We grow a lot so there is no point in wasting any of it. It is a small community and we have a good working relationship with the other restaurants. I came into this business because of my interest in the restaurant but the garden is an extension to that. It has made me appreciate how useful it can be.

''We invite customers to look at the garden and often give them a bunch of coriander or spinach to take home. The garden is so hidden that even some local people are surprised when they see it.''

Michael adds: ''My dad is the head gardener but most of the staff enjoy coming out and working here. It is a great escape and a good excuse to get out of the kitchen.''

The Balaka Bangladeshi Restaurant, Alexandra Place, St Andrews, Fife. Tel: 01334 474825.