WE have made many attempts to visit this venue but have always found the upstairs caf closed. On this occasion, a Friday, we were lucky.

Should we read anything into the memo board at the foot of the stairs, which listed finger plasters, squirty cream, dustpan and brush? There is a bell to ring for attention at the top.

Although warmly welcomed, it would have been nice to find all the tables cleared and cleaned. One table had been scribbled on, but later we realised that was in order. Chalks were available for that propose providing an interesting diversion for small children.

We were a party of five. Granddaughter Victoria (an old hand at snacking with us), her French friend Cecille and my cousin from Australia.

Deciding to have more than a sandwich, we had no difficulty in selecting from the snack menu.

My cousin's choice was asparagus soup (£2) which she said was delicious. It came with a roll already buttered although there was no side plate. And she had to ask for a spoon.

Cecille ordered a jacket potato with cheese. About ten minutes later the proprietor appeared to say that they had run out of potatoes. Tell her that in French, I suggested, to which he responded in his best Canadian French. Cecille was surprised by the language and settled for fromage et jambon in a bap (£2.70). This arrived with a lettuce and crisps garnish and quickly disappeared. We had another satisfied snacker.

Victoria pondered the crab stick mayo on granary or ciabatta but eventually decided to have a tuna melt (£3.95). She said it was warm but uncharacteristically made no other comment.

Ann beat me to the boudin noir (£4.25) which was homemade black pudding with mashed potato and caramalised apple. This proved to be a winner and will be my selection when I am lucky enough to be at No 84 again.

Should I try the monster mash of bacon, sausage, beans and mashed potato? Had it been a Monday or Wednesday, I could have tried the Philly steak sandwich (£3.75) served on a scuffler.

I opted for a veggie melt (£3.95) which came in a soft baguette and was filled with extremely hot sauted aubergines, courgettes, mushrooms, onion and peppers. It was superb.

As a group, we didn't go for the background music, couldn't agree on an interpretation of the artwork but liked the attractive cutlery (Ikea).

From start to finish, our excellent snack took 50 minutes, comfortably within the one hour's metered parking (40p) outside.

Updated: 16:15 Friday, July 30, 2004