TERESA, who recommended that I visit this venue, has a misguided idea about my appetite. "You'll love the sandwiches" she said. Just as well I spotted them described as 'door-stop' before I ordered!

While we were still contemplating the menu, the two pots of tea we had ordered arrived. The style of presentation was new to us. Round teapots sitting snugly in wide cups. The china bore the message 'everything stops for tea'.

Sadly the writing on the specials food and beverages boards was too small for us to read at a distance so we concentrated on the printed menu.

Now back to the sandwiches. We watched a family struggling with its order. The sandwiches looked soft enough but were definitely of door-stop proportions!

The warm weather dictated our choice. Soup (roast fennel or wild mushroom potage) with warm Danby bread at £2.95 was a non-starter. It was also 'no' to conventional sandwiches despite the many interesting names and ingredient combinations.

Could we be tempted by the Stoupa salad (£4.75), mixed salad leaves with barrel-aged feta cheese, free range Raskelf chicken breast, plump Kalamata olives and toasted pinenuts?

Eventually I decided on the Just Brie (£3.50) - award-winning brie de meaux served with a warm crusty baguette. The cucumber with mint jelly, sundried tomato and mixed leaves were a little too heavily dressed for my taste.

Under the heading of panini grills (£3.95), Ann selected the tuna cheese melt, which arrived hot and with a salad garnish including croutons. Ann said it was tasty but a bit larger than she would have liked.

From the cakes, I chose a slab of excellent apple cake.

This small venue seats about 20 people on chairs that appear to have come from a church or chapel by the book rack on the back of each.

The staff of four performed marvels providing food from what seemed to be cramped conditions, coping with seated snackers and a busy takeaway trade.

Updated: 16:21 Friday, May 07, 2004