Oh, we had such high hopes for 10 Feel Tall. After all, it's run by the same people that gave us the generally pretty spiffing Buffalo Bar, and ever since it opened in Spring 2008 it seems that it's been 'the' place to see and be seen amongst the hip young things of Cardiff.

Ambitious is a bit of an understatement. One of those trendy 'concept venue' thingies usually not often found this side of Notting Hill, it packs in three distinct ways of enjoying yourself over three floors: a street level deli and cafe bar, mezzanine restaurant, and top-floor 'bistrotheque', spinning choons till the early hours. Add in free wifi, a bewildering array of daily live music - and some decent use of the precincted bit of Church Street for some European pavement cafe action - and it all adds up to something, well, 'a bit different'.

First impressions were good. Our party turned up at 9pm, having pre-booked a table to celebrate one of our number's birthday. Already the queue stretched out the door. Inside, decor was rather stylish - the work of London design firm Makilee. We'd already chosen our food in advance as requested by the 10FT peeps, and were rather excited - the menu offered a really quite interesting array of the usual Mediterranean staples (hummus, breads and other 'small pots') with a few nice twists, but most intriguingly - a diverse selection of unusual North African/Moroccan main courses including tagines and grilled meats.

So then: reading the above, you might be tempted to wonder how it's ended up with the jammy rating it has. In fact, it's only really the novelty of the concept and the fact that it's perhaps suffering teething troubles, that saves 10FT dropping even lower. To summarise why:

- A top-floor "bistrotheque" is a nice enough idea. But don't be so shamelessly greedy in trying to ram in everyone waiting on the pavement outside. The mezzanine restaurant was filled to bursting with overflow from the revellers upstairs (read: we'll pack 'em in somehow or they'll go somewhere else). Which resulted in dozens of people standing literally right over us as we were eating, spilling drinks over our shoulders, and bumping into our chairs. It'd have been more atmospheric eating on a Tube train.

- Music on the ground floor - good. Different music on the top floor - good. But when both are far too loud = people on mezzanine floor ending up with a curious car-crash of sound. And not able to talk to one another.

- If people have pre-booked for 9pm, and have diligently pre-ordered their food well in advance as requested, don't leave them hanging around till PAST HALF TEN to serve it up. This is pretty unforgivable, non?

- Of course, it's fine to ask them if they fancy ordering a few starters, dips etc when they arrive. Don't do this three more times - alarmingly aggressively - whilst they're waiting, first hopefully, then despondently, for their main courses.

- When they politely express discontent for the 90 minute wait, and seek a reasonable reduction on the bill, don't just refuse point blank and offer them more free wine that they don't want. (Oh, and rolling your eyes and quibbling for several minutes when it's pointed out that quite a few people are driving and drinking Cokes etc is also pretty unforgivable. THEY'RE SOFT DRINKS FOR GOODNESS SAKE).

- It's clear that all the staff are under tremendous pressure and the place isn't being managed fantastically. But having a waitress have a near-nervous breakdown in front of your diners by telling them repeatedly that 'it's all my fault...it's all my fault' is a bit...weird. We all felt a bit worried for her.

As for the food: my pork loin with almonds, fennel and smoked paprika had a lovely flavour...but was dry as a bone and a real missed opportunity. And the girlf's "Giant Tiger Prawn salad" was just that - a single big prawn on a bit of mixed greenery. Nice enough, but not for £8.50. Others concurred the food offered plenty but failed to deliver.

So: what I can I say? It's terribly - terribly - managed at present. To be honest, pissing off a large party of foodie 20-30 year olds - surely your target demographic? - is really pretty crappy PR when you're so new. I can't help thinking 10FT has bitten off far more than it can chew. It'd be so much nicer if it did 1 or 2 things well rather than a plethora of ideas that it can't deliver.

(Oh, and the much trumpeted 'ground floor deli' is - by all accounts - a single cupboard of food. Nice food, but that's not really the point).

That said, there is the slightest glimmer of something quite interesting amidst all the annoyingness. The menu is genuinely different, and the place well-located and rather nice inside. I'd love it if someone told me in three months time that it was great and they'd sorted it all out. But for now, 10 Feet Tall simply flatters to deceive.