Good value, tasty, well presented food in elegant surroundings.

Bayside Brasserie is the latest offering from what's rapidly becoming a mini-empire in Cardiff Bay, sharing ownership with Bellinis and Signor Valentino.

The new venue is superb – probably the best in Mermaid Quay. Situated on the upper level it has a wonderfully high ceiling and an opening in the middle which stretches up to the next floor with a chic candelabra taking centre stage. Tables are well spread and there are excellent views of the bay and the WMC. The one thing I felt let the décor down was the tacky posters that were clearly from the marketing department of Marques de Caceres wine. There seemed to be loads of the things all over the place, and guess which company dominates the wine list.

Most of us had the smoked salmon for a starter – a good portion nicely presented. One person also sampled the vegetable soup and gave it the thumbs up. For a main I had some very tasty fish cakes that came with the highlight of the whole meal – THE CHIPS – truly glorious and surely a contender for best chips in Cardiff. There was a top lasagne going too (nice and light and very tasty), a stroganoff (creamy but not too rich), and 'liver and bacon’ with liver a little overdone. The pastry on the steak-and-ale pie got bonus stars for its lightness.

Unfortunately no one sampled the wine but I thought £3.75 for a pint of lager was a bit steep. The real orchid on the table was a nice touch, but we all agreed the music was basically bad - too cheesy and chart-based - why do so many restaurants play bad pop music ?

One thing I enjoyed (though not very PC) was the fact that when the waiter brought the bill to the table he gave it straight to me, the only man at the table – it made me feel like a real sugar daddy! Needless to say we still split the bill.

Have you eaten here in the evening? – let me know!