Why is everyone in La Lupa next door? There is no justice in this world.

STOP PRESS After a closure and partial refit Argana is now open, and not quite what it was. See Chief's comments below

Cafe Argana has only been open 3 weeks. It doesn’t look much from outside, but we’re been dying to try the food out as there aren’t many places in Cardiff to try Moroccan food, as is displayed in the window.

On the menu board as we (four hungry diners) walk in there is a vast array of choices. English breakfast, continental breakfast, and panini. Fancy something from the fish bar? Or the grill bar? Tiger Bay prawns? A Philly cheese steak sandwich? It’s all here. As well as a nicely decorated, if a bit too darkly lit room, with a deli style counter. And, unfortunately, two large screens playing Hip Hop music all evening. TV be gone, we say.

But this is the breakfast/lunch menu. We visit in the evening, a la carte time, and we’re not offered anything from the menu. This is because there is no evening menu, just a list of recommended dishes from our friendly waiter who is also the proud owner.

Two other diners are present when we arrive, eating some fantastic looking tagine dishes (their leftovers were boxed up for later, a good sign they didn’t want to waste a morsel).

There’s no alcohol licence, so, as two of the party go off down the street in search of beer. We, the remaining two accept the recommended meals: brochettes, and a chicken cous cous tagine.

As we’re waiting for our dinners, watching the chef (wearing a fetching fez), we’re brought a big plate of herb smothered bread with a lovely balsamic vinegar dip (no charge).

The food is brought out to us as two “courses”, the first arrives and our eyes light up. On a large warmed slate platter sits several different brochettes (skewered kebabs), beef and chicken, together with two bowls of salad, two types of rice, and a bowl of crispy chips. This was all lovely, we especially loved one of the types of rice which had in it small pieces of crispy beef with a wonderful spicy taste made from a sauce of garlic, ginger and chilli in which the beef had been marinated (we asked). The salad was simple but tasty, and included capers and artichokes.

Once that had been devoured our second course was promptly placed on our table, the fantastic tagine pot lid was removed to reveal the chicken cous cous. This was a simple sauce made from coriander, ginger, garlic and a subtle taste of cinnamon (we asked the chef, again), with large pieces of on the bone chicken, on a bed of very fine cous cous - our waiter was very happy and proud to tell us this had been gently cooked over three hours by steaming three times. The tagine was great (although the chicken was a little on the dry side) and it was really nice for the four of us to share the 2 generously portioned main dishes at the waiter’s recommendation.

We had to try one of the cheese cakes so we shared a little one between four (lovely!), and bought a little tray of selected Moroccan pastries to take home (which I’m eating as I write this review). Oh and he gave us another one on the house.

So, we all left very happy, and we’ll most certainly be visiting Cafe Argana again. This for several reasons: fantastic food, cooked well and with care and attention, and amazing attentive service with a smile by a proud new restaurant owner. And what incredible value for money; the whole lot came to less than a tenner per person.

P.S. to Cafe Argana: lose the TVs and play some authentic Moroccan music, please!