For a moment it was uncertain if this could really be the place everybody is talking about. There are rumours that those who get lost in this part of Cardiff never make it home, at least not with all their money, and fingers. It had taken some doing too. This was visit number four, the three previous having been thwarted by Canteen's ever-shortening opening hours. There's no dinner before Thursday now, and lunch has been abolished completely. For heaven's sake, make sure you book in advance via the website.

So in what sense 'canteen'? It's small certainly, and the interior isn't lavish. Then there's the speed of it all. Food absolutely flies out of the kitchen. Great if you're in a hurry, slightly annoying if you're looking to make an evening of it. But you can forgive a lot when the food is this good. On tonight's 'Lucky Old Wayne' menu (Wayne being one of the owners) there were a dozen or so dishes across three courses. And yes, lucky reader, we tried the lot on your behalf. And we even took along our crack vegan reviewer, as Canteen prides itself on being animal, or at least veggie, friendly.

'Not duck' spring rolls were the highlight of the starters, with a cunning bean-curd simulation of shredded duck which would beat the real thing on most Chinese restaurants. The onion bhajees impressed too with an unexpected complexity of flavour, although we could have done with more of them. As for main courses, there was a stunning risotto, and the vegetable tagine with its pistachio and sultana cous cous would have softened even the most devoted of carnivores. Thumbs up from the vegan too - most of the dishes are adaptable to vegan and coeliac needs on request.

There had to be a slight fall from these dizzy heights though. For dessert there was a sticky toffee pudding which had somehow had all of its flavour sucked out before it reached the table. And the bannoffee pudding was a disappointment too. The concept here appeared to be that of piling the basic ingredients successively on the plate. It didn't work.

But let's not allow a pudding misfire or indeed the dubious piped soundtrack of 'Come on Eileen' and friends come between us and a good review. If you like food, you'll like Canteen. Simple as that. A good deal simpler than getting a table in the place certainly.