A sense of authenticity is an asset for any restaurant. Grumpy Italian waiters, dodgy French toilets, proposterous Japanese formality - they all add to the experiences of their eateries. So the sense of Greekness at one of Roath's two Hellenic hot-spots should be a boon. And indeed it is, as long as you're ready to be reminded of a fairly average Greek trattoria. The floors are suitably tiled, your voice rattling around the generally half-empty (at most) restaurant, and there's a quaint 14" telly and ancient VHS sitting in the corner ready for the chefs to gather around for some momentous, yet likely obscure, Greek sporting occasion. And you might enjoy the trickle of shady mates of the owner dropping in for a quick glass of wine in the corner. It's genuinely evocative of what you might find in the kind of average small Greek town we Brits have a habit of painting in vomit on an average off-season break.

But sadly the authenticity extends to leaving feeling you've paid that little bit too much, and probably to subsidise a large restaurant not getting enough customers. The food itself is pretty good. The taramasalata is mighty toothsome with a fantastic acidic kick, and the slab of lemony halloumi does a brilliant job of impersonating chicken breast with its meaty texture. Bowls of stew come with unctuous sauces, and the fact quite a few of them aren't ready until 9pm says something for the effort they put in, or perhaps the time-keeping of the chef. But the dishes don't come with many thrills, maybe a bowl of plain boiled rice here, the odd vegetable there if you're lucky. And they aren't at all cheap, £12 for most of the main courses. And the meze is a massive £20 per person, and generally agreed to be something of a disappointment.

So if you have pangs to recreate a recent holiday experience or have money to blow on something a little different (and ideally have a large number of friends to take along to fill it up) Hasapiko might well give you an enjoyable evening. Even more so if you can dig out an old video to watch in the corner. But I doubt you'll become a regular.