books scattered nearby. While we ate, Flamenco music played in the background and added to the continental feel of the café.

The friendly owner Rosemarie Coutts who runs this family business with her sons agreed that Chapter 2's a very continental place. Language schools surround the café, and it's the main thoroughfare to the centre, so it seeks to cater for tastes from all over the world. They serve halal food, and are popular with Chinese and Portuguese customers as the cakes are reminiscent of the lighter sponges in their cuisines.

If you're somewhat sweet toothed, then you might not notice the sandwich menu at first because inside more eye popping cakes and pastries are on display in big glass counters. Steal your gaze from these for a moment and you'll find a light lunch menu offers an impressively extensive range including club sandwiches, panninis, baguettes, wraps and jacket potatoes all at reasonable prices.

In the name of a balanced diet we held off on the cakes to begin with and went for a falafel baguette. This came with crusty white bread, the falafel accompanied by salad and moistened with a yogurt and mint dressing which makes a fresh contrast to its more earthy flavours. It was wholly satisfying and definitely superior to those bland supermarket falafel offerings, and at a fair price.

We also tried a spicy Mexican mince wrap, which tasted fresh and came packed with a generous helping of minced lamb and melted cheese.

Now to the serious business of pudding. The cafe boasts an overwhelming selection with ice cream, milk shakes, sorbet, baklava, and favourites such as flapjacks and shortbread. It would be difficult to leave, though, without trying one of the decorative cakes.

We wanted to try the sugary replica of a football match, but unfortunately this is only for their custom made service, so instead we opted for a piece of caramel cake and chocolate cake, which were both much lighter than an English sponge and layered with more cream.

The caramel cake also had more vanilla which gave it an intense flavour & the chocolate cake was filled with silky chocolate cream.

There was room for an encore though, and we finished with baklava. Our teeth sank into delicate pastry then vivid green chopped pistachios and luscious syrup, relishing this cake that was so fun to eat and satisfying that we both left on a real sugar high. We will return for chapter two and try the ice cream soon.