Having visited before for coffee and found a lengthy queue, myself and some colleagues thought we would beat the lunchtime rush and arrive shortly after noon.

However as we discovered the number of people wanting to eat in this relatively small cafe never diminishes... and with good reason.

Yes, there may have been a queue, but it moved pretty fast and after 10 minutes the three of us were seated and given complimentary, large glasses of iced tap water while we looked at the menu - a nice change from having to ask for water for the table.

The lunchtime menu may be small, but boy is it mouthwatering: goat's cheese crottin served on micro leaf and rocket salad with peach and cardamon chutney (£5.75) and crab pots with fennel, chilli, lime aioli and crostini (£5.75) were just two of the starters, which because of time constraints, we sadly had to forgo.

The mains were equally tempting, but try as I may, I couldn't take my eyes of the amazing display of huge cakes, gateaux and fruit filled meringues at the back of the cafe - but more about those delights later.

Avoca Cafe is quite small, but mirrored walls give an airy feel and my arty colleague described the decor as "very Philippe Starck".

And there is a lift to facilitate disabled access.

As well as great food choices, there is a great range of fresh fruit smoothies, fruit juices, coffees (including a soya cappuccino), and teas.

We couldn't resist trying melon and ginger smoothies which got 'thumbs-up' all round.

Mains included: butternut squash ravioli served with sage and spring onion cream sauce (£10.95), Parma wrapped free-range chicken breast filled with spinach, apricot and ricotta cheese served on potato mash with creamed York cabbage (£11.50) and mixed bean, chorizo and roasted pepper cassoulet served on crusty bread, creme fraiche and salsa verde (£9.65).

I chose the organic beef burger in a crusty bap with cherry tomato salsa and horseradish mayonnaise with chunky chips cooked in duck fat, while my friends went for chargrilled organic salmon marinated in lime, chilli and coriander served on roasted vine tomato salad and salsa verde and a vegetarian antipasti platter.

Special credit must go to the waiting staff, who despite being rushed off their feet, were so nice and helpful, and also the kitchen staff - our smoothies didn't take long and as soon as we were ready, our order was taken and 15 minutes later, our meals arrived.

Nothing was too much trouble - more water? No problem.

The organic burger was the nicest I have ever tasted - no gristle, just tasty, high-quality meat and the chunky, duck-fat chips were absolute heaven.

The salmon was also swooned over.

The vegetarian platter was described as: "A huge board of delights including: three dipping pots - humous, tapendade and red pepper, sunblush tomatoes, griddled ribbons of courgette and aubergine, olives, buffalo mozarella cheese and a never-ending variety of breads." The perfect meal to sit and pick over on a lazy afternoon with friends and a bottle of wine - oh why isn't there wine? - but thankfully, there is dessert!

At last I could treat myself to the dish that had caught my eye right from the start - a huge, meringue roulade, crammed with fresh cream and masses of fresh berries. It was delicious.

My friend's carrot cake was moist and tasty with a thick glaze on top, and you could actually see bits of carrot.

My other dining companion (and very fussy eater) had asked if the chef could make her a fresh fruit salad?

No problem at all. and a short while later, out came a big bowl of melon, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... with little pots of yoghurt and honey on the side.

We finished off with individual cafetieres of coffee and left so full, we could barely walk back to the office.

Lunch at the Avoca Cafe surpassed all of our expectations, food-wise, service-wise, everything, so if you decide to visit and find a queue, join the end - it will be well worth the wait.