Futuristic food space

The red neon sign shining in the rain early on a drizzly Friday evening looked like it belonged on the streets of 1940s New York.

Cafeteria (and make no mistake about the name, greasy soldier-dunking spoon this is not), on Ladbroke Grove is the latest dining innovation from Tony and Gary Hibberd, with partner John O'Donnell.

The entrance might lead you to believe the venue is small. But the passageway from it soon reveals it is not. The scale of the place is a surprise — think aircraft hanger — making its impact all the more dramatic when you reach the hub.

First up, the bar, which peers out over the restaurant from a chocolate and ebony-coloured room. Moroccan in style and warm in feel, it serves the dual purpose of offering a quenching pre-dinner cocktail while inviting you to survey the eatery in its full glory.

The restaurant itself appears to come from the future. The main feature in the airy eating space resembles the telepods Jeff Goldblum stepped out of in The Fly. Soft it isn't. But it is impressive, and the dandelion-fluff lampshades floating around from the ceiling lighten the martian-like space.

Down to dinner and do make sure you're hungry. The menu offers proper comfort food such as fishcakes with hollandaise sauce, steak sandwiches; cottage pie and the big boy burger. It is mostly organic (tick) and to add to the wholesome flavours, the 1940s-style kitchen is framed with a funky scattering of HP and Ketchup bottles laid on duck-egg shelving. It whisks up images of your grandparents' house blended with student-ville.

My date and I didn't have room for dessert after plumping for fishcakes and burgers. The fishcakes were deliciously dense and more than satisfactory while the big boy burger was succulent and deserving of its name. The wine list at Cafeteria is broad and comprehensive with a reasonably priced selection of good names. A 'café' that offers Pouille Fume alongside a big bowl of chips can't fail to please.

Cafeteria is a stunning space that is simultaneously buzzy, fun and relaxing. Designed to impress, it isn't one for old fogies, but funky young things will enjoy its space-age feel. The only niggling factor on the night we swung by was that the staff were a little inattentive. Perhaps they were overawed by their working environment too.

Cafeteria
124 Ladbroke Grove, W10 5NE