Konstantly satisfied

There's a purposeful bustle about Konstam. A stream of customers come and go (the trade is mainly takeaway), and service is cafestyle across a low table piled with loaves of bread, plates of cakes and big bowls of very good-looking salads - cherry tomatoes with olives, cauliflower with pine kernels, Portabella mushrooms, and lentils with herbs and balsamic vinegar.

The dining area is spartan: benches and tables softened by a small pot of flowers and scattered newspapers, plus mismatched Victorian hanging lights.

The menu is short and simple - currently Konstam is open for breakfast and lunch Mon-Wed & Fri 7.30am-4pm, Sat 8.30am-4.30pm, Sun 9am-4.30pm, with a light supper menu on Thursday, when hours are 7.30am-7pm.

One wall is made entirely out of cork tiles and someone has painstakingly arranged a zillion drawing pins so that they make up a 5ft-high stag's head. But the strangest thing about Konstam is its location - King's Cross.

The cafe is handy for the trucks, a Travelodge and a police station - the much-touted regeneration of the area cannot come soon enough for Konstam. The food is good - not fancy, but well done with a 'healthy' feel that just avoids tipping over into worthiness. You have to warm to anywhere where the most expensive wine on the list is £14.50.

There is always a soup on offer and the roast butternut, chestnut and bacon soup with toast (£3) is a model of its kind. Rich and thick,good contrasting textures from the shards of bacon and served with hunks of decent bread that have been oiled and grilled until crispy.

Or there's a bacon and mushroom tart with mixed salad. Or a grilled seabass with braised fennel and tapenade. Or a large wedge of spinach and onion fritatta (green with spinach) served with three salads from the counter - remarkable value at only £4.50. Then there may be mackerel escabeche with toast and parsley dressing, or a wild mushroom risotto.

A dish of pan roast chicken with chard, lentils and crème fra"che is simple and good - the chicken juicy within but with good crispy bits outside, the lentils rich and enlivened by the crunch of the chard.

Puds look pretty formidable. There's Konstam castle cake with warm golden syrup and lemon zest, a chocolate brownie that seems to have local office workers completely in its thrall, and pasteis de nata.

Konstam is a place where everyone seems to care passionately about food --dishes are considered and remarkably cheap. Service is laid-back and friendly, and when food is cooked to order, it takes a sensible amount of time to arrive, which is encouraging. There's no lightning fast 'ping' cookery here. If Konstam is to represent the new King's Cross then the sooner the refurb is completed the better.

Konstam
Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NA