The man responsible for the excellent cooking at this little cafe is Dale Hibbert, who for a short time played bass guitar in The Smiths when they were just starting out.

By the time the band had gone on to enjoy success, his place had been taken by Andy Rourke. Some would say that Dale missed out, but, Heaven Knows He’s Not Miserable Now, because he’s found happiness in the kitchen. Like The Smiths’ frontman Morrissey, Dale is a lifelong vegetarian and says he would not know how to cook meat. What he does know how to cook is the sort of honest, tasty food which makes you forget that that the flesh of animals is missing from the menu.

I had a bean-burger with cheese and a salad, and my other half had a falafel panini. Both were lovingly prepared and presented, and full of fresh flavours.

Dale’s Czech wife, Svet, does front-of-house and is the most charming hostess you can imagine. The word ‘waitress’ doesn’t do justice to the effort she puts in. I don’t think it’s going too far to say she treats every customer like royalty.

I’d describe the atmosphere at Káva as bohemian, but that would make it sound pretentious, which it is not.

The coffee is just about as good as coffee can be, which is apt because ‘Káva’ is the Czech word for coffee.

TIM NIXON