I HAVE walked past Truly Scrumptious many times on my way home from work, and as a connoisseur of civilised tea parties (I threw one once), I am always drawn to the lovely China sets in the window.
 

I finally had a chance to sample the food at the gloriously pink bistro while catching up with a friend over lunch.
 

There is a lovely atmosphere to the eaterie, with lots of vintage decoration and trinkets. There’s not masses of room inside, but luckily there was a table spare for us. For less Arctic days there are also tables outside.
 

The menu is fairly extensive with lots of lunch options, as well as a good selection of specials on offer.
 

I had Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, washed down with a Whittard’s luxury white hot chocolate. Both were delicious. There was a generous portion of salmon, and in all enough to fill me up. The hot chocolate was sweet and warmed me right up.
 

My friend had a spicy chicken sandwich in a brown bap, which was served with coleslaw, potato salad and freshly dressed leaves. Hers was also a generous portion and she accompanied it with a rich cappuccino.
 

Unfortunately neither of us felt we could squeeze a dessert in, but there were some lip-lickingly tempting cakes on offer. My friend had previously visited Truly Scrumptious in the summer and said the ice cream sundaes were really impressive.
 

The service was friendly and welcoming, creating a lovely relaxing atmosphere.
 

All in all, a pleasurable lunch with tasty, reasonably-priced food and a definite need to return and try more of what is on offer.
 

* The total cost of the meal was £12 for two main courses, drinks excluded.