ONCE again, we ending up eating at a destination we hadn’t intended but serendipity has served us well of late and it proved to be the case once again on a trip to Durham.

Our intended lunch stop had been the Undercroft Restaurant at Durham Cathedral, which was subject to a £120,000 refurbishment earlier this year as part of the cathedral’s multi-million pound Open Treasure project.

On a previous visit we had rather damned the Undercroft with faint praise, taking exception to its school canteentype serving arrangements and being rather underwhelmed by the food. We felt the most glorious cathedral in the world (we are with Bill Bryson on this one but counterarguments welcome) could and should do rather better.

This time we got as far as the serving counter before deciding against it. On the hottest day of the year so far, at 1.30pm, the Undercroft seemed rather steamy (it was very full) and it had run out of its only cold lunch dish – a quiche – and could only offer jacket potatoes, lasagne and steak pie – not exactly what we had in mind for a light bite.

And we recalled on our way up to the cathedral thinking what an attractive spot a table outside the university’s Cafe on the Green looked. As we retraced our steps through the Cloisters we wondered if a table might be free.

We were in luck (very lucky as it turned out) and took a seat outside the 15th Century sandstone building owned by the university which used to be almshouses but has been the Cafe on the Green since 2012 (before that it used to be Bishop Cosin’s Almhouse Cafe but you can understand why they changed the name).

As we sat in the weak sunshine and looked across Palace Green, taking in the cathedral, university library and castle, we realised this was the perfect spot. There are not many cities where one can sit and eat in the middle of a World Heritage Site. Which is also a drawback. Because a spot outside is so sought after, people tend to hang around waiting for a table to be vacated and if you are one of the lucky ones with a table, there is a degree of psychological pressure not to linger over coffee. or anything else for that matter.

Service was suitably brisk. No sooner had we taken a seat than a waitresses proffered menus and took a drinks order (one refreshingly spicy ginger beer and a diet Coke). As well as eight lunch dishes, the menu also listed breakfast choices (for example, scrambled egg on toast with smoked salmon – £4.85) a range of sandwich rolls (BLT, cheese and pickle, ham, egg and homemade salad cream – all about a fiver) and toasted sandwiches (falafel, houmous and sweet roasted red pepper – £5.85 – caught my eye). The sandwiches all come with vegetable crisps and side salad.

From the mains we picked salads – a smoked mackerel one for me with beetroot, apple, red onion, capers and horseradish crème fraiche (£6.75) – and chicken Caesar salad for Sylvia with bacon, red onion, croutons, Caesar dressing and Parmesan shavings (£6.95).

We were impressed with both.

Mine had a rather rustic look to it but if you pick Cos lettuce for the greenery and decide not to slice it, the coming together with the other elements is bound to appear somewhat agricultural in construction. It was a lovely, light and refreshing combination, the sweet apple contrasting nicely with the acidity of the capers and the slight tartness of the horseradish crème fraiche. The flaked mackerel fillets were thankfully not too chilled.

Sylvia’s chicken was moist and flavoursome, the bacon crisp and same Cos lettuce had been used. She was particularly impressed by the lightly crisped croutons (small things are so important) which were not, as is so often the case, hard-baked nuggets which threaten the structural soundness of one’s fillings. The dressing was good too, not being too sweetly creamy in the American style.

These salads benefited a lot from not being like something else – with summer salads less is more.

As befits a proper cafe, the menu also boasted an impressive line-up of sweet and more or less gooey temptations, from a toasted tea cake (£1.95) to toffee layer cake (£3.05) and double chocolate loaf (£2.20).

We were certainly tempted but we had also become conscious of the tourist hordes eyeing our table as we finished our salads.

The idea of tucking in to a sweet while a footsore family looked at us, no doubt inwardly thinking “that fat pig really didn’t need that large slice of Victoria sponge cake while we, having just done the Cathedral tour, including the tower, are desperate for a sit down and a cup of tea” wasn’t very appealing so we paid our modest £18 bill and left.

Our seats were empty for just a nano second.

The Cafe on the Green

Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RL
Tel: 0191 334 3688, No website
Open: 9am-5pm, seven days
Vegetarian options: plenty
Disabled access: yes

Ratings (out of ten):

Food quality: 8 
Service: 7
Surroundings: 10
Value: 8