Market café moving up in the world.

THE waitress behind the serving counter at Café Cenno in Durham’s Market Hall looked at your reviewer as if he was from outer space.

“You want Sweet-chilli-crayfish- pasta-salad?” She said it very slowly and deliberately, as if I was asking for plate of sautéed cow brains with a side order of devilled kidneys.

“Err, it’s on the menu,” I suggested, helpfully, conscious of the queue of people behind me anxious to order their cheesy fries.

The waitress turned to the supervisor and asked: “Sweetchilli- crayfish-pasta-salad?”.

The supervisor confirmed that yes, it was a legitimate order and it was duly entered in the till. The order for corned beef pie, chips and peas proved to be less problematic.

We reckon they do more corned beef pie than pasta salad at Café Cenno.

Which is something of a shame, because the market café has had a substantial makeover this year, following the extension of the upper floor. What was a glorified (but very good, it should be said) greasy spoon is now a more elegant and spacious café and the menu has been extended to include more salads and fish dishes. The grills, burgers, jacket potatoes and sandwiches are still available, but there’s been a definite shift upmarket.

The loftier ambitions are summarised by the slogan (or mission statement as some might have it) on the menu: “A local business with a worldwide audience.” I can see what they are getting at (tourists from all over the world come to the city) but I’m not sure many tourists find their way to Café Cenno.

Which again is something of a shame.

Having taken in the extensive menu, complete with mission statement, I had originally wanted to try one of the café’s “famous Northumberland pies” but by one o’clock they had all gone. That famous?

That good?

Which is why we went for the salad which caused the waitress such consternation. And it was really very good value for £5.95.

It might have been put together in a somewhat agricultural fashion, but it was all in there. Accompanied by a brown bread roll, the salad included peppers, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber, nicely al dente pasta and lots of sweet chilli sauce. The crayfish tails were also somewhat al dente, some might have called them chewy, but there was certainly no shortage.

The generosity with the sauce was double edged. Working my way through the top layers, the sauce was an nicely sweet and spicy coating for the green stuff, pasta and crayfish. But by the time I reached the furthest depths of the capacious bowl, the remaining salad was just swimming in the accumulated liquid and that wasn’t so pleasant.

But, to be fair, by the time I had reached that point, I had had my fill so no harm done.

On finding there were no steak pies, Sylvia had opted for the dish our waitress had no difficulty with. Her corned beef pie, chips and peas (£5.75) was a handsome plateful indeed, the pie being notable mainly for the shortness of the excellent pastry case, the ample filling in which corned beef had the clear ascendency over potato and onion. The chips were good too and there was plenty of beefy gravy.

We decided to split a warmed apple pie and cream (£2.50).

It was a good eighth of a 12- inch pie and again the same lightness of touch with the shortcrust pastry was evident.

It was also tart, not overwhelming so, but it was certain no sugar-fest.

We had bagged a table overlooking the market stalls below and it has to be said it is an excellent people-watching spot. If you’ve ever wondered what sort of people buy some of the goods on sale in markets, Café Cenno is the place to find out. And I’m not being rude about Durham’s market here, or the people who use it. It is entirely splendid and we spent a good while wondering why Durham’s market is so vibrant, varied and full, when Darlington’s, arguably housed in a finer building, has far fewer occupied stalls and less choice, unless you want to buy meat.

Café Cenno is definitely a huge asset to Durham’s emporium, whether it is aiming to please the traditional tastes of the market’s regular customers, or the tourists who find their way in there, despite it not being the best signposted attraction in the city.

We thought Cafe Cenno excellent value. Our lunch, which included a couple of soft drinks, was a modest £17.20. A canny bargain in Durham Market.