Mosaic

This extremely cheap Italian café offers excellent value traditonal food and a friendly atmosphere.

In southern Europe going out for a meal isn't considered quite the occasion as it is here in the UK. This is partly to do with the low cost of eating out, and partly with the fact that, if we're not visiting the local Harvester (heaven forbid), we demand a dining experience. The balance has been redressed to some extent by good value, good quality chains like Pizza Express and Wagamama. But in Mosaic you have an extremely affordable Italian restaurant with tasty traditional food and a convivial atmosphere.

On the food front the wide range of enormous thin-based pizzas stand out as far better than the passable pasta. The Quattro Stagioni was equal to pizzas you might buy for more than twice the price elsewhere. The salad we shared was a brilliant mix of fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, avocado and red onion bathed in olive oil - other options looked equally tasty.

Inside it's fairly functional café-style dining - and they even show the football on a TV sometimes. Out the back there's a large patio area which, although not fundamentally that attractive, surrounded by some of the ugly buildings that mar Archway, they've made a decent effort of jazzing it up.

Don't consider it for a special meal out, but if you can't be bothered to cook this is simply ideal. Oh, and they do take away too.