Cilantro

Vegetarian cafe Cilantro is great for veggies and vegans – as long as you're not in a rush.

We want to love Cilantro. It is a bright, cheerful little place with a sprinkling of outdoor seating on Chorlton's Beech Road, making it perfect as a spot to while away a lazy Saturday morning people-watching and flicking through the papers.

A genuine cafe, Cilantro stays open until 5pm offering a range of sandwiches, salads and soups with a wholesome veggie / vegan spin to them. The ciabatta sandwiches offer interesting fillings like halloumi, tomato, crisp lettuce, capers and minted yoghurt with a side salad for £4.25, while a nod has been made to the odd stray meat eater with the inclusion of Jamaican lamb, chicken or veggie patties with rice 'n' peas, coleslaw and onion gravy at the same price.

Fresh ingredients, average prices and a nice setting should make Cilantro a shoo-in when it comes to choosing a lunchtime venue. However, we've visited a few times now and on each occasion we've had to wait so long for our food and, later, our bill that our goodwill has slowly ebbed away. If Cilantro can sort this out and raise the standard of service to the standard of the food on offer, it could be fantastic – but it has some way to go at the moment.