Manchester: Cake - "Pumpkin Cafe (Oxford Rd Station)"

In the sensible everyday world of food reviews it is highly unlikely that a station cafe would be highlighted for its singular excellence. I am glad not to be a serious food critic, but instead a veritable snack-aholic, because this means I can tell you about the joy that awaits you beyond the frankly shabby and depressing exterior of the Pumpkin Cafe at Oxford Road station.

If your main concern when choosing food on a break from work (or, as with myself, whilst commuting) is tastiness, sugar content and proximity to public transport then with the Pumpkin Cafe you cannot go wrong. This does come with a proviso, however: you can only have the muffins.

Pumpkin Cafe has the tastiest muffins I have encountered on this side of the globe. The blueberry or raspberry muffins are absolutely delightful. Little paper-wrapped clouds of sugary, buttery lightness with a slightly crispy top. Packed with large pieces of fruit - huge blueberries that burst with flavour and moist raspberries that melt with a velvety texture and a tartness that really cuts through the sugary muffin batter. For £1.55 the muffins aren't exactly the cheapest snack out there, but they have a quality rarely seen even in the most expensive of the city's cafes.

Don't bother with the sandwiches, though. And as for the coffee - blegh. Go to Java, just down the rise from the station (next to the Corner House) for proper coffee, made just how you like it by a cute young barista.

City of London: Japanese - "ASTA"

Japanese in London isn't exactly hard to come by. Walking into any Pret will give you a ready made box of sushi. However, what Pret and its like can't give you is good quality and value for money Japanese food.

ASTA 3 at 5 Midlesex Street (near Petticoat Lane) may not have sushi but this is easily forgiven because of its wide range of ramen soups and bento boxes not to mention the well stocked drinks cabinet.

A big bowl of ramen with miso broth will set you back around £8 and it'll be brought out in about 5 minutes. With daily specials there's bound to be something here to intrigue and as the food is prepared to order ASTA 3 is a step above the standard pre-packaged lunchtime fare.

While the place looks nothing more than a glorified school canteen with plain walls and simple table and chairs it does have quite a lot of seating so you'll probably find a place. Otherwise wait until 2PM when things die down. On that note ASTA 3 is only open during the busy lunch time rush and closes at 3PM.

I've now been here a few times and always had friendly, prompt and patient service from the staff.

As for the food itself. In addition to a generous quantity to cost ratio (at least for London) you'll also get a reasonably good meal. The broth is hot and bracing, which is perfect even during this mild winter. In ramen I've found the egg and pork component can often be a bit hit and miss but thus far they've been pretty good. Finally, the noodles and vegetables are easy to pick up and wolf down or nurse depending on how much time you have.

For the city this is very good, to get significantly better you'll have to pay an equally proportionate amount.

Next time you have a craving for Japanese give ASTA 3 a try. If you've been please leave a comment.

I'll also endeavour to review ASTA 1 in an upcoming post.