Amser Cegin/Kitchen and Bar: Yr Hen Llyfrgell/The Old Library,TheHayes, Cardiff

With its high ceilings and tall windows, Amser, on the first floor of the Welsh cultural centre, is an immediately attractive place to while away time with good things to eat and drink. Its location is spot on, too: it's in the other half of the old central library in the Hayes, next to Locke and Remedy, and is very much set up to feed you quickly and well. There's a 'works canteen' feel to Amser which means you're not hanging about unduly.

Workday lunchers and shoppers will doubtless be the core daytime audience, (although it would be a handy work meetings venue) and they can choose from a good-sized menu, but Amser is open til late, Wednesday to Saturday, and Chef Padrig 'Paj' Jones (ex-Le Gallois and Fish At 85, among many others) is at the helm to produce a menu inspired by the streetfood he has met on his travels. 

We ate from the evening menu: actually, as it's quite compact, it would be more accurate to say 'we ate the evening menu', although it will change often, you feel. 

Lightly spiced and battered cockles, served on a scallop shell, arrive with a briny thwack and conjure ozone-rich air on Welsh beaches from that first mouthful. The saffron lemon mayonnaise is a lovely thing, and we are off to a flier.

Other influences are more far-flung. A freshly-made flatbread is smeared with roasted red pepper and walnut paste, then a coarse hummus, before slow-cooked shoulder of Welsh lamb is piled on, dressed with mint and cumin sauce and scattered with pomegranate seeds. It's a hefty handful of food and a good example of what's on offer here: using fine local produce to reinterpret dishes from around the world.

The buttermilk chicken is billed as coming with 'sexy slaw'. It's thick-cut and flecked with red chilli, but it's the name which gives me hope: if 'chunky' is the new sexy, then things are looking up for your humble correspondent. And frankly, it's about time. 

The chicken itself is crisp to a fault: there's an audible snap as you bite into it, the flesh silky under its light coating. It's as far from some flabby, claggy high street boxed-up disappointment as you can imagine. 

The vegan option of the five mains is a macaroni cheese, but it's wearing its Sunday best. Indeed, if the verb 'pimped' wasn't so ubiquitous/ridiculous/tedious, I'd use that, because under its topping this is rich with mushrooms and the funky twang of truffle. My wife immediately rates it the best she's ever tasted. 

Pork ribs are a meeting of the Chinese and American styles, with the aniseed waft of five spice in a tangy barbecue sauce which is ideal for mopping up with the rice and one of the many different Alex Gooch breads on offer; a rosemary focaccia was superb, and nicely complimented by a Tomos a Lilford Rosemary pale ale. 

There's a strong beer list dominated by Welsh brewers- Otley and Celt alongside Tomos A Lilford and Miws Piws, with ciders from Gwynt y Ddraig.The draught selection has two from Pipes, brewed less than a mile and a half away. 

Desserts are a standout. While a chocolate mousse has just the right note of bitterness, a lemon posset- topped with passionfruit- is the kind of thing to have you chasing every last scrap with your spoon, and a bara brith crème brûlée is all tap-tap on the surface and silk underneath. 

Prices are keen, with nothing over £9 and the lunch menu coming in at a little less. The menu, the ingredients, the staff are proudly Welsh and that language is very much to the fore. The name's a clue, of course, as is the fact their website defaults to Welsh. Dish names are in Welsh first, then English. 

That shouldn't bother anyone, any more than having the choices at Zi's Cafe translated, or needling an explanation of what Thara Kuttanadan at your local Indian is. The strong Welsh identity will, of course, be a huge draw for many, in a place which is explicitly dedicated to the celebration and promotion of Welsh culture.

Whatever language you order in, what's key are the flavours at Amser. This is an interesting, offbeat addition to the city centre, and yet another local business competing for your money with the usual chain brands.

I was invited to eat at Amser; all food and drink was complimentary, though this did not influence my opinion. 
Amser Cegin
Yr Hen Llyfrgell
Cardiff
http://yrhenlyfrgell.cymru/
SUN - TUES: 09:00 - 18:00
WED - SAT: 09:00 - late