Cafe 88 Goes Large... cooking does not get fresher than this

If there is one man that loves fresh ingredients then that man is Masterchef’s very own daddy of desserts, Gregg Wallace. Be it fish, fruit, meat or vegetables, barely an episode of the hit BBC show goes by when ‘ingredients expert’ Gregg isn’t hammering home the importance of using fresh ingredients.

On that basis, one place that Gregg would surely love is Café 88. Perfectly located behind the grandeur of Selfridges on Wigmore Street and occupying an imposing corner site, the place always appears busy, with a glamorous mix of smart locals and wealthy tourists permanently glued to its outside seating.

Choosing to sit inside on this particular occasion, it’s a case of going up to the large glass counter to order, and whilst there is an impressive range of tasty looking treats on show to tempt you for afters, I managed to resist and came away having merely ordered a Malbi Chicken sandwich and chips.

All of the food is made to order so there are a couple of minutes to wait but with impressive art works, which change regularly, hanging from the high-ceilings, and a copy of the Daily Telegraph usually doing the rounds, there is always something to look at whilst the action is taking place in the kitchen area.

It’s most definitely worth the wait however, as the soft, crusty white 'sandwich' arrives, packed with grilled chicken breast in a black pepper marinade, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, pickles, corn and soy that combine to make one awesome lunch, which the above photo will confirm, is in fact a baguette.

If this baguette, which is served warm isn’t enough then there is also a delicious fresh side salad, which uses gloriously red cherry tomatoes, an interesting mix of salad leaves and perhaps rather unusually mushroom, arranged into an attractive dish in its own right and drizzled in a superb balsamic dressing.

Everything tastes not only like it has just been made for you, which of course it has, but almost that it has just been grown for you too, or in the case of the bread, certainly freshly baked. At £4.95 when you eat in that’s not bad at all, and in fact if I worked locally I would be in here every day for certain.

Choosing to take the fusion approach once again, I washed the whole lot down with a cup of English breakfast tea with milk and two sugars. The side order of chips isn’t shown on the large white menu boards but with a golden colour and a soft potato centre they certainly should be, for all to enjoy.

Another cup of tea and a wedge of Victoria sponge round of an extremely relaxing and delicious meal. Two fox’s glacier mints arrive with the bill, ensuring that you are able to leave the premises with breath almost as fresh as the ingredients that have just gone into making your lunch.

For somewhere just off Oxford Street, Café 88 is a real find, an independent café serving fresh food at fabulous prices. So long as that stays the same, then as Arnie would put it… I’ll be back!