And I'm not talking about the bacon in the sandwiches.

Cream, a former launderette on the corner of Whitham Road and Crookes, has been turned into a smart, bright airy cafe on two floors by Anglo-Danish couple Michael and Meta Robinson.

Meta is the Danish half, from a family who turned their own house into a restaurant when she was a child.

She met hubby Michael in Sheffield when both were working for the same company, Record Saws.

There's nothing chintzy about Cream.

Through the big windows you can see decently spaced tables, an assortment of sofas and a lot of mothers with young children.

It's a female and child-friendly sort of place.

I'm tempted in on a cold lunchtime by the menu in the window which promises beef and pumpkin stew with star anise and cinnamon but after we find a table and go to the counter to order I discover it's off - and it's not even 1pm.

Still, Cream, offers a variety of soups, salads and sandwiches so we should be able to find something we like.

There are four soups and we choose the pumpkin and parmesan and the classic French onion, both at £3.95, followed by a steak sandwich and a goats cheese and sunblushed tomato.

The girl at the counter, who turns into our waitress, misses those two words,"followed by" so they all arrive together.

The main courses go back upstairs to the kitchen.

If they were just a little bit bigger you could swim in those bowls of soup.

And if they were half the size the soups would be a lot better.

While pleasant, the pumpkin has been over thinned so it loses its silky texture and with the onion, the vegetable really needs to be caramelised to provide richness. It has plenty of thyme in it.

When we finished the soups the main courses return. There's not a lot you can say about a going-cold steak sandwich (£5.95) although it does have a rather good onion relish made by a company from Woodbridge, Suffolk, where we take our holidays.

The tart, or quiche (£4.95), can take being cool and we like the good, light pastry and the zingy filling.

The cakes are made by Mark Jones, the DJ at Cubana who doubles up in pastrywork, and whose handiwork seems to be popping up all over Sheffield.

I see I've written "scrummy cakes" in my notebook - we had lemon drizzle (£2.65) and chocolate, with a scoop of ice cream, for £3.10.

We ate them with coffees – an Americano is £1.85 and an intense espresso £1.40.

It's their own very pleasing blend of coffee.

Being on two floors, Cream has around 70 seats and space for exhibitions by local artists and craftsmen.

You can currently see furniture made by students at Hallam University, which runs until December 20.

Our bill was £27.80.