V & A Cafe

Don't be disappointed as you head past the few tables in the antiseptic white corridor that leads into the V&A Café. Only the bustling serving area is wipe-clean modern, to the left the fabled trio of tea rooms remain, Morris, Gamble and Poynter, just a spangly modern chandelier or two different from how they were back in the mid-nineteenth century. Morris is serious-minded - almost sacral, with its Burne-Jones windows - in dark green and subdued golds. Gamble is lofty and light in Classical Revival style, with ceramic pillars and 'Amity' and 'Truth' written above the wall mirrors. But the cosy Poynter Room is our favourite, with its blue and white tiles and stained-glass fox. The food is freshly made daily. There's the usual run of appetising hot and cold snacks, maybe a punchy chorizo and gruyere open pastry, with anchovies and onion under the black olives, or a meringue from the great array of cakes. Expect to queue - we did for a 3pm lunch - or head to this Friday's 'Late', when the café opens till 9.30pm for a celebration of the magnificent new Medieval and Renaissance galleries.