Don't let anyone tell you there's anything much fun about getting older. I know this, I'm past fifty. I can tell you from first-hand experience how ghastly it is presiding over the general disintegration of your bodily functions. Your sight starts to go, your hearing starts to go, your hair goes thin and starts to fall out. Worse than that, hair starts to grow where it never did before. Your eyebrows that once sat so unchanging above your eyes take on a new and vigourous life, their tiny hairs start to grow long and curly, and good god, hair even starts to sprout from your nostrils and ears, as though to make up for the stuff you've lost on the top of your head. Grooming becomes a whole-head activity.

But then last week I realised something, there is at least one good thing that comes of age, and it's this: you don't have a school run to do every morning of your life. Instead, seven o'clock comes and goes whilst I slumber gently on. The morning tyranny of seven-thirty breakfast has now become a quiet and gentle cappuccino somewhere around nine. Now that just has to be an improvement. And there's another side to this no school run thing, those once bleary-eyed school kids have turned into adults. There's something rather nice about being able to take your offspring out for a meal and to dine together like adults, which is what I did this week with my daughter, Isabella.

She was very keen to introduce me to Cafe Bar Deli, 'you can get a good pizza there', she told me. Now since she was a tiny baby she's been going to Italy every year, so she has a good grasp of what is, and what isn't good Italian food, and that includes pizza. We were at the opening of the excellent 'Jane Eyre' at the Gate, which we both really enjoyed, and when it was over we set off for our meal. But we found that Cafe Bar Deli isn't a late night venue at all. We got there at eleven and found the door locked and the place empty. I wasn't prepared to let the chance of a meal with my daughter slip away, so two nights later we tried again and this time we got in.

This time the place wasn't just open, it was thronged. Every table taken and a longish queue of prospective diners were awaiting their turn at the bar counter, which is immediately on your left on entering. We sat here while Bella told me about what she'd eaten before, what I should try and what I should avoid. After about thirty minutes we got our table and were shown upstairs to what is currently the smoking area. It has a low ceiling that is topped with a stained glass skylight and sits maybe thirty five people. It occurred to me if the waiting staff could cope with this many people efficiently, this must be a well-run shop. I can tell you now that the service was pretty brisk considering the work load.

Your paper place mat is your menu, and it's heavily weighted towards pastas and pizzas, although other dishes are on offer. There are tasters, which seem to be a mix of starters and finger food, like bread and dips, an antipasto and baby pizzas with herb oil. They range in price from soup at €4.50 to the antipasto at €9.50. There are five salads to choose from and they're priced at €6.25 for a medium-sized one, to €9.95 for a large one. Then come ten pizzas, very few of which would be considered traditional fillings in Italy. None the less, there were some interesting toppings on offer. There are seven pasta dishes, again no classic Italian dishes, but innovative mixings of ingredients for the sauces. They're priced at €11.50. We decided on the mozzarella and oven-roasted tomatoes as a starter between us, then Bella followed with the conchiglie (pasta shells) with a roast red pepper cream, goats cheese, asparagus and cherry tomatoes. I took Bella's advice and chose a pizza, the number 8, which was topped with Italian pepper salami, chilli, red onion, tomato, mozzarella and basil pesto.

The wine list is short, eight reds and eight whites, and they're all priced around €20, which puts them firmly in the affordable range. Two Italian wines caught my eye, the white Vernaccia at €23 and a Barbera/Nebbiolo mix for €21, both of which looked like good value. But on the night Bella didn't want wine, she wanted beer, so I joined her. Heineken and Guinness are on draught and there's a good range of bottled beers as well, so we both chose Tiger beer and waited for the food.

The mozzarella and tomatoes arrived and I was happy to find that a good buffalo mozzarella was sliced on the plate - a soft, creamy richness of texture. The tomatoes were dressed with a decent olive oil, so the dish was the sort you finish quickly and then think about mopping up the plate as well, always a good sign. The main courses worked well, Bella's pasta sauce was good, but I'd preferred it to have been reduced a little. My pizza was tasty, although a different mozzarella tops the pizzas than the one we had for a starter. Still, I enjoyed it.

Cafe Bar Deli works very much like a pizzeria does in Italy. It's quick, it's buzzy, it's good and it's not expensive. While I drank my post-prandial espresso we got the bill, which is probably the lowest I've paid this year, €41.75 without service charge. A satisfying evening, and importantly one where there was no wallet pain. I must let Bella choose the restaurant the next time we dine together.