OK, beat this. I had steamed monkfish with mangetout, Jersey potatoes and spring greens the other day in a light, lofty canteen with a splendid panorama of Central London for - wait for it - £3.35. In most London restaurants you wouldn't even get a sidedish of spuds for that.

But, alas, such tasty fare, at even tastier prices, isn't on offer to everyone. In this case it is the good fortune of the 500 or so hard-working staff at the Wellcome Trust, near Euston, each of whom is emailed a daily menu in the morning with healthy options flagged up.

The reason the canteen works - apart from its warm red and yellow-backed chairs and auspicious setting high above an open central atrium and below a vaulted glass ceiling - is that it doesn't try to be all things to all people. What it does offer, however, it does well.

On the Friday that I visited, as well as the monkfish, fish and chips looked golden and greaseless and there was a sizzling mixed grill served with salad and greens. The Thai soup had a sweet authentic aroma and contained promising sticks of lemongrass; the salad bar was neat with lush ingredients finsihed off with a selection of non-gunky condiments and seeds to sprinkle. Pud was a semi-seasonal strawberry and banana crumble.

The Compass Group, which runs the catering at the Trust, offers Flavour of the Month leaflets with recipes by its chefs, olive tastings and chutney competitions. It also promotes its LEAF-accredited fresh produce supplier, 4DegreesC, and local farmers' markets so you can carry on eating good food at home.

Next door at the recently opened and splendidly eclectic Wellcome Collection, an audio taster of a mithral regurgitation, part of its current Heart exhibition, is enough to put anyone off a diet of unsaturated fats.

Drinks, too, at its Peyton & Byrne cafe felt expensive after a 50p cuppa at the Trust's ground-floor cafe.

Good Food in the workplace campaign: Does your workplace have any creative catering schemes or is its level of food unacceptable? Use the comment box below to ask questions or tell us about your work canteen.

CATER FOR CHANGE

* Ask your catering manager what is specified in the catering contract. If it's a cheap service offering chips and reconstituted meat, ask for a better quality contract. It's been proved in schools that fresh, local seasonal foods can be cheaper.

* Ask questions about the food served in your canteen. For example: What country/county/farm does the meat come from? is it free-range and/or organic? Is the fish farmed or wild? If it is from the seas, does it come from sustainable stocks?

* Take photos of what's available and post them on the intranet to start a debate.

* Contact your local hospital and ask if the community dietitian can analyse a week's menus to help raise the issues.

* For more info on changing food in the workplace, vist:

www.timesonline.co.uk/health

www.bda.uk.com

www.sustainweb.org

www.whyorganic.org

www.bbc.co.uk/bigchallenge

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