Hands up if you think 25 minutes is too long for a coffee to arrive from the point of ordering? Well, settle down at the back, we’ll get to that shortly.

As Margate’s transformation from down-at-heel, forgotten seaside resort to trendy, vibrant, must-visit resort continues with considerable gusto, neighbouring Cliftonville is suffering from what young folk refer to as FOMO - fear of missing out.

It was, after all, once upon a time, the home of the well-heeled tourist before a decline so dramatic it deserves its own highly-polished TV series.

But, boy, are some of its new establishments trying hard to capture some of the ‘DFL’ spirit which has catapulted Margate back into the spotlight.

Take Cliffs on Northdown Road - a stretch of street I’ve always felt brings a little bit of south London to the coast in terms of its fallen grandeur. There’s a grit to the main road which, I must admit, I’ve always rather liked. It has more stores, of remarkable diversity - you can shop the food of the world in its numerous specialist supermarkets - than you’d think it could support.

I don’t know if you’re old enough to remember those old I-Spy books which used to be so popular in the 1970s and 80s (remember the not-for-this-era Big Chief I-Spy?), but were you to have one for an area seeking gentrification, you would be able to tick off an awful lot in Cliffs, a Tardis-like café which offers more than first meets the eye.

Organic sourdough as the standard bread product? Tick. Rundown building oozing charm? Tick. Old vinyl records being sold? Tick. The middle classes? Tick, tick and tick again.

It is here we arrive on a deceptively chilly Bank Holiday Monday in May at around lunchtime and the place is packed out with diners creating a hubbub of noise.

It is an odd place, to put it mildly. The wooden floors, with large bar and coffee area to the left and tables lining the walls, give way to a magnificent Art Deco-style staircase which takes you up to a level lined with second-hand records - a large, well-lit area in which you can hire a table for work or study, and a hair salon. Yes, a hair salon. Odd.

But let’s get down to business. We are here, after all, to cast a critical eye over its food offering.

We order some coffee and food at the same time. You can, I’d hazard a guess, probably guess at the sort of fare available here. It’s mumbled eggs this, crumpet sliders that and ample vegan options all round. I’m not mocking it - to me, it all sounds jolly tasty - but it clearly knows its audience.

It is also extremely similar/borderline identical to the Bus Café in Margate - the big double-decker parked close to the criminally rotting Nayland Rock Hotel on the seafront. Somewhere I’ve reviewed before and thought was superb.

I certainly have ample time to ponder if there’s any connection between the establishments (I later discover they are, indeed, siblings) as we wait for 25 long minutes before the coffee arrives. I’d like to say we’d ordered something particularly time-consuming to create, but a latte and cortado (£3.50 and £3.30) don’t really tick that box. Disappointing. And there’s no word of apology.

The food arrives five minutes later (yes, folks, that’s 30 minutes from the point of order) which, for a light lunch/late breakfast, is also about 15 minutes too long in my book. Or am I just impatient? You decide.

But, despite the delay, it does all look rather appealing, I will say.

I’ve gone for a veggie crumpet slider (£7.50) - a humble crumpet piled upon with a mumbled egg, crisped haloumi, tomato, homemade salsa verde, homemade pickled onions, toasted seeds and the like. It is a thing of beauty and very tasty.

They know how to do this sort of thing - the light touches of the sauces playing delightfully over the tastebuds and complement the perfectly-fried haloumi, egg and just-right toasted crumpet. All very nice.

It is a meal which sates your appetite and does it with some aplomb. It is, of course, why these sort of places are so, rightly, popular.

One my fellow diners follows my lead, the other opts for a cheese toastie - mozzarella, Monterey Jack and cheddar - with a side salad and pickled beetroot. It’s “not bad” is his review. Kids, eh?

Look, the food here is really good. The coffees were nice. That’s the bare bones of it. Eat here and you won’t be disappointed. Plus the surroundings are interesting and who can’t resist flicking through the vinyl and recalling the era when records were king?

But - and there’s always a but, isn’t there - the wait was too long for anything to arrive. Busy or not, you don’t want to be sat on your hands for half an hour pondering whether they’d forgotten about you.

Then there’s the automatic addition of a 12.5% tip to the bill. I’d like to say I told them to take it off due to the wait. But I don’t…who wants a fuss? It does, however, rankle a tad.

Let the diner be the judge when it comes to tips, folks. We’ve not become the 51st state of the US-of-ruddy-A quite yet (although The Donald is probably eyeing us up as we speak).

My gripe - if it really is one - is that this place is just so clichéd in its bid to appeal to the new breed of Thanet visitor or resident.

I know it is the tried-and-tested approach to turning around the fortunes of an area - just look at how Margate used the formula so successfully - but there is just the danger that these places all end up merging into one. Cliftonville, should, perhaps, look to be slightly more innovative in its approach to transformation. But what do I know?

Out of five:

Food: When it arrived, the food was excellent. A bit of a shame it’s pretty much the same as the Bus Cafe - but, fortunately, that was utterly delicious too. ****

Drink: Nice coffees, well presented. ****

Decor: Picture a cafe in Cliftonville trying to capture the DFL market and you will pretty much conjure up an image of this place. It’s interesting, a little down-at-heel, but they have done a fine job of making this an interesting, versatile, space ****

Staff: Everyone was friendly - but that long wait for anything to arrive is going to cost it a couple of stars I’m afraid ***

Price: For three of us, food and coffees and that built-in tip, it came to just under £38. For quality food it was a good price. ****