One is regularly reading about how tough it is for restaurants in the present financial climate, what with increased costs for the proprietors and the general economic downturn putting off potential customers. Well there’s one new restaurant (it opened last month) that has set out to exist by a particular set of rules. It’s cash only. Bookings are made by phone or in person only; it’s a social-media desert. It does lunch only; one sitting at noon and one at 2 o’clock. It seats 18 people. And it’s not open at weekends.

The Yellow Bittern, which is the place I’m talking about, occupies a somewhat modest premises with a busy bus stop bang outside. It is at the bottom end of the Caledonian Road in London N1, less than five minutes walk from the Harry Potter platform at King’s Cross station. And while I’m not going to make out that anything magical will occur there, the guy who reviewed it for The London Standard described the experience as being like going out for lunch in 1982. (I’m sure he meant that in a good way.)

The restaurant takes its name from a bird which died from thirst in an Irish elegy. There was never any danger of that happening to myself and my companion: he had a couple of glasses of pinot noir from Alsace while I contented myself with a couple of glasses of a fine Burgundy chardonnay. (Did I mention there is no wine list? – you say what sort of thing you’d like and a short while later it arrives.) We both had a bowl of the cream of chicken soup – which is pictured on the home page – and having havered around for a while we both went for the same main course, which is pictured below. I gave the dessert options a swerve but my friend went for the apple crumble and custard, which he declared to be delicious.

This is an idiosyncratic establishment alright. In addition to the aforementioned aspects of it, there’s a bookshop downstairs. The Yellow Bittern has three co-owners, one of whom, Hugh Corcoran, was born in Belfast but honed his culinary skills in the Basque country. And while you can’t book a table online and the restaurant is not on Instagram, that has not prevented Corcoran from taking to social media via his personal account to make a point or two.

Shortly after the opening, he posted: “Restaurants are not public benches. You are there to spend money.” Expanding on this to The Guardian, he said: “If you’re not hungry, don’t go….one starter and two mains between four people, that’s just not acceptable.” He also spoke of a couple who took photographs of it but didn’t touch the food they had ordered. “It all went in the bin,” he said.

What a waste! While I did take photos, I can assure you the plates and dishes were completely empty by the time we had finished with them.