You know those days when you’re hungry but can’t decide what to eat? Well, Giraffe is the restaurant equivalent of marmite on toast, macaroni cheese or a bowl of cereal – it caters for all appetites at all times.

So next time you’re traipsing around town, with one person gagging for a curry, another desperate for pizza and a third who hasn’t even had breakfast yet, let alone lunch, then Giraffe is a good compromise. And, as anyone who has been married for more than 10 years will tell you, compromise is the only way forward.

Giraffe is not trying to win any culinary awards but, sitting right in the middle of chainland in George Street, it’s holding its own. But a word of warning, if you are indecisive, maybe Giraffe is not for you. Because by trying to be all things to all people, there is maybe too much choice.

With a full all-day breakfast menu, to salads, burgers, Thai, Tex-Mex, pizza, steak, American, stir fries and Italian to contend with, only the most resolute of characters will be able to order inside of an hour. Which is why after three soft drinks, the waiter looked as if he was losing the will to live as we perused, perused and perused again.

Maybe choosing the ‘£7.25 for two courses’ lunch menu would have been the best way forward, but I didn’t want a fish-finger burger(!) or a powerfood salad. I wanted comfort food.

Eventually our waiter seized control of the situation and suggested the wok-fried edamame (£4.25) as a starter, which we agreed to as we didn’t really know what it was and were too embarrassed to show our ignorance, followed by the falafel deluxe burger with chips (£8.75) and the sushi rice and smoked salmon salad (£8.95).

The edamame starter was a surprise, the Japanese baby soybeans were served still in their pods in a soy, chilli and ginger sauce. So you had to pod them yourselves, even though the sauce was on the outside, and they were hot and messy, but strangely moreish. And at least it was something a bit different and fun.

Which is why I was so disappointed with my falafel burger. Pop round the corner in Gloucester Green and you can have fresh, authentic falafel for a fraction of the price, served in a warm, flatbread with tahini, crisp lettuce, pickles and chilli sauce. But this “burger” wasn’t a burger at all. It was three small falafels served in a floury bun with all sorts of strange things accompanying it – halloumi, rocket, beetroot(!), tzatsiki and harissa. I mean, how many weird flavours could they cram into one dish? For a start the bun was wrong. It didn't go with the ingredients at all. A wrap, tortilla, pancake, pitta, anything in fact other than a bun would have been better. And then humuus with tzatsiki and harissa, with beetroot? Did they concoct this at the drunken end of the office party, or in the dark? It was more like a Roald Dahl recipe than a lunch. And so I left it, peering at the strange apparition from time to time in puzzlement, while I ate the chips.

The sushi salmon salad was more of a success and served on a large square piece of seaweed. My dining companion described it as more like ‘cold risotto’ but enjoyed it nevertheless.

And so on to dessert. After much debate (surprise, surprise) we had the chocolate chunk brownie with very vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce (£4.75).

There was something in the sauce we couldn't identify, something like a fruit puree or a dash of alcohol, but it was enough to divert our attention from the brownie, and unsettle us. Strange but true.

So you would have thought that, all things considered, I wouldn’t recommend Giraffe. And yet I couldn’t help but like it.

It was cheerful, the staff were lovely, especially the French redhead, and it was a fun experience.

Just don’t expect too much and remember to concentrate.