There are, I know, many people in this country who reserve a special place in their functionally impaired, tallow-drenched hearts for the Great British Greasy Spoon; who regard it as a fundamental part of our native culinary culture worthy of comparison with the French bistro or the Italian trattoria. I'm not one of them. The greasy spoon and its star dish, the all-day breakfast, is merely a triumph of frying over good taste. You do not go to a greasy spoon for quality ingredients, well cooked. You go because you are either a manual labourer in need of calories, or very hungover. The definition of a good greasy spoon is one that changes the oil in the deep-fat fryer more than once a week.

At first glance one might assume that a new chain of S&M Cafes - which stands for sausage and mash rather than 'please nail my genitals to the wall, Vicar' - is a celebration of the greasy spoon. The original on Essex Road in Islington was indeed just such a place before new management took it over, and the design - expanded to others in the chain - has a certain retro British caff chic. Formica tables. Formica on the walls. A bit of chrome. A bit of mirror. Sauce bottles on the tables.

But even just a cursory reading of the menu would reveal something else. The S&M Cafe is a celebration of how far we've come rather than where we've been. There are starters of goat's cheese or smoked salmon salads at £4. Sausages come in more than half-a-dozen varieties from London traditional pork through steak and Guinness to pork chilli and spices. There's mash, without a lump in sight, and, to go with it, red onion or Madeira and thyme gravy. Yes, you can get a bacon sandwich and apple crumble, but there's also a 20-strong wine list starting at a modest £9.60. Indeed all prices are reasonable: £5.95 for two sausages and mash, an extra quid for an extra sausage. You can mix and match.

I had one of the traditional pork and one of the chilli-boosted numbers, and both were good. My companion had a lamb and mint, which was too light on the mint and a little finely minced for my liking. He also ordered one of the vegetarian 'sausages', a spinach and cheddar, which was not a sausage, but not bad if you like that sort of thing, which I don't.

Already there are branches on Portobello Road and by Liverpool Street station, with at least half a dozen expected in the capital by the end of the year and a possible national roll-out thereafter. And yes, they do serve all-day breakfast. Good sausages. Fine mash. Pokey gravy. Small bill. What's not to like?

· S&M Cafe, 4-6 Essex Road, London N1 (020 7359 5361). Meal for two, including wine and service, £30.