Moon Under Water

Once the doors swing shut on the boisterous Builders Arms, this rear dining room becomes an island of calm. With its black bentwood chairs and white walls, the room is refined, smart and deceptively simple - much like the food. It's a set four-course menu, but the kitchen works around allergies, intolerances and simple dislikes, giving diners a break from decision-making. Housekeeping sorted, along comes a butter-rich cheese biscuit and an unlisted appetiser, maybe smoked and pickled ocean trout on rye crackers, atop a ration box concealing bread, butter and pickles. Then the meal proper, a weekly-changing roster of well-balanced dishes. perhaps just-seared tuna with cuttlefish cubes and green olive slivers; a slice of roasted pumpkin with yoghurt and dukkah-like spices; juicy, still pink, corned duck with crisp pancetta and black cabbage; and steamed lemon pudding with crumbled oat biscuit and quince. It's what you might call an elegant sufficiency.