Gastro balanced by pub

This pub has gone full circle.

First The Freemasons became a bar called the Roundhouse; then it was a Livebait fish restaurant; and now it is The Freemasons once again.

Inside, the décor is 'standard-gastropub': sofas, mis-matched dining chairs, big pictures, the familiar scruffy-comfortable look.

You can eat anywhere in the pub, but the dining area is somewhat raised and overlooks the open kitchen.

The food is good, dishes avoid most of the horrors of elaborate presentation, flavours are strong and there are some interesting combinations of taste and texture.

Start with the plate of decent home-made hommus with bread to take the sting out of your appetite while you study the menu.

Starters might include tempura soft-shell crab on crisp polenta with avocado and pickled radicchio; a whole buffalo mozzarella - very good milky mozzarella - with plum tomatoes, rocket and pesto; a salt cod and cassava fishcake - a competitive fishcake, but it's hard to spot any cassava.

Mains are substantial and well thought out: a grilled lamb steak comes with a light and fluffy herb couscous and chickpeas in a ratatouille sauce; pan-fried wasabi salmon comes with egg noodles and a tamarind sauce; a large piece of roast pork belly arrives very crisp and gnarled, pleasantly chewy, with a dollop of decent mash and some chilli sauce.

The lemon and vanilla cheesecake does its job.

The Timothy Taylor's Landlord bitter is well kept, and there is a short, gently priced wine list.

Service is friendly.

The Freemasons
2 Wandsworth Common Northside, SW18 2SS