Stepney pub is dining haven

The pub that was once The Three Crowns and is now L'Oasis lives up to its new name in the heart of Stepney, opposite the Ocean housing estate - apparently the biggest in Europe. The spacious, deep premises feature a listed green-painted ornamental high ceiling and rows of stout teak tables down both sides of the room.

Head chef Bernadette Ford, who comes from the west coast of Ireland, worked with Richard Corrigan for nearly three years and it could be said to show in her cooking - although the Monday night four of us dined there turned out to be Bernadette's night off.

Proprietor John Cleary was an amiable presence front of house. It was only at the end of dinner that I discovered that his unflappable, seen-it-all ability to run the bar and dining room more or less single-handedly was honed during years working in banqueting in grand hotels.

He spotted a gap in the market, figured that the medical students at Queen Mary's College nearby would need somewhere to eat, and has filled it.

The all-day menu pre-supposes that some want burgers - here home-made and char-grilled - and chicken Caesar salad, but others might prefer home-cured herring with new potatoes and watercress salad or guinea fowl stuffed with feta, chorizo and oregano, served with a red-pepper sauce.

Apparently it is the roasts on Sundays accompanied by Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and fresh vegetables at £12.50 that really pack 'em in.

'Greengrocer spelling', said Edward about Parma ham and melon with pommigranite [sic] dressing. It was a smart combo, though.

Houmus served with semi-dried tomatoes and olives and two kinds of pitta bread, white and wholemeal, had a nicely nubbly texture and was confidently seasoned.

The pickled herrings came with a version of chrain, that Jewish relish made from a mixture of puréed beetroot and horseradish. This one was light in texture but packed a satisfying East End punch.

A special of the day that lived up to that description was chargrilled calf's liver with onionand-spinach 'hash' - a treatment of spinach that would convert any spinach-loather - and cubes of crisply fried celeriac root that were unexpected and delicious.