Polished concrete floors, a chunky concrete bar and exposed brick walls catch your eye on arrival — high tables and stools are packed with after-work drinkers and there’s a palpable buzz about the place.

You order everything at the bar, including Kooringal oysters, from a lease in Moreton Bay. They arrive with a few little salmon pearls and some micro-herbs and they’re divine — creamy, not too strong, perfect with a glass of rosé from Provence from the nicely curated wine list.

There are some interesting dressings for the other Pacific and rock oysters — spiced ginger beer, wakame and ponzu, or the chef’s take on Kilpatrick (smoked ham hock and bourbon sauce).

A substantial salad section, pizzas and hearty-looking platters all tempt but we go for a steaming-hot enamel pot of mussels. We choose the smoked sausage, tomato and chilli over the beer-steamed or the white wine and garlic.

I’ve had better mussels — also the sausage chunks are a bit big and greasy — and the entire dish could have been hotter.

Only one main (snapper pie) is listed on the menu, but we’re also directed to a specials board in the front bar where a duck salad and whole spatchcock, roasted and sitting over pearl barley, are both mighty enticing.

The fish pie arrives on a wooden board, the pastry moulded into the shape of a fish. There’s a pungent, creamy bisque béchamel sauce binding the fresh snapper chunks, and a peppery tangle of lemon-dressed watercress offsets the richness of the pastry and sauce.

The spatchcock is succulent and sweet/savoury. Charry skin offsets this and the pearl barley is laced with harissa and coriander, while there’s a generous heap of smoky corn salsa marrying with the juicy white meat.

No expense has been spared on the fitout, the wine list is well thought-out and the selection of beer is, as you’d expect, eclectic and dotted with craft labels and home brews. Service is friendly and knowledgeable and the food, while well-suited to the casual vibe and beer-centric nature of the place, displays technique and skill.

Originally published on couriermail.com.au