It’s beyond me how a pub and dining room, barely open a fortnight, and inconspicuously tucked away pretty much in the middle of nowhere, can be quite so busy on a dull and damp Tuesday evening. Maybe it’s the irresistible charm of the place – all duck egg blue and candle lit – maybe it’s something to do with the delicious, seasonal sounding menu, or maybe news just travels fast. Who knows, but whatever it is, The Compass on residential Rotherhithe Street has it by the bucketful.

In all seriousness, destination-wise, it is tricky to find, and as I struggle to navigate my way from Canada Water tube along the canal, under bridges and through plush newly built apartments blocks with my unhelpful hand-drawn map, an actual compass might have come in handy. Then again, good food is worth getting a bit lost for.

Inside is beautiful. It’s cosy, elegant and atmospheric. An array of mismatched, spindly legged wooden tables, upholstered chairs, church pews, Chesterfields, and a cast iron fireplace are all in view. The only light, save the fading rays filtering through the large windows, comes from a rather exquisite, floral patterned, tasselled lamp as well as candles on each table. “This place gets better as it gets darker,” Nathan tells me, and I couldn’t agree more: by the time the evening’s out, sipping the dregs of a damn drinkable South African Chenin Blanc, the room is cast in an intimate glow.

As with its sister pub, The Fellow in King’s Cross, the menu is traditional and seasonal, albeit a bit black pudding heavy for my liking. The menu isn’t enormous – there’s only four of each course to choose from – but at least the selection that is there feels as though its been put together with some careful thought. Unfortunately for me, none of the starter selections this time round appeal – I don’t much care for terrine, black pudding, cornichons or Cornish crab – but I’m sure I’m in the minority.

Never mind, the mains are way more to my liking. After a while tossing up between the Old Spot pork chop and the braised rabbit, I go for the rabbit, and it’s delicious. Tender meat falls off the bone into a thick, boozy sauce, rich with lashings of Weston’s cider and generous strips of bacon. My friend’s pan-fried sea bass with spring greens is similarly scrumptious, the lemony fish melts in the mouth and the buttery, zingy caper sauce mops up the mash nicely.

As for the puddings, they’re quite simply divine. The chocolate and hazelnut brownie is total, extreme chocoholic indulgence, drenched in oozing, thick chocolate sauce with a nice, sickly dollop of clotted cream to finish things off. Yum yum. The English apple tart – thin, delicate slices of apple and pastry – isn’t bad either, and the slightly burnt butterscotch sauce is heavenly .

The portions are enormous – I have to undo my belt a notch to cram in the last few mouthfuls of brownie, and by the end I feel as though I might spontaneously combust from over-indulgence. But my is it worth it. With a large pub garden about to open, all that The Compass needs now is a bit of that long-awaited British sunshine to cement a pretty winning combination. And, as the walk home proves – minus my ridiculous map, it’s actually only a fifteen minute walk to the tube and civilisation. A fifteen minute stroll along the canal for delicious food and drink, it’s a no-brainer really.

Lauren Romano.