St John, on St John Street in London's Clerkenwell, is famous for its minimalism. One menu description reads 'Peas in the pod', and that's what you get. Fresh peas, yours for the shelling. In a bowl. Nothing else. A grilled sole will come perfectly grilled but unadorned. Ditto great lumps of roast pork belly or slices of pink lamb.

I suspect chef Fergus Henderson can't spell the word 'garnish', let alone do it. And a good thing, too. Henderson believes in letting good ingredients speak for themselves.

For all its virtues, though, the idea of a pared-down version of St John might seem more than a little austere; it suggests a catering operation conceived by and for the Jesuits, only with less hedonism. Worry not. St John Bread & Wine, which opened recently next to Spitalfields Market, isn't one for the sackcloth-and-ashes brigade. It is too jolly for that, too purposeful and buzzy. Yes, it repeats the white walls and chrome abattoir chic of the original, but there is also a very basic appeal here to the appetite.

In some ways, I found myself preferring it to the original. Occasionally, St John's menu can slip into self-parody. (Roast squirrel, anyone?) The menu here is shorter, therefore less burdened by esoterica.

There are roughly four choices on the blackboard at each course, and pricing is keen. To be honest, that £70 for two listed above is a little misleading. That's what it would cost if you had three courses, and a bottle from the entirely French list, but St John Bread & Wine is more of a place for a single dish and a glass of red. Potted pork, for example, was thick and rich and fibrous and would more than do as a lunchtime snack. Chargrilled chitterlings (pigs' intestines to you) were rich and meaty, and soft roes, sautéed in butter and parsley and served on a lovely piece of toasted sourdough bread, were sublime for just £4.50. For luxury there's foie gras and prunes on toast at an equally competitive £8.80.

From the main courses we tried slices of cold pink beef with a nostril-tickling horseradish sauce, a dinky roast pigeon with a cress and pickled walnut salad, and a braised piece of rabbit, perhaps the least successful of the three. Puddings are of the gooseberry fool and Pavlova variety although the star was an eye-bulging chocolate ice cream.

I like St John Bread & Wine. In a city too full of overwrought concepts, it's a very understated approach which makes a self-conscious virtue of simplicity. Do I really need to do the line about less being so much more? No, I didn't think so.

· St John Bread & Wine, 94-96 Commercial Street, London E1 (020 7247 8724). Dinner for two, including wine and service, £70.