Contrived but irresistible

Dim Sum has moved into pubs and now Mark Chan, creator of the Chinatown Shanghai restaurant E Capital, has launched a cocktail bar with Chinese "tapas", called OQO (apparently pronounced O-Ko).

The Islington premises are suitably minimalist, with a long bar for both food and drink preparation taking pride of place.

We sat at the back around a corner in an effort to distance ourselves from loud, relentless music which seemed to mellow a bit as the evening wore on. We were obviously oddities not ordering cocktails, which cost £6.50 for Classics, £7 for OQO Specials such as Pear-Ke Martini (with sake) and Americano in China (with Chinese rose liqueur), but Mark Chan is also a fan of the Pinot Noir grape. A fine example in a bottle came from New Zealand's Morton Estate.

We chose six tapas from sections entitled Cool and Light, and Warm and Vigorous. Spare ribs caramelised in sweet, dark vinegar were from the first category which probably explains why they were served cold, but they would have been even nicer warm. Italian Parma ham had been substituted for the Chinese Parma ham advertised, wrapped round enoki mushrooms whose little heads peeped out like babies in a blanket.

Our warm choices included spring onion Shanghai pizza, fried pancakes that offered up significant resistance to being chewed but cost only £2; crisp and crackling tofu cubes with a dip at £4; deep-fried baby octopus in Shanghai pepper and salt at £6; and lacquered quail with an orange brandy dip at £7.

The most expensive item we ordered, at £8, was described as "filleted chicken heaped with garlic and chilli". I hadn't thought it would be deep-fried but the heap of highly savoury little pieces of coated chicken were annoyingly
irresistible. I think schoolchildren would love them.

There are side dishes of rice and noodles and also "silver and gold" Chinese bread. From the dessert list, Crackly Chinese milk custard was described by my companion as being the Chinese understanding of crème brûlée. The very obliging waitress offered to wrap up the ones left over to take home, an offer that was accepted.

So little of interest is happening in London Chinese restaurants currently that OQO's slightly contrived menu stands out.

OQO
Islington Green, London, N1 2XA