Piecing together Mosaica

We all have our preconceptions, and one of the more widely held is that Tottenham Hale is an uninviting place.

There's a smart-ish Tube station and the area is held in high esteem by anglers due to the excellent fishing in the Lee river and the reservoirs, but in the main this is a land of exhaust fumes and industrial estates. Which makes it all the more surprising to find a cracking, if eccentric, restaurant just off Ferry Lane.

The proprietors of Mosaica - Johnny Mountain and David Orlowski - have form for setting up restaurants in obscure places, and the original Mosaica is at the heart of a once derelict chocolate factory in Wood Green.

Their new venture, Mosaica @ The Lock, occupies the ground floor of an ugly office block beside the canal in N17. Like the original, it is an odd place, which is probably what you would expect when the chef gets to make his own tables, as well as designing the bar, the kitchen, the lighting and doing most of the building work. Mountain says it took him three months. If so, he should be congratulated as he's done a good job.

Mosaica @ The Lock has a spacious dining room and an equally expansive open kitchen. It's an informal place with a modern feel to it and the standard of cooking is high. The menu-writing tends to whimsy - 'rare ribeye w garlic mash + Kenyan's' (air-freighted fine beans), 'huge breast of duck w pak choi + rice' ('I just wanted to see those two words together on a menu!'), but the dishes are well balanced.

The menu changes every session and starters may include char-grilled squid with chilli jam and shaved fennel - a good dish with tender squid, chilli jam with oomph and a splendid fennel salad brought alive by lime juice. Arancini with tomato and basil is also good: small rice balls, gooey in the middle, deep-fried until crisp outside. The huge breast is delicious: the duck pink, rice spiked with crunchy shards of dried garlic and the pak choi providing contrast. A lamb chump is equally straightforward: good meat, well cooked. Roast cod with parsley mash is a large piece

of accurately cooked fish. These dishes are not mouldbreakers, but they are well executed and the best eating to be had in Tottenham Hale.

The puddings get a little spooky: 'basil + garlic crème brulée', which nearly works --good texture, shame about the taste. The chocolate and Amaretti biscuit mousse is more of a solid pudding than an airy mousse, but as it's made with good chocolate it's a chocoholic's dream.

There's a short wine list with some good bottles at accessible prices that are given unsnooty descriptions. Service is friendly, helpful, casual - in keeping with the mood of the place. Mosaica @ The Lock is the kind of restaurant we would all want near our home. It may even be good enough to justify a journey to the wilderness of Tottenham Hale.

Heron House, Hale Wharf, Ferry Lane, N17 (020-8801 4433) Dinner for two with wine, £75

Mosaica @ The Lock
Heron House, Hale Wharf, Ferry Lane, N17