Top notch curry house

You'll find Eriki on Northways Parade, which is on the east side of the Finchley Road, just uphill from Swiss Cottage. Ten years ago this site was home to the Cosmo restaurant, an unreconstructed Middle European establishment with period charm.

Eriki opened with a fanfare in September 2002 and now established, belongs to the new class of ambitious and stylish Indian restaurants. This means that attention has been paid to the design - glowing red walls, heavy wood chairs, blond wood floor - to the menu, which includes a few less familiar regional dishes, and to the prices, which are a tad higher than you might expect, presumably to keep out riffraff. This place is determined to distance itself from run-of-the-mill high street curry houses, and generally it succeeds.

Service is slick and overall, Eriki achieves its objective which is to deliver a polished, if pricey, night out. As a local fan observed, 'A group of us first popped in for a cheap curry at the end of a good night out, and it quickly became apparent that we had misjudged the place. I decided that next time I would come back earlier in the evening, when perhaps I would be more appreciative.'

The food is good and commendably unfussy, although the starters do get an elaborate presentation. Scallops hariyali arrives in a scallop shell, like an old-style coquilles St Jacques - two cooked scallops in a mild creamy sauce. Or there's calamari mirch fry which is stir-fried squid. Or masala dosa - the traditional South Indian lacy pancake. There is a healthy representation of South Indian dishes on the menu and that includes a good range of veggie options.

Classic mains such as koh e-rogan josh are well spiced and with a good, coarsely ground sauce. Murgh xacutti is subtly sauced, but doesn't quite achieve the depth of flavour that this most complicated of curries aspires to. The duck with tamarind and pink pepper is light, and its Indian credentials are so deeply hidden that it almost qualifies as a fusion food.

A dish called kumb palak is very successful, it tastes fresh and the young spinach leaves are teamed with a few button mushrooms. Or there's pistachio murgh korma - an old favourite, but here made with pistachios. The kali dal is well made, with mixed pulses and a hefty tempering of butter, although it must be noted that nearly £6 is a steep price to pay for a dish made from lentils that can cost £6 a sack. Breads are sound, the Malabari tawa paratha being the pick of them, very flaky, very self-indulgent.

Eriki is the sort of Indian restaurant where you go out to dine, rather than to eat. This element of formality is no bad thing, but it's important that both you, and your wallet, know what you're in for.