Touch of the fusion confusion

From the outset it sounds quintessentially Islington. A Chinese tapas bar smack in the middle of the bear pit that is modern Islington, where every shop front seems to be a restaurant, bar or estate agent.

And what about the name? OQO - how do you pronounce that? Why give your restaurant a name that no one can mention to their friends? 'Oh, kew, oh' sounds like someone choking on a fish bone (it's actually pronounced Oko, to rhyme with Yoko).

The establishment is certainly slick, with a long bar and a deceptively large dining area at the rear. The decor resembles a ruined factory made over by the style police, but it's comfortable enough.

Music and cocktails rule at the weekends, the former very loud and the latter very spooky - anyone whose hearing is still intact would do well to find their way to the back where the volume abates somewhat.

The man behind this venture into concept dining is Mark Chan, who also masterminded ECapital, a Chinatown restaurant that serves interesting dishes from Shanghai. Service at OQO is slick - the staff will happily explain dishes and there is a short wine list ranging from house wine by the glass to a bottle of white burgundy for £70.

The menu sets out various stages including half a dozen dim sum options. These are sound enough but expensive - three steamed prawn dumplings for £4 is OK, but roast pork puffs that cost £2 each? To add insult to injury, they're not as good as the venison puffs at Yauatcha or the roast pork puffs at Royal China.

Go straight to the tapas menu. The first section is headed 'cool and light tapas'. The stewed, marinated flour dough with mixed Chinese mushrooms is a star turn - rich flavours and distinctive textures. The spare ribs are served cold and have a sweet vinegar glaze.

The mangetout, lotus root and fresh crab fillet coated in chilli marinade is a delicious assembly of textures, but only if you enjoy chilli heat. Moving on to the 'warm and vigorous tapas', the spring onion Shanghai pizza doesn't work - these are mini versions of the famous Shanghai spring onion pancake, but they end up greasy and chewy.

Razor clam and rice in paella-style is an elegant but muddled dish, served in a single razor clam shell with not enough razorfish and is hardly a paella. Steamed turkey breast in a tart mint sauce is a puzzling dish, a thick escalope of 'industrial' white meat and a sharp mint sauce - nice enough, but why?

Even the ladies who lunch would find this an unsatisfying - if sparsely healthy - combo. And then there's monkfish in a coat of yellow curry - chunks of monkfish battered and then deep-fried before being served with a sweet'n'sludgy curry sauce.