Fortunately the Lock has its own off-road parking - though you may be mildly disconcerted by the ambience when you pull in, which is a good deal heavier on broken glass and pallet stacks than the car park at the Manoir aux Quat'Saisons That said, the Lock does have some things going for it. For one thing it is very difficult to find a restaurant in this area that does not have the words "chicken" or "kebab" as part of its name - so there isn't going to be a lot of local competition for its brand of upmarket, European-accented cooking. For another both the restaurant manager, Fabrizio Russo, and chef Adebola Adeshin have done time in serious restaurants, including - in the case of the latter - a long stint with Gordon Ramsay. What this looks like is a talented sous-chef's bid for independence - done on modest means.

They haven't wasted money redecorating, for instance, inheriting an interior from the Moroccan restaurant that has just vacated this space. There's a bar area down one side, up against a glass brick wall, and a dining room on the other, filled with bare, blocky tables and the kind of crude wooden chairs that you need a fork-lift truck to shift about. They clearly intend the food to be more refined than the furniture - as a complimentary demitasse of gazpacho and a basket of good home-made bread rolls confirms ... the kind of Michelin flourishes you wouldn't normally expect in surroundings like this. The menu is built around French and Italian themes - a vocabulary of parfaits, gnocchi, brioche, b?naise and risotto, with an unexpected African touch here and there, which perhaps reflects Adeshin's Nigerian roots.

We start with a raviolo of lobster and salmon mousses, served with a saltfish sauce (£7) and pan-fried scallops with plantain (£8.50), and both dishes turn out to be better in terms of technique than overall taste. The raviolo of handmade pasta is faultless, for example, but the briny punch of the saltfish bullies the more delicate flavour of the lobster off the plate, while the syrupy discs of cooked plantain don't seem the best foil for the sweetness of the perfectly cooked scallops. A taleggio and pepper bruschetta (£5) fails for exactly the opposite reason - the flavours work fine but the bruschetta doesn't, having collapsed to a spongy wad in its dressing.Main courses are much more consistent. A rolled disc of slow-braised pork belly, served with cream cabbage and polenta fritter (£12.95) actually turns up with a generous skirt of coco beans and diced courgette (I later discover a mere tablespoon of creamed cabbage hiding beneath the polenta) but the meat is beautifully tender and well flavoured and the little coins of roasted skin add a delicious crunch. Monkfish with potato gnocchi and mushrooms (£17.95) is also good - although there's a vinegary bite somewhere in the mix (anchovy perhaps?) that wouldn't be missed if it went. A rack of lamb and potato gratin (£13.95) is fine, though the meat isn't perhaps the best advert for Adeshin's policy of buying in complete carcasses and doing his own butchery.Before our desserts we're served another complimentary dish - a really excellent cr? br?, which actually puts the tarte tatin we've ordered (£7.50 for two) in the shade. The latter is served on a large wooden board, flanked by a sharp knife and two small bowls of milk ice cream, but the caramel is too liquid and the pastry too tough for it to claim a place on my tarte tatin honour board (pole position currently occupied by a Marco Pierre White pear tatin I once ate at Canteen).

Since tarte tatin is one of the most difficult easy dishes in the book there's no huge shame in this, but along with an undersweetened chocolate fondant and amiable but very slow service, it takes the edge off the evening. The impression we're left with is of real cooking skill let down by some eccentric inventions I really hope they succeed, because N17 needs them. But if they're going to overcome their surroundings, some loose ends need tying up.The Lock Dining Bar, Heron House, Hale Wharf, Ferry Lane, London N17 (020-8885 2829)Food Ambience Service About £100 for three, including wine. The aubergine is a noble vegetable - or should I say fruit? If you tried the recipe for deep fried aubergines with honey I gave a few weeks ago, you'll know that they're also treated as fruit in many Mediterranean countries. And while I'm reminiscing about past recipes, can I remind you about one of my favourite ways of cooking it - stuffed with pork and braised in black bean sauce - as they do in Chinese restaurants.