It has much the same effect on me as a red rag flapped at a grumpy bull, the word is “fusion” and was a there ever such an abused array of syllables. A matter of weeks ago a restaurant called Pomegranate opened on Upper Street, Islington. It’s a light, bright and modern place. The prices are reasonable. The service is efficient to the point of brisk. And like all the restaurants lining the Upper Street strip Pomegranate is doing good business. The menu and signs proclaim that it is a “Grill – Bar – Greek Fusion Cuisine”, inside the blurb continues “We at Pomegranate pride ourselves in preparing authentic Greek dishes with a contemporary twist.”  If only that is what they did. Taramosalata is sound enough; the yoghurt and spinach dip is also agreeable; koukia is broad beans with mint and olive oil; loucanica is depressingly ordinary; ditto the greasy bastourma. The breads are pittas - flat pockets as from the supermarket. From the main course list lamb chops are fresh off the grill. The lamb souvlakia is a mean portion.

Where I hear you ask is the much trailed Greek fusion? Where are those exciting contemporary twists? They must be referring to the last item on a long menu which is billed as “Fusion rocket salad”, “with pomegranate and molasses” – this is truly horrid good, peppery wild rocket is bludgeoned with a sharp and evil dressing made with pomegranate seeds. This salad is so astringent that you suspect it might  strip the enamel from your teeth. As a modest Greek Cypriot restaurant serving familiar Greek dishes Pomegranate would just about pass muster – much the same offer as many others (it’s not so uplifting as Lemonia; and it’s not as small and friendly as Tssiakos and Charcoal - see earlier post). Why do the people behind this new restaurant saddle themselves with the word Fusion when they plainly have no plans to cook that way? With Theodore Kyriakou pausing between restaurants Greek Fusion is currently even more elusive than ever, and you certainly won’t find it at Pomegranate.

On a more cheerful note, brace yourself for an unequivocal plug of the set lunch at Arbutus: On the 30th July you could have chosen from two starters “Organic salmon salad with horseradish cream” and “Pork porchetta with Granny Smith Apple puree. Then on to “Cornish gurnard with crushed potatoes” or “Roast rabbit leg, soft herb and pea risotto”. And finish up with either  “Floating island, pink pralines” or “Tomme de Savoie”. At £15.50 for three courses this is exceedingly good value, but it requires a disciplined approach as your eyes will inevitably stray to the main Carte and delicacies like the Plat du Jour “Gratin of ox tripe with olive oil and Parmesan” which was astonishingly good. Even if you shimmy away from the set lunch the starters here range from £7-£10, mains from £10-£19, while puds are £7 - very competitive pricing for cooking of this quality.

Charles Campion

Pomegranate, Upper Street, N1 (020 7704 1002)

Lemonia, 89 Regent's Park Road, NW1 (020 7586 7454)

Tsiakkos & Charcoal, 5 Marylands Road, W9 (020 7286 7896)

Arbutus, 63 Frith Street, W1 (020 7734 4545)