Phoenix will need plenty of flame

You don't have to be a sociologist to see that the Marylebone Road is one of London's most pronounced cultural barriers. On the south side, you're in busy, bustling W1, but once a tourist ventures northward and strays off the beaten path to Madame Tussaud's, things are very different.

Everyone cringing from the storm of traffic on the Marylebone Station side of the road is in North London; the postcode may read North West, but this is firmly North London. And North London rules are different. Here, diners are wealthy, but they are undemonstrative; they are keen on value but don't sign up for fashion and glitz.

In a strange way, North London is pretty old-fashioned, which may be why the much-vaunted 'dining-out revolution' hasn't made much impression on northern bastions such as St John's Wood. There's no beating about the bush. North Londoners can be pretty stuffy. All of which means that the proprietors of the Phoenix Palace - a slick Chinese restaurant that opened in Glentworth Street last November - will have their work cut out.

Tantalisingly enough, the Phoenix Palace is within sight of the traffic jam in Marylebone Road, and the land of sleek, lively, free-spending West Enders on the other side. The d?cor here owes a lot - including the carvings that adorn the walls - to the restaurant's previous incarnation as a modernist Indian, but the chairs are comfortable and the large room swallows up a huge number of diners.

The food is well presented, and portions are large (something for which we must thank North London attitudes, perhaps?). Starters include all the old favourites, but steamed fresh scallops at £3 each are no bargain. Stick to chicken meat wrapped in lettuce leaf (£5.50), which is well flavoured, if a little short on lettuce leaves. Or order a main-course portion of the deep-fried squid in light batter (£8), which makes a fine opening move.

The menu rambles on for more than 200 dishes and is worth a careful read, since there are some interesting discoveries to be made. Salt-baked chicken (£10/£20) is a wonderful savoury roast chicken - juicy meat and crisp skin. The fried minced-pork cakes with salted fish (£6.50) are very classy, the salt fish seasoning the pork mix. The 'dual seasonal greens with curry' (£5.50) is a novelty item - baby sweetcorn and broccoli lurk in a yellow, and pretty fierce, curry sauce. The stewed beef flank (£5.50) is that old favourite, braised brisket - very dark and very rich. The range of noodle dishes is extensive.

The standard of cooking here is good and would not be out of place in the better Chinatown eateries, even if the d?cor might raise an eyebrow. The Phoenix Palace deserves to do well, and may yet cheer up a whole tranche of North London.

Phoenix Palace
Glentworth Street, London, NW1 5PG