It's probably a genetic thing, but when I think of family meals I tend to think of big gatherings around heavily laden tables of Italian food. Now as it happened this was to be a sort of family night out, the first of the New Year: my wife Susie, her sister Diane, her husband Chris de Burgh and me. Chris had been angling for a Dalkey restaurant, but I was adamant. He would have to drive. 'Blackrock,' I said definitively, and here's why. Last year I had one of the best Italian meals I've eaten in this country in Ashford, Co. Wicklow. I'd since learnt that the chef who was cooking there at the time had moved and had opened his own restaurant in Blackrock called eponymously 'da Roberto.' So that was my suggestion: an Italian meal at 'da Roberto.'

The first thing that pleased me was that I was able to park easily: there's a public car-park just around the corner from the restaurant. Susie and I had arrived first, and we were shown to a good-sized round table, given menus, a wine list and a glass each of a very pleasant rose by way of an aperitif on the house. It wasn't just us - everyone who sat down got one, even Chris and Diane when they arrived a few moments later. We were all in a very good mood, and everything seemed to reinforce it, from the ambience to the friendly service. It's a pleasant room with a dozen or so tables and lots of stained glass, giving it the look and feel of so many Italian trattorie - unobtrusive and comfortable. I felt very much at ease.

The wine list is quite short and is the most colourful I've seen - it's multi-hued with greens and yellows and reds, photographs and maps, and of course, wines. They're mostly Italian and very reasonably priced, the majority between £10-15. We chose a Salice Salentino for the red and a Pinot Grigio for the white, both under £15 and both good wines. Turning our attention to the food we decided that we'd all pick something different: Roberto's prawns for Diane, crab claws for Susie, spaghetti alla putanesca for Chris and pasta with broccoli for me. Broccoli isn't my favourite green, but I was fascinated to see how Roberto would make a pasta sauce from it. All the starters are around £4. The main courses are priced between £9.50 and £13.50 and our choices went like this: fisherman's spaghetti for Susie, mixed griddled fish for Diane, chef's fillet of beef for Chris and pork fondue for me. The menus themselves continue the colourful theme of the wine list and include such joyously named dishes as 'Greedy Man's Ravioli' and 'The Pasta Dish That I Like'.

While we waited we picked on the bread and Chris and I told silly jokes, much to the irritation of our wives who were trying to have serious conversation. Chris thought that perhaps I should invent a couple of imaginary guests, rather than write about him and Diane again. 'You could say you were with a couple that you met on holidays and you could give them silly names. How about Hugh Jarce? Or Mike Rotch? No, wait, what about a German... Oliver Mappantz?' We giggled uncontrollably. 'And,' I spluttered, 'we could call Oliver's wife Wetta.' Our wives stared at us stonily while we wiped our eyes, sobbing with convulsive laughter. 'You're both very childish,' they chimed in unison, sounding a little like Calvin's disciples.

When the food started to arrive, the giddiness disappeared almost at once. The first thing we were brought were crostini with tomato sauce and mozzarella - two each - as an amuse bouche. Then came the starters. We all tasted each dish and we were bowled over by the perfectly balanced flavours of each one. This was Italian food as good as I've had it outside of Italy. I even ate every piece of my broccoli pasta, for God's sake. 'Ah,' said Chris as he wiped his mouth, 'but will the main courses be up to this standard?' Let me tell you now they were, and that possibly they even surpassed the starters. But before we got to them there was yet another course, a lemon sorbet to get our palates ready for the next course. The real knock-out was the fish. I'm not a big fish eater, but I'll tell you this, if I could have fish that tasted like Susie's or Diane's whenever I wanted it, I'd probably have it twice a day. Anyone who can make fish taste like this has a gift that can only be described as divinely given. Of course the meat dishes were excellent, but in any meal something always stands out from the rest and in this meal it had to be the fish. Good salads and vegetables accompanied these dishes so by the time we'd nearly finished our main courses our appetites had all but gone. I say nearly because Chris and I couldn't even finish what was on our plates, so generous had the helpings been. Effectively we'd eaten our way through four courses, so we ordered one tiramisu which we all picked at, more out of greed than hunger, and then I settled my digestion with a good espresso. While I was drinking it the eponymous Roberto came out from the kitchen to go around the tables - a ceremony that used to be common years ago - but one whose near demise I hadn't really noticed until I saw Roberto doing the rounds with the Irish lady who had served us. When he got to our table I learnt that he spoke only Italian and that the Irish lady, who acted as his interpreter, was his wife. It seems that before coming to Ireland they had a restaurant in Bologna - the home of the best Italian food - but that she had decided that after fifteen years of living in Italy it was time for Roberto to do a stint in Ireland.

Whenever I have Italian visitors to stay I always begin to panic when they ask me where they'd get a good Italian meal. Not any more I won't, I've found nirvana. Which means that this week I'm in the very unusual position of being able to write a piece with no ifs, no buts, no caveats and no qualifications. This was quite simply the best Italian food that I've eaten in Ireland. Perfectly cooked, perfectly flavoured, this was a meal that I'll remember for a while to come. Not only was the food superb, but there was good wine at very reasonable prices and a total bill for the four of us that came to just over £105, including all drinks. Even if the food had been okay but not exceptional, it would still have been great value, but brilliant food at this price is an added bonus. If you like Italian food do yourself a favour, go and eat at Roberto's.