Funny how things go in cycles; for weeks in a row I seemed to be in restaurants that cost lots of money, and now for the last few weeks I've been to places that haven't been so expensive. The Casa Rustica in Greystones is also inexpensive, so the pattern continues. The name means 'country house' in Italian, Spanish, Latin and probably Portuguese too, which is as well, since the menu is an eclectic mix of dishes from all around the Mediterranean basin including Egypt and Greece - as well as the countries I've already mentioned.

My guest for the evening was Antoinette O'Connell, who I've know as Anto for fifteen years or so. She's a homeopath, and my first memories of Anto and her healing profession go back to 1986 when Hurricane Charlie put my restaurant and house under four feet of water. The next morning, sitting with my feet in the receding flood-waters, Anto came by to see how we were faring and slipped rescue remedy into my coffee. Since she now lives in Newcastle she suggested Greystones as our venue and picked Casa Rustica as her specific choice.

It's always a problem for hotels to market their restaurants as eating places in their own right. The La Touche Hotel has come up with a novel solution: the Casa Rustica is a separate building alongside the hotel with access through the hotel car park. As you approach the little courtyard that is the entrance to the restaurant first you meet two cannons which sit like Staffordshire dogs on either side of the gate, then you meet an impressive array of beer kegs and gas cylinders. Access is a little awkward when you're through the front door as you have to go through two more in quick succession, rather like going into a loo.

Once inside you find a small bar with a high, two-storey ceiling. We sat down and ordered an aperitif while we looked at the menus and at just that moment in walked Mark Michel and Adrienne Long, who I haven't seen for ages. It did take me a moment or two to recognise Mark, as he'd shaved all his hair off the previous night, following an interesting incident involving a slurry tanker and a wayward hose. Since he produces organic vegetables and Anto is developing homeopathic remedies for land it looked like a fortuitous meeting, which is why I can now describe food for four rather than two.

The wine list has some sixty wines listed, lots of New World, a few French and some Italian. The mark up is very reasonable and from it I chose the Castello di Volpaia, a rather fine Chianti Classico which I used to list years ago. I haven't seen it for a long time, so I was delighted to find it. Mark and Ado, not being wine-drinkers, stuck to beer. As I said, the menu has dishes from many countries, some of which I knew and some I didn't. The starters range in price from £2.50 to £4.50 and include marinated tiger prawns, tahini, falafels, stuffed mussels, meat balls, chicken wings and garlic bread. For main courses there are seven pasta dishes with classics like arabbiata, amatriciana and carbonara, there are two sea-food dishes, three vegetarian dishes, a couple of chicken dishes, moussaka and steaks.

A short while after we'd placed our order we were taken upstairs to the dining room. It's in the attic space, so there are beams and sloping ceilings, giving it a rather cosy feel. The walls are in a red ochre wash and a turquoise blue of the shade you can find in Greece. There are plain wooden tables and hard wooden chairs, unless like the ladies you sit on the padded benches that line the sides. There are some prints on the walls, and thankfully I came to really like the one that was in front of my eyes.

Our starters arrived and Mark had well-cooked and flavoured tiger prawns, Anto had the falafels and I had the meat balls. Ado was having only one course - a pasta - so for the moment she had nothing. We did lots of sharing and I found the clear winner to be Anto's falafels, which I learned were an Egyptian speciality - really subtly flavoured and tasty. The main courses arrived and Ado finally got to eat her pasta, Anto had her prawns in a tomato sauce, Mark his chicken wings and the Farouge Meshwi, a marinated chicken dish was for me. As with the starters we did lots of sharing and for once I got the best of it, I think. Mark wasn't mad about his chicken wings, and neither was I. Anto was enjoying her prawns, which were fresh, but wasn't entirely enthusiastic about the sauce. I thought my chicken dish was excellent and Ado was enjoying her arabbiata. I tasted it and thought the sauce too watery and the pasta under-salted, but Ado became defensive about her pasta and took a little umbrage at my comments. 'It suits me just fine,' she said defiantly, 'I'm not a pasta snob like you.' Fair enough.

Only Anto was game for dessert and she chose one that looked exactly like shredded wheat. After a while she ate no more of it, adding that shredded wheat was something that she preferred of a morning. I'd noticed a real espresso machine at the top of the stairs - a Gaggia - so I knew a decent espresso was a possibility. It turned out to be not only a possibility but also an actuality. The first was pretty good, so I had a second. The bill came to a modest £98 for the four of us, which is something you don't see very often. Perhaps I wouldn't make a big detour to find Casa Rustica again, but you can't argue with the prices.

A last thought; this came by email from a reader and I'll pass it on to you. 1. First of all, pick the number of days a week that you would like to eat out. 2. Multiply this number by 2. 3. Add 5. 4. Multiply it by 50. 5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1749. If you haven't, add 1748. 6. Last step: Subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should now have a three digit number: The first digit of this was your original number (i.e. how many times you want to go out to eat each week). The second two digits are your age. 1999 is the only year it will ever work.