I've been going in and out of the Merrion Hotel over the past couple of years for the occasional drink, the occasional reception, the occasional video shoot, and I've come to like it a lot. It reminds me a little of Dublin's long gone Russell Hotel, since like that hotel once was, it's comprised of several Georgian houses which have been sympathetically re-modelled into the Merrion. I've sat in its lounge in front of a fire on winter evenings, I've enjoyed summer evening drinks on its terrace. I like its understated elegance and friendly, efficient staff. Sooner or later I knew I'd come here to try their dining room.

My guest was my old friend Michael Colgan, a man who is busier than anyone I know. With his time at a premium he was keen to try somewhere central, specifically near the Green. 'Let's go to the Unicorn,' he suggested. 'Done that.' 'What about La Mere Zou?' 'Done that too.' 'The Commons?' 'That as well.' 'Well you suggest somewhere.' 'Okay, what about Brownes?' 'Ate there last night. I'm not going two days in a row.' Which is why we came to the Merrion. I arrived before Michael and sat in the lounge upstairs. I'd just come from the Shelbourne where there was standing room only, but here I had a table to myself. It made quite a change from the Horseshoe; quiet, not smoky and uncrowded. When Michael arrived we made our way to the Mornington Room, which is the Merrion's restaurant, as opposed to Guilbaud's which is in the same building, but isn't.

I seem to be making a habit of not being able to find dining rooms and we had a long trek down carpeted corridors and through a succession of fire doors with me saying 'I think it's down this way.' We found it eventually - I have no doubt there is a quicker way - and walked into a large low-ceilinged room. It was a little after nine o'clock on a Friday night and there were two other tables dining. We took our place alongside the wall and were handed the bills of fare. The first thing you notice about this room is the lighting. It's noticeable because it's not very comfortable and I'm not sure why that should be the case. It's low lighting but not intimate, just rather flat. It has the effect of making the room a little dull. Because this dining room is in the basement there are no windows, so the lighting should take this into account, yet somehow it doesn't quite work. Anyway, I picked up my menu, which comes in a stiff, clear plastic board.

I had already assumed - given our whereabouts - that the restaurant prices would be in the upper-middle price range, or possibly even higher, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the prices. Starters are all around the £5 mark and main courses run from under a tenner to around £16, which puts this menu firmly in the reasonable price-range. A further look at the menu led me to notice that it's called the Mornington Brasserie, and for once the name 'brasserie' is accompanied with brasserie prices. The wine list, too, is not as heavily marked up as you'd expect in a luxury hotel. It's not the lowest mark up I've seen, but it's moderate. There are some expensive clarets and some expensive champagnes for the corporate spenders, but there's plenty to choose from in the £15-20 range. I settled on the Marques de Murrieta, a deep red, rich, Spanish red which was listed at £18, and Michael ordered a jug of tap water as well.

Michael is a life-long vegetarian, so from the menu he chose the tortellini with spinach and ricotta to start, which was available as a starter or a main course. Being a carnivore myself I chose the bresaola, thin slices of cured beef, which came with Parmesan shavings and a rocket salad. There were two fish dishes available as main courses, red snapper or monkfish and Michael chose the snapper. I asked our waitress what she would recommend and she said the lamb's liver was delicious so I took her recommendation and ordered that. She asked how I'd like it cooked and I said I'd have it as the chef thinks best. While we waited we were brought a selection of breads; salt bread, plain bread and tomato bread all of which I tasted and all of which I liked. The starters were good and well presented, Michael having his tortellini without cream. I tasted them and found them to be well-made and well-flavoured while my bresaola was exactly as I'd expected it to be. While we ate we talked a lot, which is as well, since if you were two people in this room on the night with nothing to say to one another there would have been precious little to distract you.

Actually I'm rather fond of quiet dining rooms since you do tend to get better service than in really busy ones, but I was puzzled by the emptiness. The main courses arrived and I got a chance to taste Michael's red snapper which was very good. My liver was absolutely excellent, beautifully cooked and served on a bed of mash. It was as tender and as tasty a piece of liver as I've ever eaten and I was impressed, because the chef had sent it to me exactly as it should have been. By the time we'd finished I was more perplexed than before. Good food at very reasonable prices in a luxury hotel is hardly the norm, so why was the Mornington Brasserie not packed to capacity? Attentive service as well - it's a puzzle.

Michael wanted nothing more than a decaffeinated coffee to finish, but I couldn't resist the chocolate dome on the dessert menu. All the desserts are priced at £5, which is hardly excessive. It looked so good when it came that Michael had a taste as well and then I finished with a coffee as well. £67 for what I've described is very reasonable - it's very easy to find worse food at much higher prices. I enjoyed my meal here and I enjoy Michael's company, so between the two it was a good evening. Why we should have been so alone I can only guess at. Perhaps it's simply that the room is a little gloomy.