It's something that I've remarked on before and it's something that always surprises me - although at this stage it really shouldn't any more. It's when things come in groups, for no apparent reason, that I get surprised. A few weeks ago I wrote about Ernie's in Dublin and said, perhaps rashly, that it was a style of dining that had almost gone. I got a few emails that reminded me that John Howard's Coq Hardi also fits the pattern of good food in classical surroundings with classical service, and I think that's fair comment. Of course, if I'd written that last week I'm sure the Coq Hardi wouldn't have slipped my mind. None the less I stuck to my belief that fashion holds as much sway when it comes to dining out as it does in other spheres. And that's why I was surprised to find in the space of only a couple of weeks yet another restaurant in the classic mould.

My friend Margo Tracey had made me an irresistible offer: she would drive down to Wicklow, pick me up, drive me the restaurant of our choice, then drive me home again. Now you can't get a better deal than that, I thought. I rather chivalrously suggested that we could go somewhere near me, so she wouldn't have too much driving to do. 'No, no,' she replied, 'the whole point of me driving is so that you can go somewhere without having to think about the drive. We can go anywhere, I'm happy to drive and what's more, I don't drink.' That was all the persuading I needed. 'Let's go North, then,' I said unashamedly. 'Okay,' came the answer, 'that's fine by me.' So we decided that we'd go to Malahide, to a restaurant that she liked, called Bon Appetit.

Margo arrived at my house in a fetching little black number looking very elegant, and so shamed me into changing into something more urbane than the country corduroys and tweeds that I was wearing. We decided to take the scenic route across the Sally Gap and then pick up the M50 to Malahide. It was a beautiful evening and I'm now convinced that being driven is far preferable to driving. I found myself luxuriating in the passenger seat of her pristine BMW feeling very pleased with myself. In just over an hour we were parking outside the restaurant, which is in a terrace of fine Victorian houses running towards the sea. Inside the door there's a well-furnished hallway and we were greeted there as we walked in, and shown into what would have been the drawing room to sit, have an aperitif and look at the menus. There's fine plasterwork on the ceilings and a couple of handsome marble fireplaces in which logs glowed warmly, powered by gas.

I followed Margo's example and had a glass of water while we looked through the wine list. This is a wine list with some spectacular wines on it: it's long, carefully laid out and well-chosen. It starts with the house wines, five whites and six reds which run up to £20, mostly Spanish. There are wines of the month between £20 and £40 and then the list proper begins with fine clarets, divided into parishes. It begins with a Cos d'Estournel at £140, which gives you an immediate idea of the sort of wines on offer. This is the kind of wine list that takes years to acquire and there are some remarkable wines on offer. A few in particular caught me eye: Cheval Blanc '70 at £245 and the '78 at £210, Ausone '70 at £125. Prices like these for wines as special as these can only exist when they've been held in stock for a long time. The big boy on the list is Chateau Petrus '71 at £1200. After these come the lesser petits chateaus, white Bordeaux, and then Burgundy. All the wines have a very modest mark up, for example £16.50 for a de Boeuf Fleurie, fine Burgundies like Vosne Romanee and Nuits St Georges are under £40, a simple white Burgundies like Macon Lugny is listed at £19. There is a page of Chablis going from £17 up to £50 for a Grand Cru, then Spanish, then Italian which includes Italy's best shipper Gaja, good wines from RSA, Australian wines and finally half bottles. Seeing as how I was the only drinker I chose a half bottle of the good Sancerre '97 from de Ladoucette at £15.

There are two dinner menus, an a la carte and a table d'hote priced at £28 which has four courses, then coffee and petits fours. The starters include carpaccio of beef, crab with a cheese sauce, mussels with shallots and terrine of foie gras. Then a broth, then a choice of medallions of venison, crispy duckling, fillet of pork or roast lamb and finally desserts, coffee and petits fours. Margo had already decided that she was having the crab as a starter even before we got to the restaurant. She'd had it twice before and intended having it again. She followed this with the duckling. I chose off the a la carte, which had many of the dishes on the set menu, plus a lot of fish dishes and classics like fillet steak with a pepper sauce and supreme of chicken. In the end I had seafood all the way, Gigas oysters to start and king scallops with sesame oil for my main course.

The crab lived up to Margo's expectations completely. It arrived in a small, shell-shaped dish and the Parmesan glaze made it look lovely as well as taste good. My oysters were fine and fat and we traded morsels. Meanwhile we had the attentive service that dinner-suited waiters lead you to believe you'll get, and we weren't disappointed. By the time the main courses came we were happy and contented diners, Margo enjoying her water, me enjoying my wine.

The crispy duck that arrived in front of Margo looked to me more than her svelte frame would be able to handle, and thankfully I was right. I really enjoyed my scallops, but no one could accuse them of being filling, so I was delighted to oblige when Margo offered me a goodly amount of her duck in return for a solitary scallop. If only all deals could be as good as that. Possibly because I'd nibbled on too much bread I couldn't manage a dessert and neither could Margo, so we went straight to coffees. Knowing I was being driven meant there was nothing stopping me from having a large Armagnac, so I did. The bill came to £74.80 not including service, which I felt was about right for the ambience, the service and the food. If you enjoy good wines and like the classical approach to dining, Bon Appetit will not disappoint you.