It's a funny old world; last week I went looking determinedly for a spectacular meal and didn't find it, this week I was looking for a simple, quick, pub-grub meal and instead found real excellence. Bizarre. It happened like this: time pressure and a daughter who needed to be collected from Bray meant we had to find somewhere not too far from there, and Ashford fitted that bill. Ashford House has been there for as long as I can remember and although I must have passed it a thousand times I'd never actually been inside. I'd noticed all through last year lots of building and extensions, but I still hadn't been in. Neighbours had told me they'd had a good lunch there, so Susan Morley the artist and I set off with modest expectations.

While I was sitting there I had this fantasy - no, not about that - I was imagining myself as a fly on the wall of a bank manager's office while the following conversation took place. 'I've got this idea. I'm going to open a road-house on the N 11. Loads of passing traffic, easy drive to Dublin. People will stop and eat there.' The bank manager nods. 'Right. Good. Plenty of burgers and chips then?' 'No, no chips at all. It'll be a road-house, but I'll get a really good chef and do serious food.' 'In a pub?' 'Absolutely.' The manager shuffles his papers and gets up. 'It's been nice to meet you.'

It's on your right coming from Dublin, just after the traffic-infuriating measures in Ashford and we made our way in through a large hall that has a big, welcoming, green leather sofa. It has that sort of dark wood and brass feel to it that so many pubs are adopting and it looks quite smart. Straight in front is the entrance to the Mezzanine restaurant, which is also a very large bar. It's a big room with an enormously high ceiling, quite Spartan in its decor, but what there is I liked. A large bar counter takes up most of one wall and there are stairs leading to a mezzanine gallery, which presumably is how the restaurant gets it name. There are long mirrors and a rather striking painting of Saturn's rings above the bar, in front of which a model communications satellite inexplicably stands rotating.

There are a few sofas around the walls, but the bulk of the downstairs seating is made up of plain wooden tables and chairs, which are not set until they're occupied. We chose a table next to the open fire and a wine list and menus came promptly. While Susie studied her menu I checked out the wines. It's a short list but very reasonably priced. House wines are £10 and there are two reds and two whites, two from South Africa and two from Argentina. None of the wines have a vintage listed, but they're mostly New World and young, so it's not that important. Apart from a few French wines there are four wines from Chile, two from Spain, two from Italy, two from South Africa and two from Australia, which included the J. J. Mcwilliams Cabernet Sauvignon from South Australia. Susie had decided that she wanted something 'fruity' and although I'd never had it before I suspected that the Australian Cabernet might be just that, so I ordered it. As one of the more expensive items on the list at £14.50, you can see how moderately priced the wines are. It turned out to be one of the best Australian Cabernets that I've had, a 1996 vintage, full of blackberry fruit, big and well balanced.

The menu comes as a bit of a surprise. No burgers and chips, no mixed grill, no lamb chops - none of the bog ordinary dishes you'd expect to find. Instead it's the sort of menu that would be very much at home in one of Dublin's trendier eateries. Starters are all around a fiver and include things like goats cheese brioche, gateau of smoked chicken with chorizo and black butter, vegetable tartlet with deep-fried French beans, and a seafood bouillabaisse at £2.95. Main courses have a nod to tradition with a sirloin steak served with horseradish mash, grilled fillet of cod with vine tomatoes and aubergine caviar, pan-fried pheasant, fillet of chicken with teriyaki jus, wild mushroom risotto, and salmon with deep-fried cabbage and saffron.

Susie picked the goats cheese and I chose the tartlet, mainly to try the deep-fried beans. They arrived on large, deep white plates and looked wonderful. After a moment's silence Susie decided that it was the best goats cheese she'd ever had. I had to taste it, and I agree with her - quite delicious. I liked my starter too, so we awaited our main courses with anticipation. Susie had chosen the salmon and I'd chosen the pheasant. I've tried pan-frying pheasant many a time, but it's always ended up too tough to eat. I was curious to see how Ashford House could do it. The answer is that it was exceptional. Tender, beautifully flavoured, it was a real star dish. Susie's salmon was just as good, but just as importantly so were all the accoutrements. While we were enjoying this and marvelling at such good food in a pub the live music started. A one man band - I later discovered his name was John Heffernan - played Eric Clapton and Van Morrison brilliantly. Great food and entertainment too - wow, Ted.

Full as we were, desserts just had to be tried. A prune and Armagnac sorbet for Susie and a bread and butter pudding for me. And could they keep up this high standard? Yes, they could. Susie, not normally prone to hyperbole, announced she had 'one of the best ice-creams I've ever had' and mine was a really light version of an old favourite. You can even get an espresso. So back to my initial fantasy. I discovered that the chef is Conor Spacey, who has such an impressive CV that I had to find out why he'd picked a road house as a showcase for his talent. It seems that if we'd waited a month or two, the restaurant proper would have been finished and we'd have been dining there rather than in the bar, although I was assured the same good food would still be available there. I'll definitely be going back to Ashford House to try it out. Really good food, great music - live every night - and a bill to make you smile, £58.55. The room is a little at odds with the quality of the fare, but then wait a bit and there will be a dining room if you don't want to sit in a bar.