Most of the time I go to a restaurant that I know nothing about and bring you a snap-shot of my experience on the night. Very occasionally however, I know what I can expect. About a year ago Nigel Werner took me to lunch in One Pico and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I marked it down as a place to keep in mind for when I wanted to be certain of a good meal, or at least as certain as you can be. Now when your wife decides that there's shopping to be done and you have to accompany her even though you rather have a filling with no anaesthetic, you need something to make it less of a penance, so I suggested to Susan Morley that lunch in One Pico might be just the thing.

The first thing that I liked about it was the fact that it has its own private car park, so for culchies like me who don't have access to public transport, this is something of a major plus. From the car park you come in through the Camden Hall Hotel, to which the restaurant is attached. Like the fine Trumans in Kildare Street, it also has its own street entrance, which I've always felt is crucial in establishing an identity for a restaurant that's part of a hotel. You go up a flight of granite steps and into a small lobby, where the walls are lined with the numerous accolades and paeans the restaurant has garnered over the years. On the right there's a small lounge and the restaurant entrance is on the left. We walked in and were shown to our table, a generously-sized table for two that immediately put me in a good mood - there's nothing I hate more than tight, mean little tables. Also there's plenty of space between the them, which makes the room feel comfortable. Good linen, fine glassware and attractive crockery set the table.

The room is painted in a terracotta red which I found both warm and restful, there are large Georgian pane windows looking out onto the street and a couple of handsome fireplaces. The decor is a good combination of elegance and comfort and even before we'd seen a menu or a wine-list I felt at ease. We were seated at a large, square table with a crisp linen cloth where there was plenty of room to spread our impedimenta. Although the room was full, as indeed was the annexe, there is plenty of room between the tables and there was no sense of crowding - in fact more the opposite, a sense of space and comfort. It's one of those restaurants that has the service element honed to perfection. It's attentive, friendly and extremely professional, the kind of service that makes you feel right away that your in the hands of people who know what they're doing. We were brought the menus and the wine list as well three different breads; Guinness, tomato and a brioche, which we were able to nibble on as we read through the menus.

The starters are all around £5 and include some interesting dishes; for example baby Caesar salad with pancetta and shredded crispy duck; deep-fried crab-cake with gremolata thyme and potato rosti and mushroom and chestnut soup. Main courses too are imaginative: salmon teryaki, char-grilled chicken, risotto with morel mushrooms and fillet of beef with champ. All the main courses were priced at £7.95 and side orders, such as sauteed potatoes with aioli or Asian beans with ginger are priced at £1.50. After a lot of humming and hawing - Susie is a Libran and not good at decisions - she chose the crab cakes and then the risotto to follow. I don't normally eat lunch so I thought I might pick dishes that would be easy on the digestion; I had the potato rosti to start and monkfish tempura to follow.

With all of this fish between us I turned to the wine list to find a white. The wine list is average in length and somewhat above average in mark-up: an example would be the Madfish Bay Chardonnay which is listed at £29. There are three pages of whites and three of reds, taking in most of major wine producing countries. House wines can be had for £14 and there's a good spread of wines across countries and price range. Eventually I chose the Merwespont Chardonnay from South Africa which is one of those New World wines that are really full of fruit. Full-bodied for white, it was a good choice for the foods to come.

Our starters were excellent: Susie's crab cakes - a dish I've encountered often enough to be wary of it - was perfect. Fresh crab, firm and well-flavoured, it had Susie enthusing and my rosti, though not as exciting as the crab, was very good. That glow that comes over people when they eat well settled upon us and we beamed quietly, enjoying the food, the room and the service. Our main courses came and were just as good as the starters. Big generous plates with a pattern that matched the curtains came elegantly presented and, heads bowed, we tucked in. Susie's risotto was presented as a cylinder of Arborio rice cooked just as it should be, and the mushrooms turned out to be morels, one of the few winter mushrooms and one of the better tasting ones. This was a successful dish and my monkfish tempura, although a little thick, was good and three large pieces of monkfish filled my plate. Not only did I eat all the fish, I even managed most of my vegetables, although I had an especial soft spot for the crispy potatoes covered in a garlic aioli.

Despite eating all of this we both felt the urge to at least examine the dessert menu. All the desserts are £2.95 and although I was tempted by a banana marquise Susie decided that we should have an assiette of ice-creams and sorbets between us. One ice-cream and two sorbets was the final decision - an orange chocolate ice-cream, and mango and blackcurrant sorbets. All three were delicious, especially the orange chocolate. We finished as usual with coffee and reflected on the meal we'd had. It's not often that I get a meal that satisfies on each course, and rarer too that it comes with good service and a pleasing room. A bill for just over £50 seemed fairs and reasonable for such a good lunch. One Pico has all the elements that I like in a restaurant and it's a place I'd be happy to return to again.