I've said it before, but I'll say it again - if you eat out a lot, most of the time what you'll get is okay food, okay service and fairly high prices. The very good and the very bad follow the classic bell curve distribution; they're both equally rare. I've been lucky in the last month to find myself in a couple of really good restaurants, so assuming the laws of probability would hold good, I wasn't expecting to find another so soon. But sometimes, as the Romans used to say, the gods smile upon us and I was happy to find myself in yet another very fine restaurant. Actually it wasn't entirely unexpected: I'd had a meal in Chapter One a month or so ago to celebrate the annual launch of the Bailey's Eurotoques competition for Young Chef of the Year. It was a special lunch for a few food writers and it was wonderful, but I thought a trip to taste the food on an ordinary night would be the best way to confirm my first impressions.

My good friend Jeananne Crowley spent the best part of 1999 working in the Gate theatre and has now taken up residence not to far away on the same side of the river. These two facts seemed to me reason enough to take her there once we'd decided that it was time to do another review together. It was, as she said, now going to be her local, so she was happy to make it our venue.

The restaurant is underneath the Writer's Museum in Parnell Square and you go down a flight of stone steps to get to it. It's spacious and there are lots of rooms, which are bars, small private dining rooms and two big dining rooms. I say big, because in floor area they are, but there's a cosy, intimate feel to the place. There are good paintings on the walls, a carpeted floor which soaks up the sound on busy nights, big generous tables covered in good napery and lots of space between them. Just as importantly there's a warmth to the greeting when you arrive. Being made to feel welcome and at home is a big part of setting the tone for an evening dining out and it never ceases to amaze me how few restaurants pay attention to it.

The menu was a table d'hote and priced at £30, which included some interesting dishes. Starters were Jerusalem artichoke soup with truffle oil, tarte flambe of goat's cheese, roulade of celeriac and slow-cooked salmon, smoked chicken and avocado salad with Parmesan crackling, terrine of duck confit, ham and chicken, and a hot tian of white onion and crab. Main courses were stuffed breast of veal, stuffed fillet of brill, fillet steak with red onion compote, char-grilled venison rump with colcannon, roast duck, pot-roasted pheasant and saute scallops with croquettes and smoked bacon. There were also two specials; prawn and oyster ravioli as a starter and roast woodcock. It wasn't easy choosing from such a plethora of good things, but eventually Jeananne picked the oyster ravioli to start and the leg of chicken stuffed with mushrooms. I settled on the crab tian and simply couldn't resist the woodcock, probably the finest game bird and the least common on menus.

The wine list starts classically with some Grand Crus of the Bordeaux, some Saint Emilion Grand Crus, some petits chateaus like Loudenne, which is listed at a very reasonably £20, some Burgundies which include old favourites like Vosne Romanee and Gevrey Chambertin and whites like Meursault, Puligny Montrachet, a Chablis Premier Cru for under £30 and Macon Lugny at £16. There are good Cotes de Rhones like Cote Rotie, a Chapoutier Crozes Hermitage and a Vacqueras for £19.95. Some good Italian and Spanish wines are listed as well as wines from California and the RSA. It's a wellchosen list and it's one of the least marked-up lists I've seen lately, which considering the quality of the restaurant, is a great plus. Jeananne was keen to try a big red, so we had the Vacqueras, which turned out to be very fine.

Three different kinds of breads were brought to the table; treacle bread, some small white rolls and a caraway bread, all of which were beautifully made and were replaced instantly as soon as we'd finished the first basket. The meal began with an amuse bouche of the Jerusalem artichoke soup, served in a dainty little cup, and although Jerusalem artichokes are not one my favourite vegetables, I really enjoyed it. When the starters arrived we both found ourselves impressed. Jeananne's ravioli were delicious, dainty little pillows with an oyster in each and a prawn on the top. It was an unusual combination of tastes, but one that worked really well. My tian was equally good, fresh and well-flavoured it left me feeling that I was happily in the hands of great chef.

I'm convinced that something magical happens when everything goes right with a meal, it's as though the sum is greater than the parts. Sitting in this restaurant in the company of an old friend, with surroundings that made me feel comfortable, excellent service and above all else, terrific food, brought on a sense of well-being that is matched by little else. So, feeling as though all was right with world, we sat and looked at our main courses. Jeananne's, like mine, looked great. A small cylinder of risotto and the chicken leg stuffed with mushrooms was surrounded by succulent tasty bits, and my woodcock was presented as the two halves of the breast on a bed of puree and the legs separate, placed alongside like a pair of miniature crossed drum-sticks. I can only say that I don't remember when I last tasted so good a woodcock. Jeananne was just as happy with hers and kept pointing out to me that now she had a wonderful restaurant as her local. We finished the meal with two very fine desserts, a lemon mousse for Jeananne, and a raspberry parfait for me. A bill for £85.45 seemed a small price to pay for so fine a meal.

It's not often that I find myself enthusing whole-heartedly about a restaurant, but I left Chapter One feeling that I'd had a truly great meal, one in which every element had been just right. I found myself wondering why I hadn't been there before and why no one had been recommending it to me. Maybe I haven't got my ear as close to the ground as I'd like, but now that I've found it I can't wait to go back.