Aung San Suu Kyi is a woman you may have heard of. She's the democratically elected leader of Burma and she's been under house arrest for nearly twenty years, ever since the usurping military junta under General Ne Win took power by force. It's one of those festering sores of international politics that will only be resolved when enough people push their elected politicians into actually doing something. Which is why the Burma Action Group organised a party in the Stephen's Green Hotel to celebrate her 55th birthday. This year she was accorded the honour of Freeman of the City of Dublin alongside U2, so it is perhaps not surprising that Bono came to the party and sang a song that he'd written which was inspired by her. Driving home to Wicklow when it was over, my wife and I took a detour into Bray.

There are statistics that come at you from time to time that really surprise you. So much so that sometimes you want to check them just to be sure that there's no mistake. Here's an example; Bray is the fifth largest conurbation in Ireland. Given that, it's remarkable that there aren't more restaurants there. Things may be changing though as its population booms: there's a new restaurant there called 'The Cape' and it's very good. It's been in existence since the end of last year and I've been hearing about it on and off. 'In the arcade off Bray's main street' is how its whereabouts were described to me, and to be frank while visualising that I had little wish to investigate. Somehow the address didn't seem to have much chic-appeal, but I hadn't been to Bray for a very long time so I thought perhaps we could try it out. To be specific, the restaurant is a brick and stone building that's rather attractive and it marks the end of the arcade, which runs beneath it, and the beginning of the car park. What this means is that at night you can park with ease and for free right outside the restaurant.

It's on two floors, but from preference they use the first floor, filling the downstairs only when it's full upstairs. It's all very new and very modern; marble paint effects on the wall, simple wooden tables and lightly padded chairs, a wooden floor and striking cobalt blue air-extraction pipes which make a visual feature out of a necessity. We took a table for two beside a window which overlooked the car park and faced west, so the last of the evening sun streamed in upon us. While we were looking through the wine list and menus I realised for once that my wife had left me the seat that looked into the restaurant. For a moment I was touched by her altruism until it dawned on me that a: she had the padded chair while I was sitting on the unpadded bench under the window, and b: she got the view of the hills and the setting sun. Ah well, chivalry is ingrained in me and I barely complained.

The menu is a perfect example of modern Mediterranean, or as I'll refer to it from now on, mod-med - olive oil, goats cheese, rocket, red onion and salsa. Specifically there was a choice of tomato and goats cheese salad, sea food chowder, a tartare of fresh salmon, black pudding, a tomato tart, rare beef salad with rocket and truffle oil and asparagus spears. All were under £5 except for the beef salad which was £5.75. Main courses included sirloin steak with a variety of sauces, rack of lamb, chicken breast stuffed with a wild mushroom sauce, oven-baked cod, John Dory, pan fried salmon. pork loin with a ratatouille and tagliatelle. They were all under £15, tagliatelle being the cheapest at £10.

After Susie had ordered the salmon tartare to start and the chicken to follow, she thought a white wine might suit her best. The list isn't a long one, but what wines there are fairly well spread, mostly under £20 and the mark up is reasonable. The choice in the whites was Louis Latour's Macon Lugny, Chablis, Sancerre, Soave, an Australian Chardonnay and the Californian Glen Ellen. After a little humming and hawing I chose the Macon Lugny.

The starters arrived and they looked very impressive. Susie's salmon tartare was presented as a tian, the salmon mixed with capers and red onions and surrounded by a parsley puree that had been piped into pretty shapes. I'd ordered the beef salad, expecting, I suppose, a bit of beef and lots of leaves. What I got was a lot of medallions of perfectly under-cooked fillet of beef served on a bed of rocket leaves which had been dressed with truffle oil. I haven't had as good a starter this year - absolutely stunning. Both of these dishes were presented on large, plain white plates which I like; they make a neutral backdrop for the food.

Main courses were also good, especially Susie's chicken breasts which were served with a wild mushroom stuffing and a mushroom sauce. It's the sort of dish you'd be unlikely to take the trouble to make for yourself. My pork was good too, but it was the least wonderful dish of the night - a little dry and overbalanced by too much ratatouille. But I'm being pernickety here, this meal would have been acceptable at twice the price.

One of the people who'd told us about The Cape had said 'You'll love the desserts.' I'm not always keen on a dessert after a meal, but on this occasional, given the recommendation, I did. The list went like this: fresh strawberry millefeuille, chocolate tart and apple tart, icecream and cheese board. We were assured that the millefeuille was light and it certainly was - as a feather. Fresh strawberries thinly sliced were sandwiched between the layers of millefeuille, making a dessert that looked huge and gluttonous, but which was light and delicate. A perfect end to very good meal.

We finished with two excellent espressos and the bill came to £61.15, which given the quality of what we'd eaten seemed like remarkable value. The Cape is for me, at least, a very welcome addition to Bray's gastronomic map.