After a few weeks of holiday it was good to get back into the dining chair again. Not that we hadn't eaten well and frequently on the continent, but it's always nice to get home. My son has been doing pretty much what I did at his age, which is to try to be in a different country from one's parents. When we were here, he was in Italy. When we got to Italy he came back here. It seemed intelligent, then, on finding him in the house on our return to take him out to dinner with me, since he'll be off to Florence again soon. Young men seem to have an infinite capacity for red meat so Shanahan's steak house on the Green seemed a good idea.

As far as I can remember I don't think I've ever made a feature in my reviews of either a chef or a patron, but in the case of Shanahan's I'll have to break a habit. The presence and the charismatic personality of John Shanahan is so much a part of the character of the restaurant that it's impossible to describe the experience without recording his input. He's a man with an impressive career in publishing and radio, he's a composer and musician; but in this context, most importantly, he's the classic host - attentive, welcoming and charming. He's also a man with a mission: he wants to introduce the American steak house to Dublin. Not the cheap and cheerful variety, but the classy variety. Some time ago I reviewed Sparks in New York, and that restaurant and Peter Luger's in Brooklyn serve as my models for comparison. Shanahan's is on similar lines.

The building itself is one of those few remaining grand old houses on St. Stephen's Green and no expense has been spared in its refurbishment. Shanahan's occupies three floors. Downstairs there's the Oval Office bar which is filled with large sofas and arm-chairs and memorabilia from American presidents with Irish connections - pride of place belonging to JFK's rocking chair. The ground floor and the first floor are specifically dining rooms. These elegant rooms have well-spaced tables that are big enough for even all of my impedimenta and the chairs are large, comfortable and upholstered in plush. Everything on the table, from the glass-ware to the Limoges crockery is of the finest quality, the whole effect being of unashamed luxury. It comes as no surprise then on reading the menu and wine list to discover that Shanahan's isn't cheap.

The menu is simple enough; starters range from £8-11 and includes things like a trio of salmon, steak Tartare, jumbo shrimp cocktail, broiled oysters and garlic shrimp. Soups and salads come next and are priced between £6 and £8.25, side orders such as potatoes and vegetables are between £4 and £5 and then come the meats. Real carnivores can delight in ordering the Shanahan Steak at £23.50, which weighs in at a digestion-crippling 24 ounces. Lesser appetites can choose from a mere 18 ounce striploin down to a dainty fillet of 8 ounces. Lamb, pork, chicken and seafood complete the listings, all priced from £16 up to £30 for a whole one-anda-half pound lobster.

These are all dishes that rely for their success more on the quality of the ingredients than on lengthy and skilful preparation. To ensure that quality Shanahan's buy and feed their own Angus cattle, which is attention to detail as never before in Ireland. Obviously there was no other choice than beef for either Rocco or me - he chose the pan-fried Lump crab to start and followed with the 12 ounce filet mignon, while I chose the 18 ounce New York striploin. The steaks come with nothing other than their own enormity, so we ordered whipped potatoes with butter and chives, and sauteed mushrooms to accompany the meats. Chips are not listed.

The wine list is long and features a lot of good and unusual American wines as well as classics from the Burgundy and Bordeaux. If you look long and hard through the four pages of densely typed listings you can find two wines for less than £20, otherwise the median price appears to be somewhere between £30 and £60 before the prices soar into three digits. In the end I took John Shanahan's recommendation and we drank the Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 1997 from California, which was listed at £40. It was indeed a beautifully made wine; rich, deep and complex - a rare treat for us both.

Before Rocco's crab arrived a whole hot loaf was brought to the table and sliced for us then and there. Delicious bread it was too, but it's a good example of the kind of service that you get; very attentive, professional and friendly. When the crab came for Rocco I was intrigued; the flesh had a texture more reminiscent of a mollusc than the sort of crab we're used to here. This, it seems, comes from Indonesia - hence its cost. Rocco let me taste some and it was delicious.

The meats came, cooked precisely as we'd ordered them - medium for Rocco and rare for me - and they were every bit as intimidating for their bulk as we'd imagined them to be. The menu explains that they're cooked at a very high temperature, 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which has the effect of crisping the outside while retaining a moist and tender interior. Little by little, aided by large and dangerouslooking steak knives, we worked our way through the mountains of meat.

By the time we'd finished this Rabelaisian task the idea of more food wasn't an immediate priority. The dessert menu is priced at £7 and includes dishes such as milk chocolate truffle, cookies and cheese-cake, Keylime pie and Irish bread and butter pudding, which I couldn't resist - nursery food has that kind of effect on me. It came - an individual pudding based on croissants - accompanied with ice-cream and was probably the nicest bread and butter puddings I've eaten. An espresso for me and a macchiato for Rocco finished the meal. Rocco was impressed; not just with his well-made macchiato, but also by the fact that they knew what it was.

You pay top dollar in Shanahan's, but you get superb service, the highest quality ingredients and a fine room to sit in. If you're a carnivore looking for a treat, look no more.