So far I've always eaten well in Blackrock. Da Roberto's is there, where I've eaten wonderful Bolognese food - lots of butter and cream - and Dali's where I had an extremely good lunch. This time I was on my way to Blueberries in Blackrock's Main Street to see if it would be possible to strike three good meals in a row. I was meeting an old friend from college days, who had made quite a name for himself at the time by writing a column in the TCD Miscellany magazine under the improbable by-line of Denis Oddfinger. It was a sort of diary and it was peopled with strange and unlikely characters from all over the globe - the Greek shipping millionaire Mikokis Sturdi, the Italian Leonardo Da Vindo, a German industrialist called Oliver Mappanz and Colonel Faugh-Kinnell MC (retired). His inventive streak is now channelled - some might say happily - into other areas and he is passionate about food and especially wine. In short the perfect dining companion.

I drive through Blackrock from time to time and I'd never noticed Blueberries, although I'd heard good reports. The reason is that it's on the first floor above a pub, so I suppose my eye had never focused above road level. You can get to it from the pub, or you can go in through it's own entrance at the side. Up a flight of stairs and you find yourself in a rectangular room in which one corner has been turned into a bar. We were shown to a table overlooking the street below and settled in. The walls are paint effect, for the most part an ochre with Pompeian red below the dado line. The floor is varnished wood softened with the odd mat, the tables and chairs are pale wood and modern in design, the chairs lightly upholstered in blue. One wall is lined with a blue upholstered bench and paintings of fish adorn the walls.

While we were examining the menu and wine list we ordered mineral water and it came along with a plate of breads which included a ramekin of spicy olive oil for dipping into, as well as butter. Oddfinger took up the wine list and studied it, occasionally muttering things like 'I like that one' and 'That looks like good value.' While he was thus occupied I was trying to choose my food. It's a short menu, but it's well-balanced with a variety of dishes. Starters range from £2.50 for the rosemary and courgette soup up to £5.75 for a timbale of smoked salmon and crabmeat. In between there are dishes such as the omnipresent baked goats cheese parcel, Caesar salad, crispy confit of duck and a tian of smoked chicken. The main courses are priced between £11.50 for the tagliatelle with grilled peppers to £15.50 for the fillet of beef with a herb crust. Other dishes on offer were seared chicken breast, brochette of pork with noodles, roast Barbary duck, baked salmon with a black olive mash or chargrilled tuna fillet. The price includes potatoes and garnish.

Oddfinger handed me the wine list saying 'The Argentinian Chardonnay might do nicely'. I looked at a two-page list, whites on the left and reds on the right, in all some 60 wines. There were some classic French from most of the major regions, but the bulk of the list is New World. Actually he was right, it's a well-priced list with plenty to choose from under £20 and even a few at under £15. If you did want to spend money there are couple of good Burgundies around the £30-£40 mark and a one classed growth claret, a 1989 Grand Puy Lacoste priced at a fair £85. Since Oddfinger was born in Argentina he had a hankering for home, so we chose the Alamos Ridge Chardonnay Reserva from Argentina at £18.50.

Our starters arrived and they looked very nice indeed; two prettily decorated plates with multi-coloured drizzles making patterns on the plain white crockery. Oddfinger had chosen the crispy confit of duck and I'd chosen the tian of smoked chicken. A quick bit of swapping ascertained that they were both as good as they looked, although the confit was a long way from crisp. We had a French waitress looking after us and she did it well, changing ashtrays and keeping glasses topped up.

Main courses were also good; a magret de canard for Oddfinger - thinly sliced duck breast which sat on a bed of red onion and was garnished with amongst other things those tiny corns-on-the-cob which I'm convinced are more to please the eye than the palate. I had chosen the char-grilled tuna which came with a tian of saffron rice sitting atop a bed of salad and garnished with the same array of veg as Oddfinger's. He would taste none of my tuna, having an aversion to fish, but I stole a couple of slices of his duck and enjoyed it. In all, these were two good dishes.

With a little foresight we'd got a driver to take us home, so we considered more wine. Another bottle seemed perhaps de trop, but the solution came on reading the dessert menu, which also listed a half bottle of Muscat. That made the decision for us; we'd have a dessert and the half-bottle of Muscat. The dessert list had dark chocolate mousse, individual Baileys cheesecake, pistacchio creme brulee, rhubarb tart, a selection of cheese, or Roquefort with a glass of Coteaux de Layon. Oddfinger chose the creme brulee and I had the cheeses, which I love with a dessert wine. Both of us were well-satisfied with our choices and the Muscat went down nicely. I finished with a passable espresso and so we ended our meal, but not before trying to analyse a puzzle.

We'd eaten well, been well looked after, enjoyed the wines and our own company - and yet we'd both felt a little ill at ease. The more we thought about it the more we felt that it was the room. It's hard to make a first-floor restaurant work, and it's even harder to make a rectangular room work. It's a personal thing, but lots of hard surfaces inside an essentially square room means a lot of background noise which can make conversation difficult. The combination of straining to hear Oddfinger's words of wisdom and the rather hard chairs was less relaxing than I would have liked. My wife has eaten here at lunchtime and enjoyed it, so perhaps this particular style of decor is better suited to a quick lunch than a lingering dinner. The bill came to £88.30, not including service.