An expensive meal last week and an expensive meal this week means that musings on prices and value for money are inevitable. You can smell them coming, I'm sure. I had one of those Damascene epiphanies before I began writing this, a realisation of a simple truth; it's not a question of how much you spend, but what you get for your money that counts. With something like a car it's easy enough to see what makes up the price; newness, kudos, build quality and all those dinky features that take you three months to master. When it comes to restaurants there's just as many variables that either justify, or don't, the price of a meal.

Good food should be a given. Whatever style of restaurant, whatever price-range, the food should be competent and the quality should be in keeping with the cost. But more importantly it should be of a even standard. No part of the meal should stand out as not up to par. That way you get to concentrate on the other aspects that make up the dining-out experience, things like the room you're sitting in, the company that you're with, and the sense of well-being that you get when you're being well looked after. Thinking about restaurants in general, there are restaurants whose focus is almost entirely on the food they produce, there are others that rely on their room or view for effect, but now there is one whose emphasis is definitely on the quality of service that it provides.

If anything distinguishes the Four Seasons as a group, it's the service. I've been lucky enough to have stayed in the New York hotel, as well as the one in Boston. The group ethos is that nothing is too much trouble, anything that a guest wants or needs is instantly supplied. In New York and Boston I can bear witness that that is precisely the case, but I was curious to see how well this ethos translated to Dublin.

I've heard it said that California's contribution to civilisation is valet parking, so it's fitting that that's how the evening began. In front of Dublin's Four Seasons is a large porte cochere where you can pull up and hand your car over to be parked for you. If it's raining, trust me, this is a service you'll be glad of and so will any ladies in your company who have taken the trouble to dress up. What comes next may or may not be to your liking - by the time you've got to the lounge at least five people will have welcomed you to the hotel and wished you an enjoyable evening. I rather like this, but I know people who find it vaguely intrusive.

I was taking Marian Kenny to dinner and she's a lady that can do the dressing-up thing well. As it happens I'd decided to wear a suit and had very nearly worn a tie as well, since I thought that if we were going to somewhere that thinks of itself as very chic, it would be fun to play the game and look the part. There's no doubt I was out-glamourised by Marian, who made a few heads turn on our entrance. Before we went into dinner we decided to have an aperitif in the bar. The size of the bar is one of the main differences between the Dublin hotel and the others that I've visited. In Ballsbridge it's quite small, but we were lucky enough to find a table where we could observe the other customers. A group at the bar contained some high-profile people who have been in the news a lot in the past few weeks - perhaps the Four Seasons will become a place for celebrity watching.

From there to the dining room, which is a large and is divided into several distinct areas. It's high-ceiling and spacious, picture windows overlook the gardens and it has a bright and airy feel. Just as you'd expect in a deluxe hotel, the tables are large, the seats are generously padded, the cutlery and crockery are very beautiful and the whole effect is completed by linen napery and simple, but elegant table decorations. Perhaps I'm being overly picky here, but I just don't get the carpet. And it's not that it's easily overlooked - it's huge and covers acres of floor in a bilious green.

The menu isn't cheap. Starters average about £12 and main courses £28, but there are some interesting dishes to choose from. Marian chose the white asparagus tart with goats cheese to start and followed with the roasted Dover sole fillets with morels, snap peas and coriander, while I picked the salmon tartare with Nori rice and then the butter braised Guinea fowl. The wine list covers some 150 wines, three of which are under £20. If you're wallet's up to it you could treat yourself to a Mouton Rothschild 1982 at £1,250, but for the most part the wines are in the £30 to £100 range. The mark up is higher than average, but there are some good wines listed on this well-chosen list, an example would be the single vineyard Chianti Rufina Selvapiana 'Bucerchiale', £19 in the off-license or £44 here.

Before the starters arrived we were presented with demi-tasses of the cep soup, which was also on the menu, as an amuse bouche. I'm a fan of mushrooms in general, but this soup was truly delicious. If the chef can create something as good as this, I thought, then things are looking bright for what's to come. And I wasn't wrong. Marian's asparagus tart was tasty and looked well on the plate and my salmon, with a taste akin to gravadlax, was also nicely presented with its little dollop of sticky rice.

Before we got the main courses another little amuse bouche arrived, a dainty leaf salad for Marian and crab cannelloni for me. These were miniatures of starters, but I found the cannello the least effective of the night's dishes. Main courses arrived, and Marian was already slowing up. I found my guinea fowl perfectly cooked and exactly to my taste, but Marian was carefully removing the morels from her sole. Clearly not as big a fan of mushrooms as I am.

After four courses we could be forgiven for having no dessert. An espresso finished what I thought was a very good meal with extraordinarily efficient and friendly service. The bill came to £122.50, and if that seems intimidating, as well it might, you could try the Four Season's lunch menu, which at £20 is certainly more affordable.