A very nice thing happened this week - postie brought me a little parcel. I opened it up and found reading glasses inside with a note attached from Damien of Calvin Klein eyewear saying that he'd read my review describing my difficulty reading the menu and he hoped that these would help. I was more than a little touched by his kindness, unexpected altruism like this can make me go all sentimental at the best of times. But it occurs to me that getting things through the post unexpectedly is so nice, I thought I might just mention that I've lost my gold Dunhill lighter, I reeeally like Ferraris (especially the F 40) and I'm thinking of starting a collection of big diamonds.

Delights of the postal service aside, I also had a good meal this week. I'd heard about a relatively new Indian restaurant called 'Kinara'- opened before Christmas - and decided to make a visit. It's in Clontarf and last time I was there I was accompanied by Hilary Reynolds, so in order to start a tradition I asked her to accompany me again. Viewers of 'Fair City' would also know her by the name 'Shelley'. Hard to believe this charming and gentle lady can be such a cow when in character. A soft, damp drizzle of the sort I wish would simply go away until next November fell gently upon us as we walked to the restaurant's front door, which isn't where you think it might be - at the front - but rather at the side. But you can't go wrong, a fully liveried doorman, complete with turban, is there to escort you to the entrance and make you feel you've arrived somewhere where service is taken seriously.

Inside it has all the feel of newness; bright paintwork, shiny cutlery and stiffly starched linen. I was sitting with my back to the dining room and didn't get to study it at length, but it's cosy and the lighting is intimate, by which I mean it wasn't very bright. I'd have found the menu in Kinara a lot easier to read if I'd remembered to bring my new specs with me. As it was I was holding the little night-lite candle up to the menu and peering at it with all the concentration a man with no specs can muster. For moments like this a serious diner might do worse than to carry a pocket torch.

It's quite a long menu and has all the usual variations of goshts, tikkas and curries, but what set it apart is the section marked 'authentic and original Indian dishes'. It's probably true to say that few ethnic cuisines travel flawlessly; there are always compromises to be made with the indigenous cooking. Still, this intrigued me and I felt impelled to eat a main course from this section, as indeed did Hilary. We decided to put ourselves in the restaurant's hands, a decision that turned out well. Our waiter steered us towards a Subzi Thali, a vegetarian main course for Hilary, and a Karahu Gosht, a lamb dish, for me. Working backwards from here we settled on the Kakeragh, which were crab claws for Hilary and Boti Tikka for me, which was chicken pieces done as a kebab. Most of starters range in price from €7 to €10 and main courses are mostly under €20.

The wine list isn't overly long, it has a spread of French wines as well as wines from the rest of world. Hilary, who always drinks red wine thought that white might be nice for a change, so I chose a Domaine de Brau oaked Chardonnay at €22.20. It's probably fair to say that oaked Chardonnays are reaching the end of a long run, but since Hilary never drinks white she hasn't tired of the oaking. It's a decent list on the whole, and there are good wines to be found under €25.

During this choosing process we picked on a basket of poppadoms which came with three ramekins of dips, a red spicy one, a green spicy one and a vegetable one that was fiery enough to literally take my voice away temporarily. It eventually returned, about an octave higher than when it had left me, with the help of copious glasses of mineral water. When our starters arrived they were very prettily presented, prompting Hilary to remark 'Aha, nouvelle Indienne.' Both of our starters were very good, well-balanced flavours accompanying well-cooked food, a combination that's hard to beat. After they were cleared I went back to the fiery dip, much I suppose, as people go to look at accidents. I knew it was going to incapacitate my vocal chords, but I couldn't resist. This act of no will power at all meant we needed another bottle of mineral water.

Our main courses arrived accompanied by some Nan bread and Pilau rice. Obviously I used the Nan to dunk into the hot sauce again and again. Perhaps I have an addictive trait in my character. Hilary's Subzi Thali came with a large plate divided into three sections in which she had various extra vegetables, like lentils, potato and beans. Once again we both enjoyed our dishes, the flavours and the aromas. My lamb was nicely cooked, tender and spicy, but after that dip anything would seem tame.

We had something of a pause after the main courses before attacking a dessert. I've often thought that Indian cooking is reminiscent of Italian in so far as its emphasis is more on the savoury that the sweet. In fact the desserts on offer, a yoghurt based one and ice-cream tended to confirm this belief. Besides, after spicy foods I'm not sure that sweet things go down particularly well. Still, we ordered an ice-cream between us followed it with coffee. The best itemised bill I've ever seen gave us a total of €92.45, with a suggested 10% tip already handily calculated. I was happy to oblige.