The clocks have gone back, the days are longer, there's been blue skies and warm sun for two days in a row, the grass is growing, the mower's out of the shed and as far as I'm concerned Spring has finally come. I realise there's an element of hopeless optimism in this analysis - snow isn't yet out of the question here in the hills and late frosts may still surprise pricked-out seedlings, but I'm going to persist in my belief until it's proved otherwise. Apart from putting that odious chore of mowing the grass back on the agenda, the advent of Spring means I'm more inclined to go a-wandering in search of good food.

I know it's a generalisation, but the East coast isn't thickly dotted with restaurants outside the greater Dublin area. I've been hearing reports of good food in Arklow for a while now, so I asked Susan Morley to book us a table in Kitty's so we could check it out. It's a pleasant drive following the course of the Avonmore River to Arklow - you get to see Avoca, Woodenbridge, The Meetings of the Waters, Parnell's house, and just as you get to Arklow there's that other great beauty spot, the Net nitrate factory with it's colourful yellow smoke billowing lightly in the breeze.

The main street of Arklow is like many in Ireland in these prosperous days; it's very busy and it's hard to find somewhere to park. Kitty's is at the top end of the main street and it's above a pub. A side door takes you through a small bar where a flight of wooden stairs takes you up to the restaurant itself. Part of this wide staircase is lined with books and there are pieces of bric-a-brac placed on ledges, a theme which is continued in the restaurant itself. There's a lot of dark wood; it's in the panelling which lines some of the walls, on part of the ceiling, the tables themselves and the Windsor chairs that surround them. We were given a good-sized table near a window and to my left was another wall of bookshelves. Around the restaurant I could see old-style toys, a gramophone and bits and bobs of brass and copper - in short a similar, but more muted décor than you'd find in Johnny Fox's.

There was a basket of good breads on the table, a little sweet for my palate, and the first thing I ordered was mineral water. When I was told that they were out of the large bottles I should have ordered a jug of plain water, instead we ended up with five quarter-litre bottles, which at €2.05 each means it costs over €8 a litre. I don't want to get repetitive and boring on this subject, but water at nearly ten times the price of petrol is hard to accept. Anyway, while Susie was working her way down a long and interesting menu I took to the wine list. It's a decent list, average in length and is fairly priced. We were planning to eat seafood, so I picked a New Zealand Sauvignon, the Montana, which bears out the contention that the Sauvignon vine has found its true home in the Antipodes. A good wine, and moderately priced at €19.50.

The menu is an impressive thing; there are a lot of interesting-looking dishes running to four pages. It's a mixture of a la carte and table d'hote, you can choose three courses for €32 or pick just a course or two as an a la carte. Some of the starters that stood out as unusual were Japanese rolled pork, almond-crusted Taleggio cheese and crispy corn cakes with chilli jam, all of which were €7 or €8. The main course listings were just as inventive and included swordfish, sea bass, tilapia and poussin, all of which came with imaginative mixtures of flavours and garnishes. If you were eating a la carte, all of these main courses were priced between €20 and €23, which included a selection of vegetables.

Our starters arrived, the calamari in a crispy Thai batter for Susie and Bantry Bay mussels for me. Susie's calamari were very well done, the batter was light and crispy like a tempura. My mussels were good too, simply done in a white wine and garlic sauce. I found the pacing of the meal much to my liking, there were pauses between the courses that gave enough time to settle and anticipate the next, but not so long as to be noticeable. The only thing that I did notice was that the Windsor chairs have a peculiar hardness that meant a fair amount of shifting on the seat to keep the circulation going.

For main courses Susie had chosen black Tiger prawns which came with a shrimp risotto. She positively enthused over her choice, and I have to admit the prawns were perfectly cooked and flavoured. I wasn't as keen as the artist was on the risotto - like the bacon and lemon risotto that had come with my scallops, it was a little dry. Probably it's the Italian in me; I like a risotto to have a creamy, almost runny, texture rather than a dry one. Still, my scallops were as perfectly cooked as any I've ever had, they were big, fat and totally delicious. We found enough appetite between us to share a dessert, and from a list that included berry jelly, pear and apple spring rolls and a white chocolate layered mousse we picked the coconut tart, which came with mango ice-cream. A good tart, but not as good as the other courses had been.

What's very clear is that there is a first division chef in the kitchens here, who is developing new ideas and combinations with imagination and flair. If I have a lingering reservation, it's that the homely, rustic room above a pub seems to sit uneasily with haute cuisine - food of this quality deserves better surroundings. The bill came to €91.75, not including service.