Just in case you think that being a restaurant reviewer is an endless round of hard work, gastronomic hardship and drudgery, let me tell you that there is the occasional perk. Not often, perhaps infrequent, but just enough for the occasional indulgence. One such gourmet intemperance took place this week in the Radisson Saint Helen's, that rather spledid house that sits opposite Foster's Avenue amid its manicured lawns and formal gardens. The occasion was a dinner hosted by O'Brien's Off Licenses designed expressly to showcase the wines of the Domaines Baron de Rothschild. The family of Rothschild needs little introduction, the dynasty has been a successful one for several centuries now, but its renown has always been in the spheres of banking and wines. Two of Bordeaux's greatest chateaux, Lafite and Mouton, are part of the group.

The Saint Helen's has a very beautiful dining room called Le Panto - high ceilinged and well-proportioned, it features a fine copper frieze above the picture rail line. This frieze is bas-relief and exhibits urns and floral sprays as well built in sconces that once held candles. The same relief comes down above the intricately worked wooden fireplace where two men-o-war broadside one another. So yes, it's a grand room. The food too was very good, featuring a lobster salad, perfectly pink noisettes of lamb and a sinful vanilla parfait. These dishes had all been selected to allow us to enjoy the wines - a dry white Bordeaux from Rieussec, then a couple of examples from the Baron's global holdings, Los Vascos Grande Reserva 2001 from Chile and Quinta do Carmo Reserva 2001 from Portugal. The star of the night, the 1983 Lafite, came with the cheeses, and it was followed by the sumptuous Rieussec Sauternes 1998 with the dessert.

If you reach for your reference books you'll find that these are all wonderful wines, but their very wonder is matched by their price. Except, that is, for the Chilean Los Vascos, which is not in the same price league at all, but which held its own in this exalted company even to the point of being ranked alongside the others by some of the diners. Which all goes to prove - if it needed proving - that price and quality are not always in perfect alignment. It's a thought that came to me again when I went this week with friends to try the new Chatham Brasserie, which is not surprisingly in Chatham Street, more or less opposite Pasta Fresca.

We were in need of a gentle and undemanding lunch. Michael Lennon, Alexis Mitchel and I were starting the day as temperately as we could after a very late night before. We needed coddling, we needed sustenance, but mostly we needed restoring. Etymologists among you will know that 'restoring' is exactly what a 'restaurant' derives its name from and all being as it should, you leave the table restored to tranquillity of mind. Just as you'd expect from a brasserie, the Chatham's décor verges on the austere: plain wooden tables, a wooden floor, and a simple menu. A genuinely warm greeting when we entered set the tone and we sat at the upper level watching the passing life outside the window. A bottle of mineral water was exactly what I needed, but Michael and Alexis are made of stronger stuff than me, and Alexis had a lager and Michael a couple of glasses of the house wine.

The menu is broken down into sections; starters, burgers and sandwiches, salads, main courses, side orders, pasta, pizza and children's' menu. There are also daily specials on the blackboard. The starters list dishes like soup, chicken wings, shrimp cocktail and nachos, while main courses list chicken curry, Cumberland sausage, half a chicken, a chargrilled steak or a risotto. Five pastas and four pizzas are on offer, which are fusion in style rather than traditional Italian.

We decided on just one starter which Alexis and I shared, a tempura of vegetables priced at €7.25. This came with a soy and radish dip served in a little ramekin and it was a very well made dish, the tempura batter as light as any I've had in a Japanese restaurant, the vegetables inside the light batter remaining crispy and crunchy.

For main courses we'd chosen a fish of the day for Michael, which was cod in a beer batter served with a tartare sauce, a vegetable pizza for Alexis and the risotto Caprese for me. The batter on Michael's cod was as good as the tempura on the vegetables, and the cod itself was fresh and cooked to just the right degree of firmness. Alexis's pizza - which had amongst other things feta cheese - made it very much a fusion, but the base was both well cooked and well made. I'd chosen the risotto, but I'll admit my expectations weren't high, since risottos are so hard to get right. This one, to my pleasure, was good. The mix of tomato and basil in the sauce on the rice was judged nicely and inside the risotto a small ball of decent mozzarella strung out on my fork just as I like it to do. The fact that each one of us eventually finished our plates completely is a testament in itself.

We even managed a dessert between the three of us, a good old-fashioned rhubarb crumble with cream, which was precisely the kind of nursery food that we needed on the day, comforting and redolent of childhood days. Alexis and I finished our meals here with two of the best espressos I've had presenteed in Dublin for a long time - the creamy head was thick and lasted all the way to the end, lining the sides of the demitasse with its light brown foam, while Michael enjoyed a French coffee followed by a cognac. The bill for this revitalising lunch was €103.