If you drive north from Sligo Town, you'll find yourself in Yeats country when you get to Drumcliff. It's here that Ireland's great poet is buried - or then again, maybe not. W.B. Yeats died in Roquebrune, near Monte Carlo in 1939. His widow arranged for him to be buried there on a temporary 5 year deal, intending to bring his body back to Ireland before that time was up. However the second world war intervened, and by the time the arrangements could be made, the French authorities had already disinterred Yeats's remains and placed them in an ossary. Ossaries are used quite frequently on the Continent - when the body has decomposed the bones are placed in a vault that is filled only with bones, and there they remain. By the time Mrs. Yeats came looking for the bodily remains, the poet had become a famous man, so no one was going to admit to having mixed up his bones with those of hundreds of others. With great pragmatism the local Abbe gathered up a few bones from the ossary and presented them to the widow. These bones are now buried in Sligo, but there are many who believe that his actual bones still lie scattered in the French ossary.

Across the road from the church that houses his remains is the Yeats Tavern, a classic road house that serves food and drink. It's a big place, several dining areas interconnect, all of them featuring wood and stone. It has a warm and friendly atmosphere, even on a dark November's day it was well-staffed and very busy. Alan and I found a table near an open fire, which gave out an inviting warmth. The menu changes daily, but on the day of our visit the lunch menu listed eight starters and eight main courses. All the main courses were €8.20, the starters varied from €2.50 for soup to €7.75 for crab claws, so the prices are more than reasonable.

What comes as a surprise is the wine list. It's longer than most, it's got a lot of well chosen wines and carries a very moderate mark-up. A large temperature-controlled wine fridge is in the centre of the room displaying the whites, while the reds are in racks around it. Wines are clearly taken seriously here and decent wines can be bought for far less than is usually the case. An example was the Libertas Cabernet Sauvignon, which was listed at €16.

The starters are the sort that you'll find in many pubs: garlic mushrooms, egg mayonnaise, chicken wings and garlic bread, but there are also crab claws and goats cheese salad, which are less usual. Alan began with the garlic mushrooms listed at €4.70, which were nicely presented, crisp and garlicky. I had the vegetable soup, which was good and came with bread and cost a very modest €2.50.

The main courses are designed for people with big appetites, all of them come with loads of potatoes and plenty of vegetables. On the menu there was honey glazed loin of pork, poached salmon, roast beef, tagliatelle carbonara, stuffed pork fillet, deep-fried plaice, chicken curry and roast chicken - a list surely long enough to satisfy most people. Alan chose the plaice, which was breaded and deep-fried, and I chose the roast beef, which came as a six or so slices covered with a mountain of potatoes and vegetables.

Desserts were all €4.50, but after these gargantuan platefuls neither of us could even contemplate them. Lunch in the Yeats Tavern isn't sophisticated - but it's wholesome real food, competently made, pleasantly served and very reasonably priced. The bill for the two us with beer and water came to €35.20.

Another satisfying recent lunch was in Dalkey. 'In' is to be found at the end of the main street and is recognisable by the outdoor tables that are screened to keep the cold wind away from the smokers. Inside it's comfortable; large sofas and arm chairs give it more of a clubby feel than a bar. What's nice about 'In' is that the food is served all day long - there are no set times for breakfast or lunch, you just have it when you want it. I went there one Sunday afternoon with Dalkey resident Marian Kenny for a simple snack, and was surprised at the quality of food on offer.

We sat down at one of the tables and looked through quite a long menu of snacks and meals. Marian hadn't even yet had breakfast, although we were well into late afternoon, so she unhesitatingly went for a breakfast dish, in her case it was eggs Benedict and bacon, which was served on a ciabatta and was very nicely done. I'd had breakfast, but at four in the afternoon was hungry enough to have the home-made minced steak burger, which I had with shoestring French fries. Marian ordered a pot of tea and then went on to glasses of the house white wine, while I contented myself with a lager.

It's the sort of place that's comfortable enough to linger in, so we were still there an hour and a half later, sipping our drinks long after we'd eaten. 'In' serves good bar food at reasonable money, the bill was €42.25, which broke down almost exactly as half food and half drinks.