I've learnt that I'm not clubbable. Like Groucho Marx, I don't want to be a member of any club that wants me as a member. My grandfather taught me to play golf as a child, but I'm still useless at it. These two facts together explain why golf clubs are largely a mystery to me. But that might change. The new generation of golf clubs take their food seriously and that fact alone can get me to go to them. The trend probably started with the 'K' club and their Brierley Turk dining room and it seems to have set a precedent. Last year I had a good meal in Osborne's, which is also part of a golf club, and then this week I tried Roganstown House.

By the time you read this there will be new finger posts to help you find Roganstown House, but when I went, Fingal Council had made them take the first ones down, making it hard to find. Still, I can tell you that I got to see many of the byroads of north County Dublin and Meath while hunting for Roganstown, and very pretty they were too. I was grateful when I did finally arrive forty minutes late and met Gill Hall, who had been waiting patiently for me in the bar, playing chess on her mobile phone.

From the front Roganstown seems a fairly plain early Victorian two-storey house, long and nicely proportioned, and set back not far from the road in parkland. Inside it has a very splendid staircase which gives a sense of grandeur to the entrance lobby. It's all been restored and extended sympathetically - the bar is large, spacious and nicely laid out. We had a drink while looking through the menu and decided that Gill would order from the a la carte menu, and I'd order from the table d'hote. The set dinner here is €37.50, a price that on the face of it may seem expensive, but it includes three courses and coffee and frankly I thought it was very good value. Consider for a moment how many main courses you see elsewhere priced at €25, add a side order of €3, a starter of just under €10, a dessert for €7 and a coffee for €2 and you get to over €45 no bother.

The menu is one of those that when you read it, you think 'if the food comes close to these descriptions, I'll be eating well.' Here's a selection from the table d'hote: a starter of warm ox cheek terrine with a truffle vinaigrette, a main course of red snapper with Lebanese cous-cous and a Pernod veloute and a ballotine of Guinea fowl with a tomato risotto. On the a la carte the starters included a ballotine of foie gras on a toasted brioche, a rabbit terrine en croute and Gill's choice - a celeriac and beetroot tian with a rocket salad. I couldn't resist the ox cheek and chose that. For main courses Gill chose the John Dory and I picked the rack of pork.

The wine list is well-chosen, there's some fifteen red and fifteen whites from around the world, plus a page of fine wines, predominantly French and almost all from Burgundy. The bulk of the listings are priced between €30 and €40, but there are a few in the mid twenties. I chose the Montana Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand at €29.50, which was crisp and appley.

The dining room is large, well finished, and there's loads of room between the tables - so much that they can easily wheel a large bread trolley around from table to table. There were five excellent breads to choose from, and they were sliced to order there and then on the trolley. Good napery and heavy hotelware set the table.

Our starters arrived and Gill's tian, a neat assemblage of vegetables, was served with a remoulade, a mayonnaise-based sauce. It got high praise from Gill, but I couldn't reply, I was engrossed with my ox cheek terrine, which was perfectly delicious. We had exactly the same reaction to the main courses, which were beautifully presented, professionally served and expertly cooked. For once, I even ate dessert - a warm chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream.

If you were to come to Roganstown, pick a medium priced wine and dine off the excellent table d'hote menu, you'd be out for a tad over €100 for two, which given the surroundings, the service and the quality of the food, means real value for money.