I'll confess that there's a lot of art about these days that I really can't get my head around. To be specific, I belong to the school of thought that believes that the word 'workshop' should be confined to light engineering. Workshop theatre and artful installations fail to enthral, stimulate or amuse me. If you think that that makes me a philistine, you wouldn't be the first to come to that conclusion. I'm surrounded by artists in my immediate family, so my somewhat classical views on what constitutes artistic endeavour has been well tested over the years, forcing me to think my position through. No harm in that, but it does mean that I don't get to see much art that pleases me.

This week I did though, all because I was off to meet the artist Susan Morley. On this occasion it wasn't her art that I'd come to see, but an exhibition by Suzy O'Mullane in the Blue Leaf Gallery. I'd arranged to meet Susie Morley there, since it was just down the road the road from our intended dining venue, Dax. I really liked this exhibition, Suzy's paintings are exactly the sort of thing that I can appreciate - strong line, form and structure handled in a very sensuous way.

A short walk up Pembroke Street took us to Dax, which is in the basement of the building where The Grey Door used to be. Dax opened up at the end of last year and is fronted by Olivier Meisonnave, who was the sommelier in Kevin Thornton's restaurant. The sign outside proclaims Dax as a wine bar, so it joins a few other basement-based wine bars in Dublin, like La Cave and The Ely. A quick trawl through Google informed me that Dax is a town in Aquitaine, famous for its spa, so maybe it has relevance to Oliver, although I never did ask him.

It's a big basement and there are several discrete areas for dining - you can choose to eat tapas at the bar or lounge, or eat off a short menu in the dining areas. We hadn't been able to book since leaving a message on the answering machine elicited no response, but a second call by Susie assured her that we could get a table if we arrived after half past eight. Actually that suited the timing of the exhibition, so arriving a little before nine we found that there was indeed a table free for us in a very full restaurant. The annexe in which we found ourselves had a somewhat lower ceiling than the others, which did mean that the sound levels were high - a wood ceiling and floor acting as effective soundboards.

If you were to go simply for a glass of wine and tapas, there are six on the menu at €6.90, including dishes such as pate, tortilla and a cold meat platter. In the dining areas there's a simple menu, listing six starters and five main courses. Starters run from €8 for a braised endive salad to €14.50 for sauteed foie gras, while the main courses run from €21 for a rocket and chestnut risotto to €29 for the beef fillet. As you might expect in a wine bar, the wine list is long and well-chosen, with a couple of dozen wines available by the glass. I spent a while with the list looking for bargains, but sadly you won't find one here. There are few wines listed under €30, the bulk of them are listed between €30 and €50, although there is a page of grands crus, where if you had the wherewithall, you could spend between €100 and €200 for some very fine wines. All this perusing came to an end when Susie announced that she would drink just one glass of wine, as she was driving, and being in the same boat myself, we decided to order only one glass each. Susie chose a glass of Sancere - the 2001 Grand Cuvee from Comte Lafond at €9.80 - and I had a glass of the Riesling Cuvee Tradition 2003 from Sipp Mack. Both of these wines were delicious and went very nicely with our eventual order.

For starters Susie had picked out the sauteed shrimp, which arrived simply presented and well-cooked along with a finger-bowl. I'm a lazy diner and don't order things that need shelling, so instead I chose the seared tuna and pak choy, which arrived just as described, seared only the outside and was very good indeed.

For once I found myself in a restaurant with less of an appetite than I normally have, so while Susie chose the risotto with chestnut and rocket, I picked second starter rather than a main course, the crab tartlet. I'd been a little dubious about a risotto with chestnuts and rocket, but when Susie gave me a taste of it, I had to agree she'd made a good choice. The flavours mixed together very well and the dish was both unusual and successful. I rather liked my crab tartlet, but I can't say it was in any way exceptional.

Service throughout the night was brisk and professional, which considering how busy the dining room was, impressed me. We finished off this 'petit souper' with a couple of good espressos and the bill came to €78.20, not including service. What I liked about Dax is that does exactly what it says it does. It's a place you can come to for a glass of wine and a snack and be well cared for.