My mother is a very fine cook. It's her I have to thank for introducing me at an early age to good food. I can remember my mother teaching me to cook a simple dish called eggs in a tegamino, a sort of small skillet where the eggs were fried gently in olive oil, to which a spoonful of tomato sauce was added for colour, texture and flavour. You don't get much simpler than that for a snack, but for a seven-year-old, the joy was in discovering the self-sufficiency of cooking for oneself.

Today we have a kind of symbiotic culinary relationship. I still learn things from her, but every now and then I can show her something new that she hasn't come across before. Like traditional Italian mothers and sons, we talk endlessly of food when we meet - what we've eaten recently, what we're going to eat for the next meal, what we're planning for a dinner next week. I can never visit her without going home with some gastronomic tit-bit that she's prepared. She worries that I don't eat properly or enough, which is a curious worry, if you've seen me in profile.

Over the years I've been singing the praises of Asian food to my mother, who retains a distinctly Euro-centric view of cookery. I'm completely certain that were she to try well-made Japanese food, she'd love it. It's delicate, sophisticated, almost fat free and very healthy. Every time I say this to her, I feel I'm getting just a little bit closer to convincing her that it's true. None the less, she has remained less than convinced and I thought that maybe it was time to put my theories into action and take her to a restaurant where she could try Asian food.

I've been told that the Thai people are the Italians of the East, since they're food-obsessed, style-conscious, artistic and musical - all traits that are frequently ascribed to Italians. As a stepping stone into the wonderful world of Asian food, Thai cookery seemed like a good starting point. The occasion of her birthday seemed like a perfect opportunity for a meal a deux, and the Thai House in Dalkey was the venue.

I've been to the Thai House before with brother-in-law Chris a couple of times when he lived in Dalkey, but I haven't been for few years. The layout is the same as it was on my last visit; downstairs there's a bar with a couple of tables, and upstairs there's the main dining room. We didn't have a reservation, but we got the last table for two on what turned out to be a busy Wednesday night in the Thai House.

It's more than possible that the Thai House wasn't expecting to be as busy as it was, because not getting served turned out to be one of my whinges for the night. There were two waitresses serving the room, which might have been enough, had they not also been required to deal with the downstairs as well. Covering both floors meant that the dining room was frequently under-served. It took quite a while to get the menus, but when they did arrive I tried to talk mother through some of the dishes. I turned to the wine list and found what I thought would be a real treat, a half bottle of fino sherry for €15, which I thought would be perfect with Thai food. When the waitress eventually came to take the wine order, she explained that that wine was out of stock and then disappeared for another ten minutes. When she came back I ordered a half bottle of Chablis at €16.50. I should add that the wine list here is very good; it's long enough to have plenty of choice, there are interesting wines listed and they're all very fairly priced.

For starters mother had the Tom Yan Gung soup, which had sea food and vegetables and the usual Thai spicing, which includes coriander leaf. Sadly, my mother doesn't like coriander leaf and is sensitive to its flavour, so even in small amounts she finds it overpowering. She did make heroic efforts to eat it, determined to be a good guest, but couldn't finish it. I had a scallop salad which I did enjoy a lot, but swapping starters didn't help, because mine too had coriander leaf in it.

For main courses mother had picked the monkfish and I'd chosen the red beef curry with a bowl of egg-fried rice for us to share. The monkfish was presented rather like dumplings and came in a vegetable sauce. Once again coriander leaf made its appearance, and once again mother was doing her best not to appear like a difficult diner. I realised that my attempts to introduce her Asian food were not entirely successful, and I shall now abandon all future plans to pursue this route.

Meanwhile I enjoyed my red beef curry, which was spiced much to my liking, a little bit hot. I felt distinctly ungallant enjoying my meal while my mother was struggling to enjoy hers, but it does prove the point that choosing restaurants for guests and their tastes can be tricky.

Our plates were cleared and we sat sipping our wine. Neither my mother nor I wanted a dessert, but I had a hankering for a coffee to round off the meal. After about a quarter of an hour I abandoned hope of getting a coffee and we went downstairs where we were bid a cheery 'Goodnight.' I confessed that we hadn't paid yet, so a bill was produced for €74.50. Next year on her birthday, I'll take my mother to somewhere that serves European food.