Every now and then, life takes on an interesting turn. It doesn't happen half often enough as far as I'm concerned, but when it does it always a plus. A couple of weeks ago I spent a very enjoyable few days in RTE with the cast of 'Fair City', quite the friendliest bunch of Thespians it's ever been my pleasure to meet. The reason for my being there was the brief arrival into the story line of an Italian business man, and in a moment of inspired casting I was asked to play him. I'm not going to give away the plot, but my job in a couple of scenes was to flirt, and be flirted with, by Shelley O'Connor. That's the character played by Hilary Reynolds, so you can imagine it wasn't much of a hardship doing the flirting acting.

A few of the scenes took place in a bistro, so it was a bit like re-visiting the plot when we went for dinner in 'Les Amis', a restaurant in Clontarf. Trying to go anywhere incognito with Hilary isn't easy; the waitress serving us recognised her at once, as did the couple sitting alongside us. We were sitting at a table by the window, or more precisely two tables, since it was originally set for four. I'm glad we had the extra space - without the extra table to hold our bits and pieces it would have been a tight fit.

The décor is quite plain, the tables are topped with a wood-effect plastic, the chairs are wood with a padded seat. Your cutlery comes wrapped in a paper napkin, so the first impressions tell you that this is place that doesn't stand on ceremony. I was quietly wondering to myself if I'd made a mistake - after all, if you're in the company of a celeb like Hilary you want to make a good impression with your clever choice of restaurant - but I'll tell you now, I needn't have worried.

While Hilary worked her way down the menu, I was looking at the wine list. It's not a long list, but it's well-spread across wine-producing countries and it's reasonably priced. House wines are £12.50 and the majority of the listings are under £20. You can find Australian wines, an Italian Frascati for £13.50, Arniston Bay from South Africa, a couple of German wines including The Bend of the River, a Bergerac and a Cotes de Rhone. Hilary enjoys big reds, so I chose the Koonunga Hill Cabernet/Shiraz which was listed at £17.50. It's worth noting that if you ever order this wine, it takes a good half-an-hour to begin to open out, so take your time with the first few mouthfuls.

The menu has nine starters with dishes like breaded mushrooms, soup of the day, prawn cocktail, moules Marinara, Cajun chicken salad, crostini, smoked salmon and Caesar salad, all under a fiver except the Cajun chicken and smoked salmon. From here the listings go on to burgers, which are all under £10; 9 and 12 inch pizzas which range from £6-£9 and £8-£12 respectively; baguettes with various fillings; fish dishes like tiger prawns, salmon, plaice and lemon sole all around £11-£12; steaks ranging from £11-£13, omelettes, chicken dishes, beef Stroganoff, crispy duck, curry and all the usual pastas. A final section of the menu is devoted to a 'kiddies'' menu. A propos of that, it's nice to find a restaurant that welcomes children - after all, they're the customers of tomorrow.

Hilary started with the Caesar salad and I picked the mussels Marinara. Both of these were very nicely presented and the Caesar salad was just as you'd expect. However the mussels took me by surprise. Not only were they delicious, I can't remember when I've found so many mussels in a bowl. They arrived without their shells, so the bowl contained only the delightful little mussels and plenty of them.

Lots of restaurants can start a meal with two good starters, but Les Amis went on to give us excellent main courses next. Hilary had chosen the lemon sole and when it came there were three fillets on her plate, the whole topped with a tomato that had been creatively turned into a little smiling crab (or maybe a lobsterette). I found myself looking a plate that seemed to be composed entirely of sliced duck breast. I wondered how many ducks had forfeited their little anatine lives to fill my plate, before dismissing this sentimental thought and getting on with the pleasurable task of eating them. Swapping back and forth between the dishes we both thought them excellent.

Apart from the fact I was enjoying Hilary's company immensely, by the end of these main courses I had that glow that comes from a good meal. Later in the evening I saw a young woman leaving, who our waitress told us was the chef. If I'd had the opportunity, I would said 'Well done. Anyone who can handle flavours like this gets my vote.' So there you are, I'm saying it now.

There are times when the thought of dessert after a large meal worries me. I'm already carrying more weight than I should, but there was the nagging thought that the desserts might well be delicious and so we had one between us by way of a compromise. Our waitress suggested the Banoffi, and she was right. Very nice, even though I only managed a few forkfuls. Only I wanted coffee, so the meal ended with a passable espresso.

Les Amis is clearly a place that appeals to a broad base; it has no pretensions, it has excellent service - especially if you're with Hilary - and the food is very good. I didn't try any of pastas or pizzas, because I'll rarely choose these outside of an Italian restaurant. Judging by the quality of the other dishes, I might have been pleasantly surprised. A bill of just over £60 makes Les Amis praiseworthy for value as well.