I was joined on this occasion by KR, a pretty young journalism graduate who wanted a look behind the scenes of a restaurant critic's gig and I was happy to oblige.

I had heard that the owners of Clontarf Castle were in the process of refurbishing the hotel so it being on my doorstep, I decided to have a gander at the developments.

Development was indeed evident in the massive new glass porch at the entrance: very different to the last time I'd been here. The hotel lobby itself is still quite grand. We made our way through high-ceilinged corridors, past rustic tapestries and ascended the stairs to the dining room. We were brought to a table in the middle of the room and we took our seats. It was quite dim and the rest of the punters were mostly bored-looking middle-aged folks.

Sigh. . .

To start, we shared the jumbo shrimp cocktail with tomato tarragon and lemon mayonnaise. The shrimps were firm, tasty-fresh crustaceans and the mayo was well-balanced and just tepid. Good in the mouth and received gratefully by the belly. The only problems were the foreign bodies in the selection of leaves accompanying them. There were chips in our salad. Three small crunchy potato chips, which had been liberally doused in vinegar. How very strange. When we had finished, I kept them aside for further investigation. The maitre d' came over to clear our plates.

"Waiter, sorry to bother you but there were chips in the salad."

"They. . . they are not chips."

"No really, they are chips." I smiled.

"Okay, I will ask the chef, " and he went off to the kitchen. To his credit, he was back within seconds apologising profusely and offering to comp the starter, I refused as I saw it as a simple if somewhat weird mistake. He then offered to comp our glasses of sparkling Pinot Noir, I refused again as the addition of chips in the salad hadn't impinged on our enjoyment of the dish. So, textbook good service, but sadly a little too textbook.

Like the comments box, there wasn't much warmth there, the service needed some more personality, as was the case for the experience as a whole. The room lacked cosiness, not in terms of the room temperature but in its general ambience, of which there was very little to make one feel relaxed or in the fine dining 'zone'.

The room felt a little too functional for a fine dining restaurant. It may not have been the case, but it were as if the space turned into a busy breakfast room for guests in the morning and then in the evening, lights were dimmed and it became a sophisticated, grownup restaurant. Except they weren't quite pulling it off.

Still, the menu looked promising: Sauteed skate wings, honey-lacquered free range barbary duck breast with roast peppered asparagus, and one that really caught my eye, pork shank with crackling. KR ordered the grilled herb marinated loin of lamb with creamy mash potatoes and rosemary sauce. It was a reasonably well presented dish but was let down by the main component, the lamb which was just slightly on the Jo Brand side of fatty.

The pork shank with crackling brought joyous expectation for me as I haven't had crackling in an eternity. I remember it with Sunday dinners at home with my parents and I'm always up for a spot of foodie nostalgia.

Disappointingly, the idea and the concept were enough to get my mouth watering, but the reality was not what I'd been promised . . . the crackling didn't crackle!

It didn't do what it said on the tin. How very disappointing. The sage and maple jus, on the other hand, was a beautifully delicate composition, perfect, as were the roasted vegetables accompanying.

For dessert we had baked blueberry and lime cheesecake apiece, which was thoroughly smashing but a little steep, followed by two bitter espressos.

I still kind of like Clontarf Castle as a whole, I like the carvery lunch on a Sunday with a pint, I like the staff busily buzzing in the background but I don't think Farenheit is cutting the proverbial mustard just yet, but give it time and I think it may pull through okay. Right now it's a bit unsure of itself.

A functional eating room? Maybe. A sophisticated dining room? Not quite. Confused? Truly.

THE BILL
2 glasses Pinot Grigio 11.50
1 Loin of Lamb 25.00
1 Pork Shank 25.00
2 Cheesecake 15.90
2 Espresso 2.60
TOTAL 96.10

FARENHEIT GRILL
Clontarf Castle
Hotel Clontarf
Dublin 3
Tel: 01 833 2321