We missed the turn twice and spent a good half hour retracing our route but eventually we found it.

The long driveway is a sight for sore motoring eyes and we even spotted a young pheasant couple courting among a row of leeks in one of the fields along its length. We were expecting a grand country pile at the end of the driveway; what we found was a greenhouse. Diners gaped out the window like ethically smug goldfish, gobbling down plates of organic produce as we parked the Beamer and untangled ourselves from its seats. Ahh fresh country air and a fresh organic lunch . . . my kind of Sunday afternoon.

We entered and the first thing to smack us were . . . in order of intensity . . . the boutique hotel soundtrack and the heat.

KR and I took a table under a black parasol in the centre of the room. The light was bright and unnaturally natural, the way it sometimes is in a greenhouse. A robin flitted through the space every now and then picking up dropped morsels.

The menu lacked any jaw-droppers and, strangely, there were no starters, so I settled on crab claws tossed with olives, cherry tomatoes and herb oil and linguine. KR had the 8oz beef burger with a tangy tomato salsa, tossed salad and yummy fries.

We asked for some water. A jug was promptly brought to the table. I poured us a glass each and we both took large gulps.

Yeuch! Our urbanised, flouride-expectant palates didn't like what they tasted . . . the water had the distinct flavour of raw cooking dough. The waitress told us the water was from a well. Maybe it was better for us but neither of us liked the after-taste. I asked for some bottled water. She went to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later.

"We don't have any bottled water." Amazing, I thought, this is the first restaurant I've ever dined in where they would rather you drank the free water instead of offering you something to pay for. I didn't know if I loved or hated the idea. It was getting hotter so we soldiered on with the well-drawn H2O and with food it wasn't as obviously, well, different. Two glasses of crisp, surprisingly complex organic Chardonnay helped too.

The mains were okay: mine had far too much dill, KR's salad too much herbs and not enough salad leaves. The burger was superb:

thick, oniony, cooked perfectly and really juicy. The crab claws were good too, if a little overpowered by the dill. The fries weren't that "yummy" . . . the cardinal 'oil not hot enough' sin may have been commited.

As we munched, a few other patrons came in. Some seemed to be regulars, all middle class, all perhaps monikered with obscure Irish names, possibly wearing organicallygrown hemp underpants. David McWilliams would have enjoyed it as an anthropological adventure. He might have called them Hibernorganics, or something.

After our mains we were still fairly hungry. We asked for the dessert menu and ordered the chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce and the orange-infused pannacotta (wheat free). The brownie was fine, not tasting particularly high in cocoa content, in my mouth at least. The pannacotta was stimulating and complex, the orange zest piercing the flabby pannacotta noticeably;

it was perfect. We both devoured it, leaving the slovenly brownie feeling sad and left out . . . so we devoured it too, in the spirit of fair play.

Some things bothered me about Marc Michel's. Unisex bathroom . . . hate them. Toilet rolls for sale on view while you eat . . . no thanks. The tyrannical music that lent itself more to an Ibizan chillout room. The over-generous use of herbs in both dishes . . . we love that they are fresh and organic but don't over egg the pudding.

Other things I liked.

Everthing is organic . . .

bring it on. Serene country setting . . . love it. The pannacotta . . . almost worth the trip alone. An interesting alternative to urban dining rooms . . . yes please.

As always, I am loathe to grumble too much about a restaurant such as this because I believe strongly in the underlying ethos of organic food at a fair price, which they provide. But ethical restauranteurs beware: don't forget that even though we want to eat ethically and healthily, we don't want to feel too much like we're in a barn.

I recommend Marc Michel's for the pluses and the minus list isn't that long or unmendable.

THE BILL
Crab Claws 15.50
8oz Beef Burger 14.95
Chocolate Brownie 6.25
Orange-infused Pannacotta 6.25
2 Glasses Chardonnay 9.90
TOTAL 52.85

MARC MICHEL ORGANIC LIFE
Tinna Park Kilpedder Co Wicklow Tel: 01 201 1882