ROLY SAUL is the Roly who Roly's Bistro is named after. Mr Saul doesn't have anything to do with this particular business any longer. He set up another restaurant independently in Dun Laoghaire in 1992.

This Roly's is a D4 institution. Lunch patrons are folks who enjoy being in a restaurant that has a perceived prestige; office people from nearby businesses and regular punters who enjoy consistency.

At first glance the dining room is pleasant: nice prints hanging on the walls and the room is big enough for tables to be wellspaced but not so big that it feels like the arrivals hall at the airport. Roly's doesn't feel like an intimate, family-run place, it feels like a well-run business, which is what it is. A keen eye will notice that it is actually utilitarian: pictures screwed into the walls; a dark brown carpet that won't show stains and likewise with the sepia-tinged walls. It looks worn-in already, so when it becomes old, you won't really notice that it has.

Service is not what you'd call chirpy and I think the main reason why the waiters were a little charmless is the service charge situation. On the bottom of the menu, it says "10% Service Charge which is distributed entirely to our staff". I wondered about this, so a few days later, I called to inquire about it and was told that the service charge is distributed to "all" of the staff, including chefs and management. That means that the waiting staff aren't getting all of the service charge.

The problem with this is that when a restaurant adds a service charge, 99% of punters think that it goes exclusively to the waiting staff and there is no need to leave a tip. Result: unhappy waiters: poor service.

Chef de Patron Colin O'Daly's painting, 'A Sensitive Study of a Young Dancer in Morning Light' adorns the front of the menu.

Colin's name is on the sign outside the restaurant too; his autograph is also printed on the inside of the menu. To complete the signature triptych, the same autograph has been inserted into the painting as well, just so you know that Colin O'Daly the chef who works here paints sensitive pictures too. I think marketing people call that synergy.

Our starters were confit of duck, ginger and onion filo parcel with port wine sauce for me and an organic rocket, asparagus and parmesan salad for KR. The confit was done well but the bowl had black cutlery marks around the rim, a grubby sign of aged crockery. KR's salad was thrifty: two asparagus spears and a glimpse of parmesan on a plateful of rocket. A not-quite-sensitive study of the dish we thought.

For mains, KR had the poached fillet of salmon with oven-dried tomato and olive sauce vierge. KR asked the waiter whether the salmon was "farmed organic", the waiter went to the kitchen to ask and came back to tell us yes, the fish was farmed. I decided to press the point and asked was it organic as well; he went to the kitchen again and came back to tell us yes, it was also organic. Now, I don't get how a fish can be farmed and organic, it seems like an oxymoron to me but some fish farmers print this on the packaging.

This is yet another misuse of the 'O' word that has become so beloved of marketers. I had the deep-fried fillets of sole with tartare sauce. I asked for the side salad and it came in an elegant pastry basket, a nice touch. The sole lacked soul.

KR ordered vegetables with her salmon and enough to feed a Somalian family for a month arrived in three huge accompanying dishes: potatoes and bacon, cabbage in a cream sauce and pureed carrot and butter.

A little off-putting perhaps, too much food can turn a meal into an ordeal. One dish of quality veggies would have been more appetising and less wasteful too.

After our mains were cleared, a fork lying in some pureed carrot remained on the table. It was there until we asked one of the staff to remove it. The method of removal was novel. The fork was used to scrape off/mash the carrot into the table cloth. Stunning.

We ordered a fresh blackberry pavlova and a strawberry and ice cream meringue sandwich. Both desserts were simply too sweet and the meringue stuck to our molars. Presentation looked effortless, as in no effort had been made.

With our bill, we were given a comments card, on the bottom of the card it said, "A Question of Service." I was tempted to just write the word "Indeed" after it. I think that the usual way of paying/tipping a waiter is a fairer method of remuneration for all concerned and that service would be a lot better if the waiting staff relied on a customer's discretion.

Tip: abolish the service charge and let waiters earn their tips. Result: cheerful, friendly waiters and more importantly, happy customers.

ROLY'S BISTRO
7 Ballsbridge Terrace
Dublin 4
Tel: 01 6682611

THE BILL

2 Champagne cocktails �27.00
Confit of duck
Lemon sole �20
Meringue Sandwich
Rocket salad
Poached salmon �20.95
Blackberry Pavlova
10% service charge � 6.89

TOTAL �75.79