The Pig's Ear occupies the space that was previously home to Jacob's Ladder, above the Runner Bean on Nassau Street. On a bitter autumn evening I was meeting my editor for an early supper. She had heard good reports – raves even. We were looking forward to the excursion.

On a fine evening I'm sure that the views out over the Trinity playing fields would be a pleasure, but on the night we visited the rain and sleet were lashing against the windows and made us feel cold just looking at them. There was a draft too, and we considered purloining the Aran jumpers on the coat rack which we thought might have been placed there for decorative effect. It's a rather cold, hard room that could do with some warming and softening touches over and above the porcine tschotkes that are dotted about the place. Only a few tables were taken, one by a lone and lovely Amy Huberman – there was, disappointingly, no sign of the BOD.

Madame Editrix went for the watermelon, Parma ham, buffalo mozzarella and pistachio salad – a 'does what it says on the tin' kind of starter – pricy enough at €13.95, although it was an enormous portion. She thought that they might have taken the seeds out of the watermelon, of which there was rather too much. She struggled for a while and threw in the towel at about the half-way stage. My Pig's Ear terrine (€9.95) was a fine, substantial, tasty starter and the crispy pigs' ears which accompanied it were delicious, light, deep-fried morsels.

For mains we chose fillet of Hereford beef, green beans and garlic potatoes (€31.95); and slow-cooked pork belly, baby sausage roll, cider, onion and sage (€23.95). The helpings were trencherman-style, and neither of us cleared our plates despite liking both dishes. The beef was a flavoursome, tender piece of meat. The pork belly really did not need the sausage roll – a piggy bridge too far – it was meltingly unctuous and a more than adequate plate without it.

This being the lady who signs off on my expenses, I had good reason to want to keep her sweet. "Have a pudding," I encouraged, pusher-style, "you deserve one!" Sherry trifle (€7.95) was a restrained, well-behaved, mannerly kind of disappointment – pleasant enough but lacking the glorious abandon and excess with which it should properly be constructed. Perhaps it is a dish best confined to the domestic kitchen where no one measures out the sherry.

With one Kir, three glasses of a decent Syrah and two bottles of water, our bill came in at €126.40, to which we added €15 for service, making a total of €141.40.

There is nothing wrong with The Pig's Ear – its location is good, the service is professional, and the food is not at all bad. But when a casual early evening Tuesday supper for two costs €70 a head, there is something amiss. There is clearly talent in the kitchen at The Pig's Ear – the chef is Stephen McAllister, late of One Pico, whom you'll recognise from The Restaurant – and they are on the right track with a retro-inspired menu using mainly local and seasonal produce that should appeal to natives and tourists alike. But – and this is intended as constructive advice – if it is to flourish, The Pig's Ear needs to devise a simple table d'hote menu option, something priced at around €25, I'd suggest, to entice the punters up those stairs. Portion sizes could easily be reduced to help cut costs, and with an offering that already includes economical classics such as free range hens' egg mayonnaise and lamb shepherd's pie, some menu re-jigging could be employed to devise a menu priced more in keeping with the current zeitgeist. I'd like to see the place buzzing the next time I visit – there's no reason why it shouldn't.

The Pig's Ear

4 Nassau Street,

Dublin 2

Tel: 01 6703865

Rating: 3/5