WE hadn't been in Dingle for years, not since we finally threw in the (soggy) towel on the Irish Family Holiday after one wet day on the beach and one over-priced and uninspiring meal too many. But an invitation to join the judging panel of the first annual Blas na hÉireann National Irish Food Awards, held as part of the Dingle Pensinsula Food and Wine Festival during the first weekend in October enticed me back, and re-kindled some of the fondness that I once had for the town. Despite the atrocious weather on the Saturday, there was a good buzz around the place and, when the sun came out on the Sunday, even I was convinced that Dingle was actually a grand place after all. I was assigned to the seafood and chocolate categories. When I was a child, of course, the latter would have been my fantasy job but, truth be told (and I'm not really expecting too much sympathy here) 60-plus different kinds of chocolate in under an hour is hard enough going. Seafood was no picnic either – I'm not sure that I'll be ordering smoked salmon any time soon. In the end the worthy winners in those categories were Butler's organic 70% with mint and Kenmare Bay Seafoods' mussels in a honey and herb marinade.

A friend who was involved in organising the awards suggested that we try to get a table in Martin Bealin and Nuala Cassidy's The Global Village for dinner. I wasn't convinced that anything would match up to the superb black sole and turbot that we'd eaten in old Dingle favourite Out of the Blue the previous evening and had worries about the name, but she persisted. The Global Village as a name gives entirely the wrong impression of what this very special restaurant is about, and I hope it does not put off other punters in the way that it did me. I was expecting a hippy dippy ethnic mish-mash with no focus or direction to the food. How wrong I was.

The set menu served for the festival was some of the best food I have ever eaten in Ireland. We started with an amuse-bouche of grilled oyster with parmesan and spinach and a lobster bisque. Delicious. Scallops were served with seared foie gras, polenta cake, crispy pancetta, pea puree and balsamic reduction. Fantastic. Tom Yam – rice noodles, spiced tofu, tomato and onion in a spicy broth ? had a fine kick to it. Turbot came in a fish cream sauce accompanied by a cornetto of skate stuffed with a salmon and seaweed mousse, asparagus, and potatoes boulangere. Extraordinary. A Margarita sorbet followed. Venison and veal with mash, baby carrots and baby turnips in a red wine jus was the most traditional dish on the evening's menu, and no less a success for that. A perfectly ripe Crozier Blue came with poached pears and fig. I wasn't up to more than a mouthful of the chocolate and cherries (see above for my cast iron excuse) but the plate was a playful array of morsels judged Very Good Indeed by my companion. Each course was accompanied by a glass of wine chosen to complement it – and there wasn't a dud amongst them – but you could choose to stick with one for the whole night if you preferred.

The price for this exceptional food, including wine (about which there was no stinginess) was €95 per head, to which we added €50 for service. The all-female black clad waiting staff is universally tall, slim, elegant and beautiful, and service was utterly charming and gracious. What a great place.

Global Village

Upper Main Street, Dingle,

Co Kerry

Tel: 066 9152325

Rating: 4/5