Why, why, oh why has it taken me so long to discover Dax? I've been aware of its existence for years – it's one of those places that people whose opinion I'd rate have recommended over and over again, somewhere I've always meant to go and yet never quite got around to. I think that has something to do with the location – at the Leeson Street end of Pembroke Street and somewhat off my beaten track. Anyway, we finally paid Dax an inaugural visit on a bitter January Friday evening and I'd already put money on it being in my top five at the end of the year.

Dax reminds me in ambience of my other favourite Dublin restaurant, Ronan Ryan's Town Bar & Grill. They are both challenged – and undiminished – by unprepossessing basement premises. Each has a loyal regular clientele and a menu that prizes flavour delivery over show-off cheffy nonsense. Neither establishment has a smidgeon of stuffiness about it.

Dax is the kind of place where a woman might wear a fur coat without fear. (I counted at least three.) It's also the kind of place that a barrister might eat alone after a long day on his feet, snooze a while, bequeath an unfinished bottle of fine claret 'to the kitchen' and pay his bill with crisp hundred-euro bills. And it's the kind of place that a young couple on a special date might eat a couple of steaks with a bottle of white wine and have an excellent time.

We started with seared king scallops, cauliflower purée and langoustine jus (€17) and terrine of duck foie gras marinated in mulled wine with toasted brioche (€18). For mains, roast mallard duck with pithiviers of duck foie gras, bacon and savoy cabbage, prune jus (€27) and sea bass, baby squid, braised fennel, saffron potato, squid ink veloute (€27). Everything was exceptionally good, faultless even, but the sea bass and squid stood out as sublime and transporting – the stuff of foodie fantasy. Crispy skinned fish, tiny morsels of intensely, smokily flavoured squid, inky sauce… just writing about it makes me want to head straight back to Pembroke Street and demand another plateful.

We shared an extraordinarily good prune and armagnac soufflé (€7.50) to finish. For two people with barely a single sweet tooth between them, the very fact of our finishing – nay, scraping – the dish is evidence of just how good it was.

Service, from owner-manager Olivier Meisonnave (word is that his laydee fans are legion), is French, charming and efficient, and there is exceptional talent in the kitchen with head chef Connor Dempsey.

Our bill – including three glasses of house Moncuit Blanc de Blancs (€13 a pop for delicious 100% chardonnay fizz), a bottle of reliable Trimbach Pinot Blanc 2005 (€29) from the (very) lower echelons of a seriously tempting list, water and 12.5% service – came in at €190.12 for the two of us. Dax certainly isn't cheap for dinner, but it is worth it if the occasion merits (I can't imagine anyone who would not be delighted to be taken there for a special romantic or celebratory dinner) or you have one of those defined benefit public-service pensions. The less well-endowed might consider the special lunch menus (€24 and €29 respectively for two and three courses) and the pre-theatre menu (€32 and €39), served Tuesday to Thursday, aimed at National Concert Hall and Gaiety patrons. I gather that Dax is a fun place to hang out pre- and post- rugby matches too.

I hope it's not just because I've visited so many mediocre restaurants recently, but Dax is my first ever five-star review. J'ai casse mon canard.

Dax

23 Pembroke Street Upper, Dublin 2.

Tel: 01 676 1494

Rating: 5/5