Restaurants: Changing tastes mean that customers want a better choice of food and prices, says Hugo Arnold. Below, he finds a growing number of suburban restaurants that meet the demands of the overworked generation

Dublin city centre is undoubtedly graced with some of the most beautiful squares in Europe and some of the most glorious Georgian architecture, but of late you could have been forgiven for thinking the entire city centre is just one big building site.

Combined with the static tourist population and the growth in the suburban offering, most restaurant operators are feeling the pinch, even if some are reluctant to admit it.

There is also a concern that the way the city centre is being used is changing. One of the larger pub operators commented recently that he was noticing a significant fall-off, particularly in the number of older customers in his establishments.

His real concern was where they were going and whether they would come back? Sites remain hard to find and as with many cities, are often not ideal or include restrictions which make life difficult for operators. Witness the recent decision of uber-chef Richard Corrigan's decision not to take on the site of The Commons.

Two relatively recent openings, Bang and Bleu, both offer large bright open rooms which contrast starkly with many of the more established city centre dining rooms which can often feel cramped and dark. Fine on a wet winter evening but not nearly so appealing when it is a bright spring day.

If you look at the architecture of our houses today, the trend is very much to bring the outside in. We literally want more sunshine in our lives and technological developments like outdoor heaters, which can give the likes of Eden considerable advantages with its outside terrace on even the most marginal of sunny days, mean this is more possible than it has ever been before.

Customers' tastes and attitudes are changing; more travel and an increasingly European outlook have transformed our habits. While there will always be a demand for fine dining for business users, anniversaries and celebrations, there are an awful lot of us looking for accessible, easy and regular eating experiences

So why is it that eating in the city centre remains so expensive? There is no doubting the range of talent and good food abounds, but boy, do you pay for it. A recent conference in London was devoted to the future of fine dining, a hot topic in the UK which is seeing a huge swing away from expensive dining rooms towards a much more informal approach.

And the Michelin Guide, never far from this controversial subject, has not only started to award stars to pubs, but gave the Fat Duck in Berkshire three stars this year. (Owner Heston Blumenthal is the chef who challenges our ideas on food with the likes of snail porridge, salmon poached with liquorice, smoked bacon and egg ice-cream, and mango and douglas fir purée). This establishment is located in a former pub.

The recent transformation of Dish (hardly the most formal of dining rooms) into the The Canal Bank Café is a significant move for a restaurant that always suggested a degree of informality. Prices have fallen by almost 30 per cent and owner Trevor Browne says his early week business and lunchtime trade has had an immediate boost.

They have extended the menu and moved away from what he describes as "more cheffy dishes involving stocks and lots of preparation" to things which are more comfort orientated. You can still dine on steak, but this sits alongside salads and sandwiches giving customers the choice of whether they spend up or down, splash out or stay relatively restrained.

"It allows the idea at least, that dinner can cost little more than if you buy a takeaway or that the cost is reasonable when set aside the hassle of shopping and cooking on those nights when you haven't really thought ahead," says Mr Browne.

Trevor Browne is quick to point out there will always be a demand for the more expensive establishments, but quite how many is debatable. Defining the middle market is not easy and there are quite a few operators that claim to be in there, but are still considered by many as "expensive". Perhaps the defining criteria is rather more complicated than purely price. Value for money does not mean cheap. In its most basic form it means having a feeling that the whole experience has been worth it. You expect to pay more for caviar, but it can still be good value. Most of the consumer research points to the growing sophistication of the consumer; they want value, excitement, comfort, transparency and a sense of value among a host of other variables, not least the perceived fashionability of your establishment. Getting the matrix right is not easy. But it is not rocket science either. You need to give the customer what they want which is what happens when you walk into a good Italian trattoria or a French bistro. How come more people do not do it here?