Smashing fun at the seaside

Pick up the phone now and make a booking at Cruzzo in Malahide. You won't get a table tonight, or one for next Saturday, because this new marina restaurant is apparently solidly booked at weekends but you will get a booking midweek without any trouble and you might even get an early bird slot right now. Quite simply, this is one of the best new places to eat, and people-watch, in Dublin.

It's a big, airy box, built right over the sea at the Malahide marina and it's so full of razzmatazz that just walking through the door would put you in a good mood. The food is excellent, the staff extremely friendly and, although it will cost you upwards of £40 a head, it's a genuine treat. We hit Cruzzo on an incredibly wet, windy night and it was all the more atmospheric with the rain lashing down, the yachts in the marina dipping and swaying to the mournful music of halyards and stays clinking on aluminium masts. To get to Cruzzo you have to drive through the swanky marina village, with its smart apartment blocks, security hut and ramps to slow down the Mercs and BMWs. Cruzzo has its own carpark right at the end, by the water.

Then you have to cross over a bridge to get to the front door. Push open the glass door and it's like stepping into an advertisement for a trendy beer - all clever lighting, interesting flower arrangements, designer pouffes to perch on, and views over the water through floor-to-ceiling windows. The space felt a bit cold at first and we were loath to check in our coats. (In fact, even after we had surrendered our outer garments, a woman kept coming up to us to ask if we wanted to give in our jackets, which would have left both of us seriously underdressed. One thing about Cruzzo, there's no shortage of helpful staff. We were served by several different people, managers in black suits and waiting-staff wearing blue shirts with white collars - and all of them Irish.)

After a quick look around, we were taken up the wide, carpeted staircase to the restaurant. It's a huge, dramatic room with a high, pitched ceiling, but it is cleverly broken up into different areas and levels so that it doesn't feel like a barn and it looks busy and full even when it isn't. The most striking features are architectural, such as the huge windows looking out on to a balcony that runs right around the restaurant. No table is very far from a window and all are set well apart. Areas of thick carpet absorb the sound so that although the place is huge, it is not loud and clattery like a canteen. We had a great table looking over the yachts, with a view back towards the Grand Hotel and despite the lashing rain and the churning water below, the whole feel was of being on holiday, somewhere like Sydney or Vancouver.

Sitting down with a drink in hand (and top marks to the guy for asking did I want spritzer with soda or lemonade), we were in high good form. The tables are laid with stiff, white cloths and napkins, tall glasses and heavy, steel salt- and pepper-shakers. At the next table there were two chain-smokers but the ventilation must be good because we only got the odd whiff of tobacco. Big, fluffy onion rolls were devoured on the spot with (very fresh) butter as we waited for the first course, and David was soon schmoozing with the manager over the wine list. After all the talk, though, we ended up with a rather mediocre Argentinian Merlot that was too pricey by far at £17.50.

The big menu card opens out to a skyblue spread with starters and main courses (not all of them correctly spelt!) marching down each side. It's not ground-breaking stuff; most of the dishes are classics such as prawns with garlic sauce, spicy chicken wings and smoked salmon among the starters and confit of duck, baked cod or salmon and braised leg of lamb featuring on the main course list. There are several simple grilled dishes and what's best about the menu is that the description of each dish is short and snappy so you can easily visualise what you are ordering, and the food isn't being layered with unnecessary and unlikely trimmings. The grilled sirloin steak for instance, comes with onion rings and Bearnaise sauce, while grilled black sole is not mucked around with, coming with a simple parsley and caper butter.

David's chowder to start with was a pretty substantial bowl of creamy, tomato-based soup brimming with chunks of fish. He loved it but felt it was a bit too rich as a starter. Lighter by far was my artichoke and tomato salad. This was more about texture than taste with the smoothness of the artichoke hearts vying with the rather scratchy frisee lettuce, and the dense, velvety texture of the slow-roasted tomatoes. It left plenty of room for the main event - grilled calves liver in a red wine sauce with champ. This was perfect, two strips of liver scored by the grill on the outside, just pink inside, topped by rounds of very thin bacon, with the champ underneath. The portion looked neat, even small, but it turned out to be so rich that some of it had to be left on the plate.

David had thought grilled sea-bream with Asian greens and a Thai green green curry sauce would be a healthy option, but it, too, was exceptionally rich and creamy and absolutely delicious - the bream and greens surrounded by a pool of aromatic sauce. We had ordered vegetables on the side just to see what they would be like. They come in small white bowls at about £1.95 each. The mashed potato was nothing short of exquisite - no lumps or bumps, but not pureed to a sticky mess either and tasting distinctly of butter. Braised cabbage was shredded and cooked with onions and very good but I'd give the honey-roast parsnips a miss. They were laden down with oil and honey and were soggy where they should have been crisp.

We shared a raspberry and pear sorbet for dessert, though what I really wanted was the rich chocolate tart. The sorbets were brilliantly coloured and sharp as they should be but rather unsatisfying as the end to a meal. A perfect cappuccino followed, and then the bill - £79 including a 12.5 per cent service charge. Annoyingly, there was a gratuity space left on the credit card slip so you're expected to give them more.

This would be a wonderful place on a sunny day and you can bring the whole family. Children are welcome, according to a note on the menu - and there's a good early-bird menu priced at £12.50 or £15.50, for two or three courses respectively, available from 6 p.m. to 7.15 p.m..

Cruzzo is at Marina Village, Malahide, Co Dublin, 01- 8450599

Orna Mulcahy can be contacted at omulcahy@irish-times.ie