Diep le Shaker, Thai Restaurant Dublin

Situated in Pembroke Lane, just off Pembroke Street in the heart of Dublin's business district, Diep has attracted a loyal following over it's eight years. Popular as a business lunch venue, the evening ambience attracts Dublin's bright young things, drawn for the quality of the food certainly, but also for the best Cosmopolitan in Dubin in the Buddha Bar. Paolo dined in the company of the delectable Gayle Killalea.....

When they arrived, nicely presented, Gayle set to work on making the crispy duck pancakes with sliced shallots and plum sauce. 'I love to play with my food,' she told me while making up a continual supply of pancakes for both of us. Between my prawns and these pancakes - you could probably have fed three people with what there was - I awaited the main courses with a seriously depleted appetite. Gayle had chosen the red beef curry, and I'd picked a mixed sea food stir-fry, since it gave me a chance to taste a variety of things. We'd ordered some fried rice and noodles as well, and the table began to look like an embarrasse de richesse. I ate and enjoyed the prawns, monkfish and squid that were in my stir-fry, ate none of the vegetables and touched but a spoonful of rice. The moral here is to go easier than I did on the starters if you want to eat the main courses.

And all the while the music played, much of it from an era that I knew and loved, like Tamla Motown and the Beatles. It certainly had my feet tapping. Our rather cosy tete-a-tete came to an abrupt end when we were joined by Michael Colgan, tanned and fit after a sojourn in the Canaries, who took to the music like the proverbial duck to water. Before long he was demonstrating his enviable tan and giving us a demonstration of Salsa dancing up and down the aisle between the tables. It was an infectious display of joy in being alive, and it wasn't long before Gayle and I joined him. Perhaps it may not have been very decorous, but it was certainly fun.

While we can't definively guarantee you won't get to see Paolo dacing, we can tell you that the restaurant also has live Jazz every Tuesday and Wednesday night and has special groups which play Jazz, Cuban grooves and Latin American vibes every few weeks. Phone for details.