Being taken out to dinner is always enjoyable. Being taken to one of your all time favourite restaurants is even more enjoyable! For my birthday, Dai wouldn't tell me where we were going, although since he had offered to drive I'd guessed it was somewhere out of affordable taxi range. And I was overjoyed when we pulled up at the door of The Dufferin Arms , or The Duff to its friends, in the delightful village of Killyleagh, where we used to live. I think the owner was equally thrilled when we walked through the door – I'm sure their takings fell noticeably when we moved away!

A stone's throw from Killyleagh Castle, The Duff is a bustling pub upstairs, composed of a succession of tiny rooms, with every available space on the walls and behind the bar filled with photos and memorabilia, largely of a sporting bent, although a few stuffed animals grace the shelves. On Saturdays the pub is especially busy, as they have a traditional music session in the afternoon, and a live band in the evening. Pub grub is served upstairs, but a full a la carte restaurant opens downstairs at weekends in the former bottling hall. Despite being a cool and dark former cellar, the ambiance is romantic, with many candles, suffused background lighting, and crisp white linen tablecloths and napkins. Old maps and paintings of horses decorate the walls, and there is a nod to the maritime pastimes held locally on Strangford Lough, as the toilets are amusingly labelled Buoys and Gulls. Disabled access is poor, and the smoking area still needs work. 6/10

As we perused the menu, I was instantly drawn to the evening's special of lobster, as I know these are fresh and locally caught. I joked to the owner that there was no Chablis on the wine list to go with my lobster, and with a wink he reached into some private recess behind the bar, and produced a bottle especially for me. The chef tries hard to incorporate locally sourced ingredients – the imaginative menu always includes venison from the nearby Finnebrogue estate, as well as the langoustines for which the place is famous, and well thought-out vegetarian options. We took our seats beside an old Aga, and tucked into the basket of bread served with butter and a home-made tomato chutney. Dai started with another house speciality, the seafood chowder. This was served with a swizzle stick of spiced squid, and the soup was rich and creamy without being overpowered by the plentiful chunks of fish and mussels. I went for breast of pigeon salad. The pigeon had quite a strong gamey flavour, and I wouldn't be in a big hurry to order it again, but the accompanying salad was crisp and tender, and contained not a scintilla of my bête noir – red onions! It did however contain home made pickled pears, whose acidity was a perfect foil to the heavy gaminess of the pigeon. For the main course I had lobster thermidor. The rich brandy and cheese sauce was divine, although I was regretting that I hadn't just ordered it grilled, as I'd conveniently forgotten that I was supposed to be on a diet. Dai went for a surf and turf; four thin medallions of fillet steak layered with spinach, and a little pot of lobster and prawn sauce with a pastry lid. We shared a portion of the veg of the day – cauliflower with a blue cheese and rocket sauce, and some roast turnips. These were cooked to perfection, not too soft and not too crunchy. It was absolutely divine, and we struggled to finish the food on our plates, agreeing that we'd have to forego dessert, even though the puddings are rather fabulous. 9/10

The waiting staff are very friendly and attentive, and they happily located the cork for my wine so that I could take the remnants home. Many of them were familiar faces, and it's always a positive sign when a restaurant can hang on to good staff – they must be happy there and being paid a reasonable wage. And how can you fault a mein host who can conjure up your favourite wine in the blink of an eye. 9/10

The total bill, including my bottle of Chablis was £63, which we both thought was extremely reasonable. We've many a time paid more than that for not such good quality. 8/10

And so we bade our fond farewells to the staff, went for a refreshing post-prandial stroll around the harbour, drove past our old house, and vowed that we ought to do this once a month. We'll take turns to drive! 9/10

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