As a pub, the Lord Edward is so old that in 2001 it will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its refurbishment.

Its fame as a restaurant goes back to 1969. In that year, one of Dublin's acclaimed restaurants, the Red Bank in D'Olier Street, closed and many of the staff transferred to the Lord Edward. It also took staff from the Russell Hotel, on St Stephen's Green when it, too, closed.

It is essentially a seafood restaurant, the oldest in Dublin. "The key to success is the same as in any other restaurant: consistency in the food," says Mr David Lyster, who with his wife Maureen has owned it for almost ten years.

People also like "the ambience of the restaurant - it's a nice, relaxed room. They can sit on. We don't like saying to people, we want that table back." As might be expected in its location, it gets a good tourist business, though Temple Bar has brought more customers to the lounge than to the restaurant. A good many of the customers are regulars. They include lawyers from the courts around the area, and people from Dublin Corporation.

Mr Lyster is happy with 30 to 40 customers a night in the restaurant. A seafood restaurant cannot cook ingredients in advance and this puts a natural limit on the number of people who can be served in an evening.

He believes the seafood is an attraction to Continental visitors, who find it increasingly difficult to get good seafood in their own countries.

Have they made many changes in the past ten years? Happy with a winning formula, the Lysters say they "wouldn't even give any thought to changing it".

The Lord Edward, Christchurch Place, Dublin 8. Tel 01-4542420