This is not a fast-food joint; dinner here really does take all evening, as each meal is made individually. After choosing, we sat with a drink enjoying the ambience and admiring the small courtyard garden. The decor in the restaurant is sumptuous - layered drapes on the tables and on the windows. One wall is covered with large award platters showing how good this restaurant really is for its food.

Before the starter arrived, our young waitress proudly presented us with a complimentary appetiser of wild-mushroom broth flavoured with truffle oil and presented in a tiny espresso cup. This heavenly touch stimulates your taste buds so that you really get the most from your ensuing meal.

Our starters arrived looking like works of art. My scallops were nestled on a tangy apple-and-asparagus reduction and accompanied by a melt-in-the-mouth tart of buttered leeks. My partner’s quail was sublime. It certainly looked wonderful; the meat had been carefully separated and piled into a neat construction, topped with the drumsticks and a fried quail’s egg. We lingered over the starters, enjoying the subtle tastes and sensations. At all times, the staff was excellent. Although mainly young, they have clearly been very well trained and take great pleasure in their jobs. They all seem very happy and proud to be working at 36. Our wine and water glasses were unobtrusively kept topped up at all times, and when we wanted to order more wine, we had no problem in attracting the attention of our waitress.

If we thought the starters were good, the main course almost put them to shame. My fillet of beef, cooked bleu, stood in a small pool of scrumptious piquant sauce, accompanied by the freshest, crispest vegetables. The meat was so tender and moist that I could have cut it with a butter knife. The duck that arrived opposite me looked (and tasted) just as perfect: slightly pink and very tender, with a gentle crisp to the skin. It was perfectly laid out in a fan shape on a subtle jus that smothered the tongue with a gentle citrus zest.

Before the dessert was served, we received a pre-dessert of passion fruit mousse served in a dollhouse-sized tureen to prepare our mouths for the sweetness to come. Although a complete chocoholic, I was unable to resist the idea of a warm strawberry soufflé accompanied by fresh strawberries and a tiny dish of homemade vanilla crème anglaise. It was an amazing experience; the warm soufflé was so full of real fresh strawberries that it took me right back to when I was a child and we used to go strawberry picking during the summer holidays.

The size of all the portions is not vast, just perfect. If they were any bigger, they would ruin the meal. As it is at the end of three courses, we were left feeling completely satiated yet comfortable and not overstuffed - just very ready for our bed upstairs overlooking Emsworth Harbour.