The Patio, Hanover St,, Edinburgh

I have been going to The Patio on average twice a year for the last 30 years or so. The menu, the food, the specials and the service is great. The manageress/owner always takes time to talk to the customers. Some of whom are obviously regulars. I have seem some very negative reviews posted on the net, which I find unbelievable. I have often been for lunch on Saturday over the years and found it great value for money. I think the place is great. Considering the length of time the patio has been there, they must be doing something right!

We ate at The Patio, Hanover St, in Edinburgh on Saturday.

A strange long, thin restaurant interior, and a d cor that was in need of a serious makeover some years ago, but didn't get it.

We waited too long for drinks, and finally the order to be taken.

Having waited, we asked twice for an update on when our food would arrive. Especially when others were arriving after us, and getting their food quickly.

Finally ... the garlic bread was disappointingly simply sliced crusty bread with thinly spread oiling butter - and no hint of garlic.

My pizza (specially ordered as extra hot version of their special "The Patio Pizza") ... was so perfectly round, with a perfectly rounded crust, that it looked suspiciously like frozen dough ... drowned in over the top mozzarella, and little else - very disappointing!

My wife ordered the "special giant prawns" in pasta. She commented that they were cold and over cooked.

We both only managed to eat half of the main course, and we were disappointed. We are not fussy, but when it can be cooked better at home, it's not right! In the same way as when asked, if the food is good, say so, when it's not, the restaurant should be keen to get feedback, and then learn from it.

So it was with great surprise when we got the reaction to our minor feedback.

We asked for the manageress. I explained briefly that I felt the pizza was not the best, and that my wife was disappointed by cold, rubbery and over cooked prawns.

Her immediate reaction was astounding.

My wife responded, that she couldn't believe the response to basic feedback. The manager repeated the blunt response, nearly shouting by now.

We left the middle of restaurant in total shock that any owner could react in such an amazing way to feedback, to a customer who clearly had had a bad experience.

We left, to reflect on what just happened.