On Saturday March 8 2008 we went to Patricia's Restaurant to celebrate my Mother's 90th birthday. A booking was made for 20 people some months before for 12 noon. The temperature on that day was in the high 30's. With a little bit of furniture re-organisation we could have been seated in an airconditioned part of the restaurant; instead we were seated in what is no more than a trellis covered tin-shed with one small pedestal fan on one side of the room and a small vertical fan on the other, neither of which made any difference to the heat. No consideration had been given to the fact that elderly people would be present at what was supposed to be an enjoyable family gathering. The service was extremely slow with one couple only getting their meal "early" (1.45pm) because they had another function to attend and had to leave by 2.15pm. We had to request that our meal orders be taken and I was one of the last to be served at 2.25pm with a Chicken Ceasar salad - not the most time consuming meal to prepare. We had to ask on numerous occasions for more drinks, the majority being non-alcoholic. It was obvious that either the staff were untrained or there were not enough of them. Only two other tables were occupied so other than our party the restaurant certainly couldn't have been described as "busy". My Mother being 90, is not a big eater so being the "birthday girl" she requested some smoked salmon, 3 garlic prawns, 3 mussels and a small amount of chips (all ingredients available on the menu in other dishes) but was told this could not be done. They didn't even bother to serve her first. We would have spent more on drinks and considered buying champagne but it all seemed too hard in the end. The last meal was served at 2.30pm and we had paid and left by 3.15pm. Had we been served in a reasonable time we would have had dessert and coffee but the thought of may be waiting another 2 hours in the heat was too much. There was no smile from the man at the register or even an enquiry as to "did you enjoy your meal". We probably would have been happy with an apology for the delay with perhaps a little bit of customer relations in the form of a complimentary "anything" for my Mother. I felt we were treated as an inconvenience and that the last thing they wanted to do was serve us. Very disappointing for something that had been planned for months.
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