Shopping during festive season certainly has its pros and cons. The shop windows teeming with the latest arrivals beckoning us to empty our wallets, a frenzy of festive cheer buys certainly gets one working up an appetite. True to this scenario my man and I found ourselves on the doorstep of Panarottis Bluff Towers. A quick bite to eat, as we rested our weary selves before carrying on our shopping spree.

My first impression of a bright and gleaming store artfully decorated with comfortable booth seating was followed by my realization that despite the frenzy out there this oasis of cool, quiet respite was thankfully not as bustling. Our waitress, Lindie whilst pleasantly welcoming, friendly and smiling did not know the price of the waffles, as in her defense she was still new and training. We opted for a basic breakfast of Bacon, Eggs, Chips, and Toast with a Slice of Tomato called Classico Breakfast. Note their breakfasts are served daily until 11am. The restaurant was fairly quiet and I had a good look around whilst we waited for our meals.

My first look at the toast that arrived certainly set the tone of the food quality! Whilst front of house staff and management alike are absolutely friendly and attentive I do admit their back of house, are not so much so. The toast arrived barely toasted and the chips ice-cold, oily and definitely not freshly made. I swopped my partner’s bacon for the egg on my plate as I find I can no longer eat eggs odd but true. I sent back my meal outlining that the chips tasted of old oil and were dry hard and definitely cold.

After a bit of a wait, someone from the kitchen appeared apologizing profusely and offering to redo the meal from scratch. The manager on duty checked in on us and my man advised that his chips though cold and oily could be survived by him and the manager congratulated him for being tough in that regard. When he departed we could not help but burst into laughter at his lack of apology and his clever retort on my man’s toughness to stomach the sub-standard chips. I must say the hearty laugh we had at this was one I will never forget, I find myself still smiling about this so kudos to him for that.

The meal eventually arrives as per the menu minus the two slices of bacon from my partner’s plate. I enquired, again as to the missing bacon upon which time the second plate of breakfast then appeared. The replacement meals proved to be more true to their usual standards of quality meals. I guess all restaurants do have the off day and perhaps we did catch them on just such a day. Crisis averted and freshly made breakfasts with crispy outer and fluffy inner chips coupled with pleasingly grilled bacon thoroughly enjoyed.

We tipped our waiter more than the mandatory ten percent because I think it unfair to punish a waiter giving good service. Satiated we ventured out again into the throngs of shoppers making merry.