When it comes to drinking or dining in Wetherspoons, you already know what you're in store for before you walk through the doors.
The words 'cheap and cheerful' get thrown around a lot whilst speaking about one of the UK's most popular restaurant chains, with cut-price food and drinks often on the menu for punters.
With various Wetherspoons scattered around Edinburgh, I decided to head out to the worst rated venue according to TripAdvisor, which was The Foot of the Walk, in Leith.
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This restaurant actually ranks higher then the Sir Walter Scott at Edinburgh Airport, but as the restaurant is classed as within International Waters, I looked at the one in the city centre that had received the worst feedback.
This venue, according to TripAdvisor, doesn't actually have as many reviews as the other restaurants in the city. Unfortunately, though, the excellent-to-terrible ratio didn't favour the Leith eatery.
The venue
Arriving on a quiet Monday afternoon, I wasn't really expecting fireworks as soon as I rocked up, but could it really be as bad as previous reviewers had made out?
While several reviews in the past few years had pointed to the fact the venue was the "worst pub ever," "one of the worst Wetherspoons in Edinburgh" and "horrible," I remained quietly optimistic.
With the building hindered a little with the ongoing tram works outside and in the Leith area, straight away I could tell the inside of the restaurant resembled a quiet Monday afternoon.
Nevertheless, I spotted a relatively quiet and vacant little spot with several tables towards the back of the restaurant and plonked myself down.
These days, technology means that you don't even have to move from the moment you sit down, until the moment you get up to leave. Ordering via the Wetherspoons app has certainly helped avoid queues of raging hungry punters.
The food
As is always the case with Wetherspoons, there is a wide variety of options. Pizza, Pasta, Chicken dishes, straight from the grill section, salads and pub classics.
As I wanted to try a few things, and have become accustomed to a starter, I opted for their three small plates for £11.35. What's not to love about that? three different mini meals to avoid the frustration over choosing from a wide selection.
A glass of Pepsi Max was the preferred drinks option, as you know, I was still on the job.
After waiting no longer than five minutes, the drinks appeared. There was even the rare appearance of a garnished slice of lime, very impressive indeed.
About ten minutes later, all three small dishes arrived. Due to an error surrounding myself being an idiot, I actually ordered the wrong dish and received ten spicy chicken wings instead of what I thought I ordered, a mini ten-inch BBQ chicken pizza.
Twinned with the chicken wings, I ordered chicken breast bites and halloumi sticks, both coming with very tasty side sauces and dips.
The food was hot enough, the waitress was polite enough and the atmosphere was relatively peaceful, what was all the fuss about?
After just about finishing all three small plates, I decided to try my first ever Wetherspoons dessert. Amongst the options were warm chocolate brownie with ice cream and apple pie, but being a lover of anything caramel-related, I opted for the warm caramel cookie dough and ice cream.
As I waited for it to arrive, I had two thoughts circling my brain. Surely something will be wrong with this pudding as why else would people make such a big fuss over the restaurant being the worst in Edinburgh, and please don't let anything be wrong with this pudding because I'm looking forward to it.
Five or so minutes later, it arrived, and it looked the business.
A large helping of warm and gooey cookie dough, with a scoop of ice cream on top that, rather impressively, had not melted into a puddle of ice cream being on top of a warm dessert. Finishing it off was lashings of caramel sauce.
The verdict
After finishing the dessert, my journey was all but over, and it was much better than I had prepared myself for.
The food did not take too long to come and when it did, it was warm enough and tasty enough.
The atmosphere was a bit dull, but it was clearly a pub for regular customers who like to grab a couple of pints in the afternoon.
The staff were pleasant, although not going above and beyond to ensure their customers were satisfied, although that would just be nit-picking.
Overall, I'd probably give the experience a eight out of ten. As a regular in Wetherspoons over the years, I had endured much worse outings than this one, and in higher rated venues within the city.
