How hard can it be?

Today we did the Mornington Peninsula with our English guests, and we stopped for a snack lunch in Sorrento. No food courts here, but lots of tempting looking little cafes, pubs and bakeries, because Sorrento is that kind of place. After a bit of dithering we fixed on a pretty looking cafe, that had some toasted sandwiches - sour dough bread it claimed and not overly expensive. The sun was shining and there was a table free outside - so orders placed we settled down for a pleasant break.

However, it soon became apparent that all was not well - and when I think about it the signs were there right at the beginning when I asked if they had a tonic water, and was told they had what was in the fridge thing - she didn't seem to know what was there, so I settled for a cappuccino in the interest of speed. As we were sitting at our table the young couple on the table next door became increasingly agitated about their food not arriving - they had been there over half an hour and still nothing - and apparently, when it did finally arrive, it was not even cooked food - but a prepared sandwich.

Anyway we were not in a hurry and it was a very pleasant spot so we were not quite as anxious. Then the toasted cheese sandwiches arrived - after a very goodly time - around half an hour perhaps. I had ordered a cheese and tomato version - but didn't get any tomatoes - and frankly the sandwiches were pretty ordinary. Sour dough bread it might have been but it didn't really look much different from sliced white bread and I don't think the cheese was anything fancy either. And there was no attempt to pretty it up. It's pretty hard to stuff up a toasted sandwich really so they were OK I suppose. Below is a picture of what it perhaps should have looked like - real bread, real cheese...

However, there really was no excuse for it to have taken so long. The cafe was not really all that busy - maybe four tables of people outside and about the same inside. How hard can it be to make a toasted sandwich? Surely everything was sliced and ready to be slapped together, slapped on the toaster, while you did something else, and served with maybe a sprig of parsley or rocket - something you could just put on top to make it look pretty. Really not good enough. What on earth do they do in high summer when they are truly busy? Is it just lazy or incompetent.

I think it is called Shells. So don't go there. Once before I had fish and chips at the pub down on the shore. Delicious and fast!