Sora Diana Vegan Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I was really looking forward to visiting Sora Diana during a weekend break in Edinburgh and made sure it was one of the restaurants I booked but I was quite disappointed. First, to get to the front of house staff you have to walk through the restaurant and past the bar, there are no signs saying 'wait here to be seated' so it's not obvious where to go when you first walk in and when I asked I found the staff rude. One waitress had headphones in and had to remove them to understand what I was saying. Then, the tables are far too close together. So close that every time the gentleman on the table next to me took a sip of his red wine I could smell it and it was nauseating. Also if you're next to obnoxious loud people (as we were) it's impossible to have your own conversation. I ordered the carbonara which I was really looking forward to as a good carbonara is something I miss as a vegetarian, but it was bland and the sauce was a gluey consistency. The only flavour was the black pepper. In hindsight I may have been better off ordering something tomato based as a guess it is difficult to replicate the flavour of something heavily dairy/bacon based, but if you're not able to do it well then it shouldn't be on the menu. My partner had the meat feast pizza which was very disappointing too, not even as good as a vegan pepperoni pizza he had at Pizza Geeks the previous day. The fries we had as a side were quite soggy but did at least have a nice flavour. I also had a rosé wine which tasted like the bottle had been open for some time. Overall I found it very over priced given the quality and probably the worst vegetarian/vegan meal I've had during my 5 days in Edinburgh. The best thing was that the service was fast so we were able to get out of...

After visiting the restaurant the week they opened was keen to go back as the food was very good.

On this occasion, Arrived at 7pm and shown to table. Serving staff brought a menu within a few minutes, but failed to ask about drinks or water - 25 degrees and no air conditioning in restaurant: 30 minutes passed and no one came to offer drinks or food.

At this point I went to enquire what the problem was, the waiting staff were busy folding napkins, and the woman managing the bar realised that someone should at least acknowledge me. I asked if there was a manager to speak to, and explained the situation, and was asked what resolution I would want, as ‘they can’t give ‘free drinks’. I had to confirm what she said, and highlighted some service would be minimum expectation. On pressed on resolution I wanted, at this point I was determined to speak to the manager. Another 5 minutes passed and she comes back and advised manager(Magdalene) is too busy as she is in the kitchen. At no point during conversation was it suggested they could take my order to resolve.

In summary waiting staff are inexperienced and not trained, the manager did not seem concerned with addressing customer issues. Only positive was the bar member for at least engaging with customers.

I decided to leave and pointed out numerous other tables that seemed to be in same situation, ie not even offered water.

We think it is absolutely important to support local vegan businesses, but will not be returning here and absolutely will not be...

I just don't understand the hype of this place. Extremely overpriced and the slowest service I think I've ever received. It took 40 mins after sitting down to get a drinks order but this was after I had to ask one of the waitresses. Penne Arrabbiata for £17.90 😬 there's nothing special or veganised about this dish. You can literally get this in ANY Italian establishment for about half the price. All the other dishes we tried were very underwhelming. Nothing stood out for flavour or quality. Literally something you could knock up at home midweek. Meats tasted like Squeaky Bean brand. The pizza we received tasted burned and like the oven it was cooked in hadn't been cleaned in a while. The chips were oil laden and soggy. This is the third time we've tried food from the owners of this restaurant and we just don't get it. The poor overworked server at the end made sure to mention the 12.5% service charge is optional but my father-in-law is too polite and insisted on paying it. This should have been waived before the server came with the bill or at least throw in the Limoncello shots we had. She knew it was unacceptable service but I think it just sums this place up perfectly. They want your money and they'll happily take it no matter how bad the service or the food is. We won't...