Frizzante Proseccheria, Edinburgh

It was a very fine day. The last tour of the season*. On the bus at 9. Heading up to the Mile, doing the duty directing a few lost visitors. My usual seat in Caffè Nero. Easy to sneer at chains, but show me any better coffee. Egg sandwich, as ever. A good hour before kick off. Time to cool down. No need to reread the notes - I know them by now.

Meet the team and chat to the visitors who are here for the tour. The same as ever and never the same as ever. Always delightful, curious, insightful. Today includes old chum, D.

The tour. Fabulous as ever. Six out of six. They've all been great, and all been dry.

Fast forward a few hours and I'm on the bus home. The usual polyglot lot. I particularly enjoy the wee fellow singing Jingle Bells. But in between? Lunch with D at Frizzante. Always a pleasure.

It's rare for me to visit twice before a review. I was here a few days earlier with the other D, intending a review meal; however, Lothian Buses had a bit of a meltdown, leaving us less than an hour to sup before the ladies' concert. Hence the second bite.

First time round we started with perfectly acceptable bruschetta. It's surprising how many places forget to rub the bread with garlic. Pasquale wouldn't allow such a basic error. He's been in the business for a very long time. Son Jonathan, well trained by his papa, now runs Decanter in Bruntsfield.

I digress (again). Penne piri-piri is an interesting culture clash/fusion, Italy meeting Portugal in a pleasant manner, with a few peas thrown in, presumably for some Vitamin C.  Similarly the lasagna was fine.

Fast forward a few days, with more time to spare. It would be crass to lunch at a proseccheria without sampling the main event. Prosecco can be pretty ghastly stuff. Not here - as good an example as you're likely to get, a snip at £8.50.

D (the lady D, not the gentleman D) is not a big eater, but in the interests of research orders bread with olive oil and balsamic. I was tempted to write not cheap (£7.80) but have you seen the price of olive oil these days? And bread with a good flavour too. Sadly, my plate of calamari fritti was a car crash. Freshly out of the fryer yes, but no seasoning, no crunch, a bit rubbery and precious little flavour. I ate two and left the rest.

Waitress Livia noticed and was concerned. I wouldn't have made a complaint - you know how meek and mild I am - but when she asked I answered. They were taken off the bill. I sometimes add comments on the service at the end, almost as an afterthought. Not here. Livia has been working with Pasquale for thirty years. They're good to me, she said. These things cut both ways. She is as lovely a waitress as you will ever encounter.

To mains. In addition to the a la carte, which is a pretty standard Scottish-Italian offering, there are always a few daily specials. I have never been a fan of gnocchi. They can be a bit leaden. I'm not sure that these specimens did much to change my mind. My main was much better, and sounded intriguing. Black ravioli stuffed with scallop, with a couple of large prawns on the side, in a fresh tomato sauce. Not bad at all.

I can't remember when they started to sell bad coffee in Italy. My last few visits have not been all that great. Fortunately, as Pasquale has been in Scotland for a long time he missed the transition. The espresso here is very good. And the farewell limoncello? When it's served ice cold in shot glasses straight from the freezer, it's a whole lot better.

At the end I chat a little with Pasquale and the kitchen porter. Pasquale addresses him as chef. It makes them all feel a little better, he said. It's the mark of the man.

*Edinburgh Festival Voluntary Guides Association do free walking tours on the Royal Mile daily up to 30 August. Tours leave from the City Chambers at 1030 and 140. More information on our website.

There will be no Tom's Food! next week. Thereafter we will be out researching. Columns in September will depend on circumstances and WiFi availability