Tired of being told what time you can eat at a restaurant? Join the queue says Sandra Beeston.

As if trying to find a table at a hot new restaurant wasn’t hard enough. The issue of sitting at it is what has got on my goat. Let me explain.

A few weeks ago I was trying to find an inner city restaurant for a catch-up with friends of my parents. They had asked me to choose so I went for a place that accepted bookings. There was no way I would ask my parents' friends to wait in line to get a table.

I was offered either a 6pm or an 8:45pm booking. I asked my dining companions which suited them best? "How's 7pm?" they replied. Neither of the times they offered were suitable. For your average diner 6pm is way too early: most people have barely left work. While 9pm is too late.  Who’s still hungry then?

I ended up having to give up on my first restaurant choice and kept looking for some more "regular" dining hours. Fortunately I found a less new, less trendy, but excellent restaurant up the road from the first one, which obliged my request for a 7pm booking without any problems.

A few weeks later wanting to book at a trendy CBD bistro, I was again offered either a 7pm or 9pm sitting.

My friend couldn't make it before 7:30pm, but we still chose the 7pm sitting, taking the risk of being rushed and kicked out at the 9pm gong. We enjoyed our meal, but with our eyes on the clock. Then when 9pm came nothing happened! We were able to relax and linger at the table, amazingly. A two-hour dinner is largely feasible when you are with a date or a couple of friends, but if you're going out to celebrate a special occasion, knowing that your time to enjoy your meal is limited can add a bit of stress.

I know I should be grateful to restaurants for offering the possibility to book at all, and that times are tough for the hospitality industry. But is the situation so dire that they have to take this course of action to optimise their sitting capacity? Or is it just the trendy ones making these rules for us knowing we diners desperate to get a piece of coolness won't mind the inconvenience?

I admit, if it’s a choice between waiting in line or booking and having to eat earlier or later than usual, I will still choose the latter. Unless we choose to stay clear of the new "to die for” dining experience it's likely we might all have to.