National familial occasions like Father’s or Mother’s Day often disappoint when it comes to dining out. At least in my experience. When the nation lunches en mass - Valentine’s Day falls into this category, too - I can’t help feeling that many establishments just grit their teeth, switch on the production line and look forward to counting the cash when service ends.

We went to one well-regarded Bournemouth restaurant on Mother’s Day a couple of year’s ago that was so completely awful that we had to laugh or we would have cried: the waiter’s thumb in my soup, the lamb that needed an axle grinder to cut, plates of food that bore little resemblance to the description on the menu, the Terry’s All Gold served as “petits fours”. We complained and when we returned a few weeks later for a complementary meal it seemed like we were eating in a different restaurant. They clearly believed that on Mother’s Day it was OK to lower their game.

Happily, there were no thumbs in the soup when we visited Edge Restaurant and Bar on the cliff top at Alum Chine in Bournemouth, on Father’s Day. But first, a word about its location: incredible and odd.

Most tables at Edge have panoramic views for miles and miles along the coast, stretching from the Isle of Wight in one direction to the Isle of Purbeck in the other. Stunning.

Strangely, however, the dining room is housed in the penthouse on top of a block of residential apartments, accessed by a tiny glass elevator. The tables are arranged, in what was presumably the living area (although in good weather you can eat on the outside terrace.) At first it feels a bit like eating your lunch where bachelor boy had his black leather sofa and plasma screen. But the view is so spectacular and the atmosphere so convivial that it’s easy to forget about this slightly bizarre arrangement.

The smart dining room cries out special occasion dining, with its squishy upholstery, crisp napery and plush carpets, but families shouldn’t let the presence of white linen napkins put them off. The service is super-attentive but relaxed and the lovely waiters are clearly accustomed to dealing with children. They don’t do a children’s meals per se but happily do smaller servings of most items - an approach I really favour.

The Sunday lunch menu was reassuringly small and everything on it so appealing that we all ordered three courses - even the kids - which we rarely do. Husband and Boy Child loved the chunky and smokey ham hock terrine served with little slices of toasted ciabatta and homemade piccalilli. Girl Child rhapsodised over her truffled pea and Parmesan risotto, while I was grateful that no-one wanted to share my locally grown Portland oysters.

For main course, the children’s sized servings of fish and chips and hamburger with onion and Emmental were ample and delicious. My husband’s roast beef was pink and tender, and came with proper gravy and a crisp and light Yorkshire pudding - a relief in a world where roast car tyre and bisto is so often served up as Sunday lunch. Likewise, my pork belly was soft and full of flavour and served with a chunky spiced apple sauce and red cabbage. We could have done with something green - some beans would have been nice - but perhaps we wrongly assumed that “seasonal vegetables” would include this.

If there was a slight disappointment it came with dessert. We all ordered the scrumptious-sounding gingerbread pudding with clotted cream ice-cream and toffee sauce. When it arrived it looked full of promise.

Sadly, it was gingerbread cake gone cold, and the sauce was a little bland, although neither of these faults got in the way of scoffing the lot. Maybe I’m being picky. The meal was fantastic value for food and service of this standard. The Sunday lunch set menu is £25 for three courses or £20 for two (there was a £5 premium for my oysters) and they only charged us £15 for each of the children’s three-course meals.

We’re won’t wait for Mother’s Day for a return visit.

Edge Restaurant and Bar: 4th Floor, 2 Studland Rd, Alum Chine, Bournemouth BH4 8JA