OSCAR Wilde once famously said: 'the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.'

We imagine 47 King Street West would snap (they're good at snapping) your hand off for the latter.

"You can usually tell during the booking process when you've got a load of mentalists en route and plan accordingly"

The week started off so well for the French/British restaurant, Time Out Manchester named them 'one of Manchester's swankiest French restaurants' - which is mighty generous.

Then they got hit in the face with a shit tornado entirely of their own making.

Following a turbulent episode with a party of eighteen hens at the weekend, 47 King Street boss (let's call him Larry) responded to the bride's one star online review with enough vitriol to give Abu 'Hooky' Hamza a run for his money.

The bride, 27-year-old Melissa Grogan-Morgan, criticised the restaurant for awful service, splitting her party of eighteen onto two tables and not providing fresh starters for late arrivals.

Larry responded by calling the party (who'd reportedly spent £600 in the restaurant) 'the chaviest worst most vile people ever to grace our restaurant', 'absolute trash' and 'peasants'. Lovely that Larry.

47 King Street West47 King Street West

And it's not the first time the restaurant has snapped back at negative reviews. In December 2014 Larry told one unhappy customer who'd complained of 'dry turkey' to have Christmas at KFC next time. Smooth.

Following the latest backlash, 47 King Street West appeared to have deleted both their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Director of the restaurant, Howard Hymanson, said: "The entire incident is regrettable and it has been both investigated and dealt with internally. No further comments."

Still, the episode rages on, and has been picked up by nationals including The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Mirror

Telegraph articleTelegraph article

As painfully unprofessional and unpleasant as the restaurant's response has been, the episode raises an interesting point; what to do with large hen (and stag) parties in restaurants.

"Hen Parties come in all shapes and sizes and can be lovely occasions to host," a leading Manchester city centre restaurant manager told Confidential this morning (the manager wishes to remain anonymous).

"Problems start when you're not 100% clear with what you're offering. A nice confirmation email usually helps pre-empt any issues.

"On the other hand, sometimes they can be mega noisy and excitable and just a bit of a nightmare. You can usually tell during the booking process when you've got a load of mentalists en route and plan accordingly."

Confidential asked five more restaurateurs: 'Would you knowingly accept a large hen party booking?'

Here's the responses...

"Never!"

"Yes, but no paraphernalia or giant nobs"

"Only if they're well behaved."

"We don't mind, but try to stick them in the private room where they can make as much noise as they like."

"Not if we can help it."

Of course, we're sure most hen/stag parties pass off without incident, and the bride-to-be certainly didn't deserve such a bile-filled response from the restaurant. Though it raises an interesting question; would you host a large hen or stag party booking in your restaurant?