About Food...And Reviewing It.

I'm a person who loves food. *Pats tummy* I used to be a person who ate anything and everything, and when asked for my feedback, I'd just say, "Oh, it's nice", without being able to differentiate whether or not it was just merely palatable, or something truly worthy of a connoisseur. I also used to chuck ketchup over a large portion of my food (Okay, I'm still occasionally guilty of that!). But if there's something I've learned from my string of ex's, its how to eat, and how to eat well. I'm not a stranger to food and restaurant reviews. I read them, and I even used to write them once upon a time ago. I want to do that again here on this blog, but this time, I want to do it properly.

My reviews used to be long essays with lots of stuff about what I was doing and who I was with. However, as I read more reviews by other bloggers, I noticed that if I was reading that review just to decide whether or not I wanted to eat at a certain restaurant, I didn't want to read about what the blogger was doing before they got to the place, or why they decided to go there, or who they were with, or what antics they got up to whilst in the restaurant. I just wanted the facts. Food. Service. Ambiance. Price. Location. I wanted information to help me decide where to eat right now, and I didn't want to have to wade through a whole load of unnecessary crap to get to that info. So I decided that my reviews will be segmented into categories, and so far, I've decided on the below:

1) The Circumstances - A short summary as to how I ended up at that place to begin with. Totally skippable if you're in a hurry.
2) The Atmosphere - Comfort/decor, cleanliness, noise level and target market segment (families, couples, office crowd, large groups).
3) The Food - Portion sizes, presentation, taste and freshness.
4) The Service - Staff knowledge, attentiveness, professionalism, friendliness, speed the food is served.
5) The Price - Price range and value for money.
6) The Place - Location, opening hours, type of cuisine, parking availability, contact details.
7) The Result - My overall dining experience, and whether or not I'll be back again.

While I'm no expert food critic, I'd like to present my personal opinion of these food establishments to the general public, whether it's to help these places get a bit of well deserved extra publicity, or just to help people decide on whether its worthwhile to spend their hard earned money on a place that may or may not be a waste of time. I might even throw in a scoring system to make it easier for some people to come to a conclusion. Heck, my review style might change as time goes by, nothing's set in stone yet.

But most importantly, while I might gush if the food or the service or the price is truly above par...you can be sure to expect to read my fully honest, straightforward opinion if its not.