🇬🇧 Criteria for evaluating restaurants

There is already a text on the points I rate in restaurants on this site. Today I will talk a little about my evaluation criteria. Everything I say in this text applies to cafes, ice cream parlours, etc.

I have been making sweets and desserts since I was a teenager. I was born in 76, so I already have a lot of experience. I started cooking savoury dishes when I first moved to another city at the age of 22, because in my hometown I always had a home cook. I ate very little lunch and dinner at home because the food was bad and ugly. I started making sweets to have something good to eat. Nowadays, what I like most about cooking is exercising my creativity to create new flavours. Sure, I appeal to make a quick lasagna from time to time, but I usually make the kitchen an extra space to be creative. Having experience in making, I have experience in knowing who does it well.

Having lived in many different places and traveling a lot, going to restaurants in these places, my references in relation to all criteria go beyond the local audience. After all, I am writing for world citizens, people who may become residents of the city where your restaurant is located in the near future and visit soon as tourists.

My profile in relation to restaurants is to prefer original dishes, which are only found there, such as creative cuisine and haute cuisine. The elaborate dishes, with exquisite flavours and presentation, are very popular. Although I understand that the profile of some restaurants does not match the presentation of haute cuisine, the flavour, the combination of textures, colors, etc. they should generate a result that motivates me to eat. Ugly food it’s not for me. Ordinary dishes must be sublime, because getting the basics right is a must for any restaurant. Those who can't do the basics well shouldn't even have a restaurant or work as a cook. A restaurant that does only ordinary dishes, even if sublime, will have a worse rating in this sense than one that offers original, well-made and tasty dishes.

When it comes to the rating of dishes, ice cream shops and the like (such as places that sell açaí) that only serve ice cream and drinks have a slightly different rating than restaurants. For ice cream parlours and the like, I evaluate the service methods (if a buffet or if you have a menu with options, for example), variety of options, ice cream flavours and accompaniment options, etc. I believe that ice cream shops with an interesting number of options also have different tastes.

I'm a huge fan of ice cream and açaí, as long as it has accompaniment options. I've been to snack bars that only served açaí with strawberry or banana (two fruits I don't like) and muesli. I don't like. They prove to be places that want to sell something because it is in fashion, not out of a commitment to customer satisfaction. I've also been to a buffet ice cream shop that served jelly cherries as if they were cherries in syrup and that's a very bad point. I will not speak highly of those who try to deceive the consumer.

As for the location, it is knowing if the restaurant is in a region consistent with the profile of the audience it serves, if it is easily accessible, if it is safe, etc. They are also evaluated whether or not to work with delivery and whether the options for face-to-face service are the same as for delivery.

For pet friendly restaurants, I check if they only accept dogs or if they also accept cats, what they offer to animals so that they have a great experience in the place, if they have rules and what are those rules, suitability of the space to receive pets, among others other factors.

I am a communication and marketing professional, so issues such as hygiene, service, environment and all other criteria are evaluated from this point of view, thinking about the coherence of the venue's proposal, the food served and these points as well as the location.

When I evaluate food (and drinks) I mainly think about my knowledge of cooking. My personal preference comes into play most in terms of enhancing well-made original dishes. I can comment on my personal taste, but they will take into account my experience on cooking.

I also give an overall rating of the restaurant as a marketing and communications professional, as mentioned above, and I might also consider the packaging of the products in the review.

To promote your restaurant in my communication channels, read the media kit.

This text, like all others on this site, is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved to the author.

Nycka, the Nomad