NeedGrub.com Blog

Writing a restaurant review is simply an expression of your liking or disliking for an eatery’s cuisine, service, ambience or item costing. While there is no special degree required to write a restaurant review, following the below mentioned guidelines can assist.

1. Be clear i.e. when you are expressing about the quality of a restaurant, do not end with a confused answer. For example, there are reviews where the reviewers mentions expensive wine and in the end rates restaurant 4 out of 5 on the price category. Keep in mind that readers want to know whether they should or should not visit a restaurant, based on various parameters like rate, quality, etc. Such dubious replies will not help them.  

2. Do not forget the food. There is the ambience, the furniture, funny posters, excellent cutlery, pleasant waiters and waitresses, but hardly any food. Cuisine is the key ingredient of a restaurant review; let that not be the last one. Emphasize upon the cuisine type, along with the budget range.

3. Highlight the restaurant’s USP and if there is nothing special about the eatery, do not forget to mention the same. For instance, these days’ opening up of new coffee shops around every nook and corner is a norm. While few are exceptionally good, there are many, which just add on to the numbers. Thus while writing about one of these cafés, it will be important to bring out the special feature or justify average ratings.

4. Complement the writing with pictures if possible. Visual appeal augments the value of written feedback.

There are ample sources, both online and print, talking endlessly about restaurants and the food. Ratings on account of food, ambience, service, cost, etc., are always there. So why must I spend even few minutes reviewing yet another eatery, for one more website??

Yes, you could decide not to write a restaurant review and thus add up to the review archive of NeedGrub; after all that would save you few precious minutes. However, by not doing so, you also deprive thousands of foodies from receiving first hand, impartial comments. Authenticity of the review gets killed, because customers like you, chose not to highlight any specific positive or negative experiences.

On the other hand, NeedGrub.com - does offer a difference. NeedGrub has their expert go out and review restuarnts. But, the big difference, is that you KNOW that its a review from one the NeedGrub experts. Where as, lot of other websites, hire reviewers for the job, and the real users do not know that its infact  a paid review. And if this happens, food lovers like you are probably not getting a genuine reviews and ratings.

If you decided to make a mental note of the restaurant food, services and ambience, while enjoy a sumptuous meal, penning down the details, even in a completely informal would add huge value to NeedGrub. Thousands of readers would be reading your review and making observations. The food lover society would be better connected and informed. It is just a matter of penning what you feel. Would you still not like to bother writing restaurant reviews??

Food courts are definitely a revolutionary idea, after all a few years back, who thought that it would be possible to order a pizza, a bowl of dal makhani, Singapore noodles, cheese sandwich, masala dosa and the favourite cup of coffee, all in one go. You can sit anywhere you please to in a spacious boundary, gaze at the various popular and new food stalls, decide to order an assortment of dishes and serve all present at the table. There is no need to digest Mexican, only because your sister is adamant and neither is it required to order a whole dish of rice and curry separately. The more economical food meals can now be opted for.

In the most simplest terms, food courts are a blessing for average earning Indian families and social groups. They do not attack the wallet and neither do they tamper with the taste buds. Flexible group eating cannot perhaps mature more than this.

While the picture is all rosy and pink, there are few things food courts have killed; the fun of debating over ordering Chinese or Continental or Italian, for instance can no longer be enjoyed. Likewise, the trend of fine dining is fading away under the shadow of food court culture. No napkins or cutlery presentations to great you. Neither is there an army of waiters rushing to serve you. ‘Self service’ is the slogan. There was a time when customers’ maintained safe distance from Nirula’s, because the outlet wouldn’t offer fine dining facilities and today the trend is no longer alien. But guess with the positives in limelight, the sacrifice isn’t really too harsh. After all, the idea is to eat delicious … isn’t it??

Aftermath basically means negative impact, so how can a healthy lifestyle have an aftermath? Or rather how can there be any negative impacts of a healthy lifestyle?? 

Well there certainly are ‘the negative impacts’ or dreary consequences, because had this not been true, why would we subject ourselves to living as unhealthily as possible? I have no study or research to corroborate the mentioned, but if answer of the below mentioned is positive, you too are a part of the unhealthy band wagon. 

• I smoke / consume alcohol a little too often (drinking 5 days a week is often)
• I literally survive on packed food, let that be cooked or uncooked
• Sleeping hours … nothing fixed
• Exercise … the work schedule is enough of physical exertion, isn’t that exercising
• I eat fruits … maybe ones a week or ones in fifteen days or maybe even lesser, but yes I do consume fruits
• Vegetables … yes there are vegetables in that cream sandwich or … yes the pizza toppings, they are loaded with healthy vegetables

Difficult to say no to these, right?? After all where is the time to do so much i.e. to cook and eat, sleep on time, go to the park and walk and drink less? There’s just too much of stress already and trying to find affirmative answers to the stated will worsen the situation. There’ll unbearable consequences … see, the link is established. 

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Food preferences are believed to communicate much about the consumer’s preferences and characteristic ideologies. Not very sure about the credibility of the stated, but if there is any consistency in this argument, we Indians are certainly undergoing a massive transition. From coconut chutney to salsa sauce, the roadmap has been pretty swift. Don’t agree with me, check out the news excerpts of two key food related newspaper clippings for last 15 days and you’ll definitely agree.

1. Udupi hotels would soon disappear. The food society has decided to declare once famous Udupi restaurants as an extinct entity. The figures are eloquent. Whatever be the reason, it is quite established that Indians are no longer enchanted by the food variety offered by these speciality restaurants. They are no longer reporting profits, neither pulling mass customers. The food presentation of course is same and there are no inconsistency issues reported.

2. TGI Friday’s is on an expansion drive. The American outlet is popular and getting overwhelming response from the Indian food lovers, which for sure has prompted the expansion drive. Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, etc., are all about to witness opening up of new TGI Friday’s outlets, very soon.

… so, the idli samber is being replaced by pastas and pizzas. And this is all part of well planned strategy. There is no confusion or national outburst; we deliberately prefer the latter over former. But then, how does it makes a difference?? It is about eating deliciously and if pastas lure more, why not pay for them. Whatttsayyy???