Start by reading the restaurant’s website. Look up the owner and executive chef to get an idea of their training, style, and past ventures.
Promise a story or surprise, such as “it may have taken a while to get to my mouth, but I’ve found the best paella on the planet. " Make sure, however, that you deliver on the promise later! Give an interesting, tangential fact, like “Chef Zurlo only started cooking 2 years ago, yet she’s quickly risen through the ranks to operate Oakland’s best new bagel shop. " Describe a particularly captivating or compelling part of the ambiance, good or bad, like a great view or a funny smell from the kitchen.
Presentation: How’d the dish look when it arrived, and how did it make you feel? Excited? Hungry? Like royalty? Like you were in your family’s kitchen again? Taste: The big, obvious one, but that is only because it is so important. Use descriptive language, metaphor, and simile to put your reader in your shoes, or mouth. Name spices or flavors when you can. Texture:This usually includes cooking process as well. Did it melt in your mouth? Was it still hot when it arrived? Was it juicy and tender or tough and brittle? Were their multiple textures (such as something soft with a crunchy crust), and did they work well together?
This includes the atmosphere, the surface, and the location. The more specific details, the better. Try for one good detail about every interaction/part of the restaurant.
What kind of atmosphere are they going for here? Do they pull it off? How do your preferences match the restaurants? If you hate seafood, but that is the restaurant’s specialty, you may want to tone down the negative reviews of the salmon or tell your readers that you aren’t generally a fan of fish. [2] X Research source
“While my servers were incredibly kind and accommodating, it doesn’t change the fact that the food was a bit cold when it came out. " “Head chef Mathew Tucci has designed an amazing menu, and it’s a shame that he only has 10 tables to serve to in his small little restaurant. "
If there is little of merit in the restaurant and you firmly believe is should be avoided, feel free to write a negative review. However, you should usually try a restaurant a second time, making sure that you didn’t try out a fluke of a dish, before attacking it.
If you are an established reviewer you should make reservations under a different name. You should still bring a notebook or small recorder with you to take notes, though you can also take them on your phone. To write a great review, you should be taking notes.
Do the decorations create an appealing ambiance? How are people enjoying their meals? At large, talkative tables or many small, intimate dates?
As a food reviewer, you need to try everything you can to get a good idea of the restaurant. What you order is, of course, a matter of personal preference. However, asking the servers for recommendations is a great way to see what the kitchen and staff are proudest off. Most servers have tasted everything on the menu with the chef’s guidance, so they should be able to help you order and determine what you’re eating.
If you are at a restaurant that allows it, try and snap a quick picture with your phone. This will make it much easier to write about the appearance later.
Make sure you eat the dish the way it was intended first– don’t pick out any ingredients or try things separately until later.
Writing down specific details now about why you liked/disliked a dish will make your writing much, much easier later.
Texture. How does the food feel in your mouth? Again, be specific, as there is a variety of textures, all of which can be good or bad. Spices: Are the spices consistent throughout the meal? Can you tell what some of the spices are? Complexity: A hard one to describe, complexity is a measure of the variety of flavors in a food. A good cook doesn’t just go for “lemon-flavored” or “garlic & pepper,” they go for a nuanced, unique taste to their food. Do the individual parts of the dish come together to make something new or better than the sum of their parts?
Be sure to write down the exact name of each dish for later reference. Your reader will want to know what to order or avoid.
