Whether a foodie or a traveller, trying out a new restaurant can always give you a memorable experience. Especially if you’re in London, one of the world’s most diverse dining destinations, you will definitely want to try its local and international cuisines.
However, finding the right restaurant can be tricky sometimes if you don’t know how and what to look for. One of the best ways is to look into the reviews. Deciding which one to trust can be challenging with so many review sites. If you can use those reviews to their full potential, you can easily find some of the finest diners in town.
In this article, we will explain how you can pick the right restaurant using online reviews.
Tips to Pick The Right Restaurant Using Online Reviews
Here are some tips to help you choose the right restaurant. They will satisfy your taste buds while giving you the best dining experience.
Always Start From The Top
While exploring, always start by looking at the top-rated restaurants. You will find some of the finest restaurants, famous for their food and services, that are surely worth a try.
Now, you can customise your search by filtering them according to your cuisine choice. If location is a factor you want to consider, then always look for restaurants near you.
Check The Latest Reviews
Imagine you went to a restaurant since it had quite a few good reviews. However, when you reached the restaurant, you found neither the food nor the overall service was satisfactory.
Coming home dissatisfied, you looked into the reviews again, only to find they were from two years ago. You can possibly understand what’s wrong here.
If you plan to visit a particular restaurant, look into the first five reviews. These are the most recent reviews and are more likely to portray an image close to reality. Older reviews are less likely to be accurate since a lot of things can happen, such as a change of chef or supervision.
For example, you can find several restaurants with amazing reviews on ChefOnline’s platform, which itself has an amazing rating on TrustPilot. You will see it has around 62% of 5-star rating and reviews that aren’t more than a week old.
Follow The 80/20 Reviews Rule
No restaurant is 100% perfect. While most people will give five stars to a particular restaurant, others may give it to a three-star. How will you decide if you want to try this one or not?
In this case, an intelligent choice is to follow the 80/20 rule. Restaurants with amazing food and services usually receive about 80% excellent and very good reviews ( 4 or 5 stars) and about only 20% average to negative reviews (3, 2, or 1 star).
Very Good is Very Good, Not Excellent
Just because a restaurant received a few 5-star ratings doesn’t mean it’s of excellent quality. You need to check how the ratings are distributed before you make a conclusion.
If you find a restaurant with equally spread 5-star and 4-star reviews, it means the restaurant is very good but not excellent. You will definitely like the food and ambience there but probably won’t enjoy the fine dining experience. Do not forget to apply the same rule to the lowest-rated restaurants.
Look at The Latest Pictures
A picture says a thousand words, which is also true of eateries. Pictures are the best way to experience a restaurant without tasting the food.
Look into all the latest pictures the reviewers have uploaded. Do the foods look appealing? Are the interiors nice enough? Does a particular dish look like something you would love to try? If any of the answers is yes, then you’ve got your next restaurant to try.
Check What They Say About Their Entire Experience
You may wonder why some restaurants constantly receive 5-star reviews. What kind of foods are they actually serving? But if you look into the details, you will see that it’s not the food the reviewers are discussing; it’s the amazing experience they had.
Outstanding restaurants don’t only serve great food but create a memorable experience. Customer experience is a crucial factor to consider when choosing a restaurant. You will never enjoy your dinner if the food is good, but the atmosphere isn’t. Sometimes, you will see excellent reviews about restaurants where the food is good, but the experience is top-notch.
Go from Review to Reviewer
If you have a moment, take a look at some reviewers' profiles. How active are they? You might even want to read other reviews they've written. Do the places they review match your tastes?
Keep in mind that writing a review takes time and effort. Think about why someone would take the time to write one. If their profile seems authentic, you know you can trust them.
Price isn’t Everything
Just because a restaurant is expensive doesn’t mean it serves the best food. Looking through all the reviews carefully, you will see some restaurants serve delicious food at a very reasonable price.
There are several Indian restaurants that serve delicious chicken tikka that may cost you double in another restaurant. While price is an important factor to consider, you should also remember that a high price doesn’t always guarantee quality, and a low price doesn’t mean poor quality.
Wrapping Up
Selecting the perfect restaurant amidst London's culinary diversity can be a delightful journey with the help of extensive reviews. By leveraging the internet effectively, you can confidently navigate the dining options.
While customer reviews can give you insight into a restaurant, you can also fall for the wrong one if you don’t know how to judge them. The abovementioned tips will help you analyse online reviews and use them to find the right restaurant for your next dine-in.
And if you’re impressed by the food and service of the next restaurant you visit, you can appreciate their effort and show your gratitude by nominating them for the upcoming Asian Restaurant & Takeaway Awards (ARTA). Doing so will help them get recognition and inspire them to improve their service.
