Occasionally, time & attitude permitting, I like to leave feedback, both positive & negative.
Sometimes, reading reviews, it's funnier than listening to my chums after beers in my local. I'm returning to a rather nice hotel in Turkey in the next few days & I thought I would have a quick look see at recent reviews.
I'm still giggling at the person who marked it down because because her hubby was desperate after a week for bacon & sausage. FFS. It's Turkey. The hotel had delicious food. It was approaching 90 degree at breakfast time. And you complain about the lack of hot pork?
t***
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A fair few years ago, during the Foot and Mouth gig, a chap on HJ's forum asked a question about going to France, and whether it would be OK to take some Cheddar cheese with him.
Brits abroad, hey?
We get them here - where can we buy such English essentials as Branston Pickle or HP Sauce.
Listen, lad, you are in Africa. Try the local fare.
Or - and this was brilliant - that the Nando's here is really good, and better than 'at home'.
Well, Nando's IS a saffer company after all...
Another cracker is the beer. Carling Black Label especially.
Not that poncy stuff, we have it at a snorting 5.5% ABV. Just what you want after a day in the sun. Coupla pints of that, and you are well sorted!
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Yes can't imagine South Africans pining for the taste of home when living in London.
Oh hang on there seems to be a chain of shops Dating for exactly that
www.southafricanshop.co.uk/store/about_us
Listen lads you are in England. Try the local fare.
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>>Another cracker is the beer lager. Carling Black Label especially
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>> >>Another cracker is the beer lager. Carling Black Label especially
>>
'America's Lusty Lively Beer' - as advertised here, and it says 'BEER' on the tin.
The trend here is NOT to call the stuff Lager.
Too many connotations with laager.
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>> The trend here is NOT to call the stuff Lager.
>> Too many connotations with laager.
>>
>>
Which presumably is why it's mostly drunk by "camp" people.
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Carling Black Label especially.
>> Not that poncy stuff,
carling, poncy?
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I mark pubs/restaurants down for
- serving food on bread boards or roof slates;
- serving 'pies' in a dish on a plate, instead of putting the pie on the plate;
- pies that aren't really pies, but reheated pie filling in said dish with a pastry lid;
- putting chips in those miniature frying baskets; and
- especially for putting mushy peas in a stupid little pot instead of on the plate with the haddock and chips (certain pretentious fish and chipperies in Whitby included).
The limit with the roof slates was reached when my elderly uncle was served fruit crumble on a slate. You can imagine what happened when he chucked all of the the custard on.
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>> I mark pubs/restaurants down for
>>
>> - serving 'pies' in a dish on a plate, instead of putting the pie
>> on the plate;
>> - putting chips in those miniature frying baskets; and
>> - especially for putting mushy peas in a stupid little pot instead of on
>> the plate with the haddock and chips (certain pretentious fish and chipperies in Whitby included).
What's wrong with all them things?
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Nothing wrong with any of those Sooty, it's the quality of the food that matters!
Slate, breadboard or plate I'm not fussed as long as it's served hot and not lukewarm.
Pat
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Slates instead of plates is something we dislike too. We end up asking for a plate if we can.
Why a slate? Or a bread board? Romans had pottery so why are we doing this apart from it being 'trendy'.
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Quite so. I've heard apocryphal tales of a cooked breakfast being served on a shovel in trendy establishmunts.
You can stick yer trendy where t'sun don't shine
An fish n chips taste best eaten out o Telegraph & Argus... Although the £4.95 fish n chips with bread n butter & a pot of tea at Jacks Plaice ( Crossflatts) teks some beating. Mushy peas 40p extra. Robbery.
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Local restaurant (allegedly) serves a 'jenga' of chips - three or four spaced apart as the base, then another few at right angles, followed by one or two more layers. I haven't experienced it and anywhere that lists (sic) d'ining and d'reaming am unlikely to.
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You might wish to add designer tableware. Saucers where the cup is not located in the middle but to one side. Costa Coffee are a major culprit. I have also been served boiling hot coffee in designer coffee cans with no handles and in triangular cups from which it was impossible to drink without coffee running down your face.
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Local eatery here got upset when he was reviewed on Trip advisor.
Review went something along the lines of "Not the sort of place we would normally go and I had decided I wouldn't like it before we even went in. Found it far to busy for us, so left without eating 1 star."
Its still rated number 1 out of 29 places to eat in our town, but the owner has stated he has no interest in trip advisor reviews and no longer replies / comments on them.
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Apperently it is quite common for diners to demand a substantial discount or even a free meal in return for a good review on Trip Advisor. I'd be tempted to empty the plate over their heads with the comment, "Review that, AHole".
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>> Trip Advisor review in place of a discount
The is despicable!
One day a hotelier or restaurateur take action against a libelous reviewer on Trip Advisor though I suspect it would be quite a challenge to get details from Trip Advisor and the ISP.
On the other hand. Surely insisting on a discount in return for a good review counts as bribery under the Bribery Act 2010. Restaurateurs should call the police! Of course they won't do anything!
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It's been going on since time immemorial. You don't think all those trendy food critics ever pay for their scran do you?
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>> It's been going on since time immemorial. You don't think all those trendy food critics
>> ever pay for their scran do you?
>>
>>
I have no doubt!
But the people mentioned in ROR's review should be punished but of course no one wants to do it and so it creeps on and gets worse over time!
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>>You don't think all those trendy food critics
>> ever pay for their scran do you?
>>
>>
Of course they do.
On the first visit.
On subsequent trips, though, they won't get much of a bill, depending on their review.
Which is why you must never believe a review.
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I use TA a lot and have found it very much to my advantage. I also contribute a good deal to it.
When it comes to reviews of restaurants and hotels it's essential to read between the lines.
For a restaurant, warning signals are bland, similarly-worded favourable or even gushing reviews, which are probably not genuine, or pretentious reviews, which may be by a professional critic. Ideally, there should be a mix of well-expressed, thoughtful reviews and brief, possibly quirky comments, plus less literate off-the-cuff comments, not necessarily all complimentary.
For hotels, again beware of bland complimentary stuff, but be prepared for all kinds of silly negative comments that are at best only marginally relevant. For example, I once stayed at a perfectly acceptable, quite cheap hotel on the Lido, Venice. It was clear from the website that there was no lift. What did people complain about? That there was no lift.
I suggest it's a good idea to read all the reviews. How recent they are comes into the picture, as things may have changed since, and the odd negativity is not necessarily a problem. But clearly, if some kind of pattern emerges, it's wise to take heed.
The travel forums are very useful too. Although often clogged with silly stuff like "Where do I go to watch Liverpool vs Man United while I'm on holiday on Lanzarote?" there's still a lot of good stuff like info on car hire firms and other local pointers. For example, I would never otherwise have known about the best way to visit the Blue Caves on Zakynthos*.
I make a point of writing honest reviews and offering advice where I can and have never stooped to the appalling blackmail that has been mentioned in this thread.
*You don't use the larger boats available from the south of the island, because it's more expensive and the big boats can't physically get into the caves. Instead, drive your hire car to beyond Skinari right at the northern tip and take a local, small boat from there.
Last edited by: Focal Point on Sun 14 Aug 16 at 14:08
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I've written quite a few reviews for Tripadvisor. Generally speaking if stuff is just OK I don't bother, but if it's exceptionally good or bad, or sometimes if it's prompted or requested I do.
I also try to make my comments fair, and worth reading. As you quite rightly point out it's rather silly to complain about the bleeding obvious, but it's amazing how many do.
Here's a sample of one of mine, for the Little Fish cafe in Douglas;
This place seems to have delusions of adequacy. Serving a portion of what were obviously mass-catering chips (and not particularly good ones) in a cheap enamel bowl of the type ironmongers sell for 50 pence doesn't entitle you to have the brass nerve to charge £3.50 per (small) portion. Not does being charged £17.90 for two small, not particularly appetising and rather dry pieces of cod. I will however give credit where it is due; the home-made raspberry lemonade was delicious.
There are no tablecloths, and the tables themselves seem to be trying to give the impression of artisan coolness but only succeeded in looking battered and scruffy.
We were offered a table right by the door , despite the place being virtually empty and the general impression we got was that the staff would rather we ate up and left quickly.
Which we did.
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>> Found
>> it far to busy for us,
There is a delicious irony there.
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Trip Advisor - Ian (Cape Town)
