PSmith

Loving the "Emperor's New Clothes" analogy on Trip Advisor. A fool and his money ...........

We stayed at a friend's house overnight once. Normally I can wack out a full English breakfast in a little under half an hour (eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, baked beans, fried bread, black pudding, mushrooms, toast and tea/coffee) - we waited two hours for the wife to get breakfast – so long that her husband called it “lunch”. Didn't help as she insisted on providing a running commentary on what she was doing.

No - but still in the South East. However, I do make it a bit of a hobby of mine to source reasonably priced restaurants wherever I am - thanks to the internet..

Jeez - just looked up the prices for the Cube! How do they justfy this. And from the look of the plates, it will be a fart and a burp and it's all over.

Some interesting POVs – many of which are different to mine. Personally I view expensive restaurants in the same why that I view designer clothing and I find it hard to understand why someone would kit themselves out in fashion labels when you can get the same (or near similar) look from the High Street at a fraction of the price. So what is it that attracts a number of you to the high end restaurants? Do you find the food that memorable as I doubt I could recall exactly what I ate at Searcy’s earlier this year. Do you ever come away thinking “That wasn’t really value for money?”, because I know I do. Maybe I am just lucky because I know of at least three excellent restaurants local to me that can match the food and service (but at a third of the cost) of anything I have ever tried in London or overseas that would have been classed as a “designer” restaurant. Or maybe that is the problem………

Wow - over 100 views, but only one response. Lot of shy people on egullet. Thanks Harters. I guess we eat out about once a fortnight and like you it is mostly pubs/bistro and local restaurants. Personally I find the London dining scene a bit overblown. I can eat out locally, just as well for a third of the cost of the city. I get far more pleasure seeking out a reasonably priced restaurant that give a good dining experience. We could afford to pay more, but I guess it is not totally a moral issue but also feeling like I am paying over the odds. But then I have never been one for designer clothing either....

Prompted by a comment made by MaLO in this thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/143085-the-cube-by-electrolux/ It got me thinking about my own thoughts on dining out. I guess that I will eat out somewhere very "posh" about once or twice a year. Mostly I will spend about £30-£40 a head on a nice meal out, including wine. Last time I ate somewhere spectacular it was with a friend at Searcy's at the Gherkin in London. Cost was about £140 for two including a half bottle of wine (driving). But to be honest, whilst it was extremely nice and the food was very good and beautifully presented, I am not sure that it justified the extra spend over my normal establishments. Although the view was pretty spectacular. For me personally, the law of diminishing returns applies to eating out. I cannot justify eating out at very expensive restaurants on a regular basis, even though I could afford it - it just feels like I am being ripped off. It is the same with wine. I am not sure that a £200 bottle of wine taste £170 better than the £30. Anyone feel the same as me? And to those of you who dine out regularly at expensive restaurants - how do you deal with it morally?

Thanks - the Trangallan sounds good. Was tempted to keep this one to myself as it really is a gem. You do however, need to pick your night as it can get a bit too busy at the weekend especially if you are wanting an intimate meal with a partner. Great if you want authentic unpretentious French cooking, at very reasonable prices. http://www.lemontmartrebistro.com/default.html

Excellent POV Soundman. I also think that food bloggers do food writing no service at all. Most rely on taking photos as their writing skills are lacking. I would much rather read a review and the writer convey to me the atmosphere and the experience - which at the end of the day are as much part of the package as what is on my plate.

I don't often read professional food reviews, but recently I have become hooked with Grace Dent from the Evening Standard ES Magazine with her "Grace and Flavour" column. I appreciate that her style of writing won't appeal to all, but I find her rather personable. http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/grace-and-flavour-pizarro-7938350.html So do you have a favourite food critic?

I have no problems with people using a small compact camera without flash to take photos of their dinner for their blogs, but I have seen people with oversized SLRs standing and moving around between tables to get a better shot. To use a video recorder is crass and vulgar. After all, are you there to enjoy a meal or to generate a few minutes of fame on the internet? As said previously on the thread, many bloggers take photos as their creative writing skills are not up to scratch. If you read the professional critics, they rarely take photos and will use the PR supplied ones if required. There are some bloggers I would like to see trying to review without photos.

Very much my view. I am not a serious food blogger. I find the action of people taking photos of their dinner quite annoying. In fact, the next time I see it happening in a restaurant, I am quite tempted to curl one out on a side plate and present it to the photographer. Cuts out the middleman.

They can't hide behind the 'Oh, but we're not professionals' tree, if they set themselves up as critics with a wide audience. It isn't at all unreasonable to measure them against the standard for all restaurant critics. If you want to play with the big boys, even by implication, you need to expect and accept the big boy rules. And not buying the .co.uk version of their domain name is a classic school boy error. http://www.thecriticalcouple.co.uk