Keep up the good work!

Brian Child

is it not fantastic??
i personally think that is the most beautiful thing that it could happen in London!!!!!
and i think that today London is one of the food capital in Europe!!!!
Don`t you think so?????

And yeah the invited reviews are inevitable; there will certainly people who thinks that invited reviews aren’t reliable since one may feel obligated to write better things for the free meal, or since it’s a fully-prepared-beforehand meal, the food/service may taste/look nicer. But i think at the end of the day it’s our own conscious, I believe in writing honestly, if i don’t like the place, i probably won’t blog about it

Great job you are doing here!

ladyironchef’s last blog post..Hello my name is Brad! What’s yours?

I think the politics will always be there, and there will always be critics who judge me, but I am happy to be judged and let my work speak for itself. But I’m not going to let any of the politics change my passion for food. As Gen has said, let’s not forget that blogs are meant to be fun to read and a joy to write, and I will fight to keep it that way here.

Alright, enough mushiness, lets get back to some proper eating.

It was clear from your High Timber (invite to review) that you weren’t all that flattering about the food, which is good. It means you didn’t let the fact that it was free affect your judgment.

A Girl Has to Eat’s last blog post..Sustainable Kingfish – Tasting at Pied à Terre

Big, fancy, high end restaurants commonly hold PR evening ‘tastings’ for paid Journalists ALL THE TIME. Those little blurbs you see in the free afternoon newspaper about the ‘brand new fall Menu at such and such, go try!’ next to the half-naked pics of d-list British celebrities–that’s the result of those tastings.

If a restaurant wants to give out free food to random people, then let them do it—no one is contractually obligated on either end to a) deliver a decent meal or b) write about said meal, positively or negatively. The restaurant incurs the risk that the review written could be an absolutely horrible one—and then it’s their own fault for putting out such product in the first place. The only thing that needs to be disclosed upfront, is that the meal was comped.

-bea

Well said on the invite to review business and making the clear distinction between ‘review’ and ‘invite-to-review’. This whole topic deserves an article unto itself because obviously can go on and on (sticky on your main page?).

Perhaps another point to put for the ‘invite-to-review’ (even though I’m sure all readers are pretty clear about this) is that many restaurants are going to put that special effort (more careful attention to cooking, service) to please you as they are aware of who you are/ your intentions compared to Joe Ordinary. Ok some restaurants are more indiscriminate about these matters but we will never know will we?

Even as a fellow blogger who tries to remain anonymous and as discreet/ invisible as possible, we are still not exempt from special attention unless we a) don’t take photos b) don’t write notes. Obviously, when one is taking pics, there are only a few reasons to do so – you are a blogger/ reviewer or you want to show your friends – both reasons for the restaurant to put in that extra bit of effort. If there was a way for me to take good photos using a hidden pocket cam, trust me, I would be the first in queue.

So conclusion: food blogs are all for a bit of fun and we aren’t making a living out of it, so just have fun doing it!

Enjoy the weekend!

LF

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