Yes I cannot believe it too. It is two years ago today, that I assaulted the internet with my barrage of hot air and vulgar food photography, which may as well be classified as taboo, and I would just like to start by saying Thank You for reading and putting up with me. So far I have made public 376 pieces of nonsense, approximately 220 of which are visits to restaurants, mostly within the M25, some are further afield, and Jay Rayner has said of one of posts to be ‘intriguing but blogrreah’.

I think the best part of being a blogger is seeing how my opinion fares against others out there, and how (and if) it is valued by others. Agreeing with like-minded individuals inevitably leads to warm, mushy feelings inside, but over time, I’ve learnt that it is ok to disagree, so long as it does not become personal (or if it does then at least become entertaining), all in the favour of constructive debate. That’s the point of blogging, afterall.

In my own capacity, I strive to be fair, considerate and mindful – the considered opinion is important to me. I am but a child in the wide, wide world of food. Growing my knowledge of food is a daily learning curve, I am ever respectful of the work of restaurants and offer advance apologies to those who have had to put up with my occasional candor, and if I had gotten the facts wrong. I have never believed that the ability to eat is a skill, rather, I think of blogs as personal adventures, observation and commentary, made public.

I am amazed at the rapid advancement of food blogs, for the sheer number of those who share their thoughts online or otherwise, and for those who do it, the commitment to quality & consistency to maintain a well-read blog. For anyone who loves reading about food or gathering reviews of restaurants, we now have so much to choose from. As we watch old media flail its arms at the photocentric digital contemporaries (or are we beneath?), I am at the opinion that editorials will never die, and that the food critic will always be around. They are the professionals afterall. Marina really knows what she’s on about. Most of the time.

I feel that more than ever, food blogs represent the alternative to the critic. It is quite literally, the other side. The unedited, unending, exhaustive reel of thought, like a behind-the-scenes show & tell, in total contrast, yet completely complimentary to the reporter, not striving to be better, or to be a carbon copy, but to offer a bona-fide alternative point of view. Fractious and as awkward as that relationship between the blogger and writer is sometimes, I am certain it is nothing but growing pains, and someday, a renewed respect for one another will emerge, if it is not already taking place. Shake it long & hard enough, eventually water and oil do mix. Hey I read AA Gill novels. And of course I respect the food writer, afterall, who else would be our rolemodels?

Looking ahead into my murky crystal ball, I am ever impassioned with food, it has been a slog at times getting stuff online, but it is rewarding to see that my words and photographs are read, seen and occasionally appreciated. My goal now is to try and evolve the consummate amateur review, hence the themed newsletters, written around a genre as it helps me extend my personal knowledge, and the holistic approach is perhaps more useful than a singular, isolated pseudo-review. Perhaps. However, none of this would be possible, if not for the fabulous restaurants out there, I continue in my capacity as the ultimate fan of cutting edge hospitality.

Thank you ever so much again for reading my blog, I hope you like it so far and may I continue to serve many more page views to an internet near you in the days ahead.

The full update to the rankings will be published on Saturday.

*06/05/2010 – This table has been updated due to last minute changes to Wikio’s system*

I have been toying with the idea of a redesign for the last few months, rather than making superficial changes, my intention was to rethink the blog format particularly how to handle my archives of reviews so that it can be more usefully deployed. What do you think, you like it so far?

The previous theme while flashy, was cluttered and slow to load at times. Plus, it isn’t really designed for iPads or iPhones. I’m a fan of digital white space, uncluttered and efficient designs. I wanted even clearer navigation, concentrate on cleaner typography and the ability to streamline the reading experience. After all, the reviews here are all in excess of 1000 words. I’ve been following iA‘s concepts recently, and it just made sense to use their template as a framework. The template is very basic, but at the same time this meant high flexibility in adapting to small design quirks. Also, the modularity meant that I could more easily merge my photography portfolio with LondonEater.

As a reintroduction, LondonEater is a restaurant review blog. The three reviews a week format is unchanged, so if you are a subscriber, you won’t see many changes, if any to your chosen method of delivery. But there are tangible additions to content elsewhere. I have introduced a new set of blog posts to help steer readers in the right direction.

1. Weekly Newsletter, Every Sunday

What you are reading now is the new newsletter. It has two functions. Firstly, it will act as a lead article linking to and anchoring all the past week’s changes – like an index. Secondly, it doubles as a weekly newsletter that will go out to my subscribers. It is an evolution of my old sunday ‘eat&read’ round up posts I used to do a million years ago. It is a summary of what’s new, what’s hot, what people are talking about out there…. you get the picture.

2. Homepage structure

I wanted the homepage have more structure to it, in my mind I was thinking of a magazine index. Yeah, so navigation should be clear (as it has always been). The weekly newsletter will be the feature article – like an introduction I suppose – and then all the latest updates will be immediately posted as it goes live, just under the feature article.

3. Foodies on Twitter

This is still under development, but essentially this is a live page which pulls the public twitter stream of some of the most influential food people who use twitter to keep their followers abreast with the latest developments on the London food scene. It is worth checking out if you wanted a list of London food people to follow, but don’t know where to start. Have a look here.

4. New Living Guides

When Im reading a new blog, I’m mentally searching for the blogger’s personal favourites page. Like say, if I wanted to go to Istanbul, and wanted abit of hand-holding of where to start my research. So to that end, I went about creating an easier jumping in point for new readers, and the result is my living restaurant guide. It is ‘alive’ because I wanted it to be ever-changing, as I discover new places, and also it’s just a place to keep a list of my personal favourites.

The other living guide is the reader’s favourite page. Basically, it is a list of categorised restaurants, whereby readers can vote on. I have pre-selected a list of restaurants for a limited range of categories as a start, and will see how this works over the next few months. This will really only work if you vote on restaurants, and if you tell me what I am missing out so I can update it periodically. And in time, it should become a document created by readers for readers. For the time being, check it out.

Yeah so I hope you will like the new format, and that it will give you a smoother reading experience, and if there’s something bugging you, or something you want changed just let me know, I appreciate all feedback and will try to incorporate the comments.

Reviews due this week are The Wolseley and Fernandez & Wells. Have a good day folks.

last week, I ate…

	Le P’tit Normand : Modestly flamboyant “I liked Le P’tit Normand, the retro if quirky menu with its equally eighties pricing is ironically a breath of fresh air. if you don’t mind Wong Kei style never-to-be-redecorated surroundings, and if you so happen to be in the area, you might be delightfully surprised with what this petite French restaurant has to offer.” Read more.
	Golden Hind : Fresh from Grimsby “I’d love to try the Anstruther Fish Bar which was famously crowned the best fish & chip shop in the country last year. I am attending a wedding in Glasgow during the August Bank Holiday and maybe a detour is warranted. Until then, Golden Hind will have to make do.” Read More.
	Petrus : Redeeming Gordon Ramsay Has Gordon Ramsay still got it? If you like the traditional idea of wining and dining, then yes of course he does, Mark Askew does have three michelin stars after all. Here’s the kicker: I would happily spend £25 for the prudent elegance, but I would not be compelled to spend another £55 at Pétrus. Prix Fixe anyone? Read More

My favourites right now

1. Petrus
2. J Sheekey
3. Bistro Bruno Loubet
4. Le Relais de Venise
5. Eastside Inn

Staying connected.

Observer Food Monthly launched their new 2010 awards yesterday. You can watch a video preview with Jay Rayner. Gill & Coren check out Harwood arms, separately I gather. I really enjoyed Bellaphon’s sighburger post and I spent a good part of my weekend oogling at Mowie’s excellent food photography.

The Retro Corner

This time last year, I went to Franco Manca for the first time and I said “Spongy. Tear resistant, and… And? That was it. Forget blogging, I was too busy eating.”

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively, You can subscribe via email.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively, You can subscribe via email.

The rankings are updated monthly and are compiled based on the number and weight of the incoming links from other blogs, taking into account, links found in the RSS feed, while blogrolls links are not accounted for. Also the weight of any given link increases according to how recently it was published. Alright so without further ado…

On my extended absence from food writing, I have been beavering away at my latest online property and I’d like to formally introduce it to you guys now. It’s called Kang : Photographer at kangphoto.com. So what is kangphoto.com ? it’s my online portfolio, it’s a fullscreen website powered by wordpress, I’ve selected my best food shots over the years, in addition to restaurant shots, some street photography and of course, some of my black & white stuff too. Like all my work, it’s about as close and dear as it gets. I have poured my heart & soul into it, and I will continue to pour my all into my online projects.

Consider this a ‘soft launch’ of sorts, I’m still uploading new photos everyday, but enough is done that you can check it out now. I’ll of course appreciate any feedback to improve the site, and I do hope you’ll enjoy it.

Firstly it is to introduce iStarvin.com which is the latest UK based national restaurant recommendation website and who have recently taken up virtual residence on my sidebar (look right).

Secondly is to upload the third and last of the Douwe Egberts videos.

iStarvin launched in October 2009, and is only just gathering steam and slowly working their way to connecting with the general foodie community. The website is a hub/directory for restaurants goers where you can find places to eat & drink (around the country, including London). It’s all of course free, users can register and like many social community sites around, a point system is in place which rewards user who leave their opinion on places they’ve been to. The site also features a blog and currently the fantastic Oliver Thring is featuring a weekly round-up of national critic reviews.

iStarvin is quite actively building a community around the site and they’ve started offering prizes like this meal for two to attract people to use it, so if you’re looking for another restaurant website to try out, do take a look at iStavin.

Finally guys, the last of the Douwe Egberts videos (see video 1 and 2) and your chance to with a coffee hamper.

[This is an advertisement and this message is sponsored by Douwe Egberts]

And to enter this competition to win a coffee hamper, please leave a comment to the following question from Douwe Egberts:

What’s your choice of coffee?