Food has become an important industry and business nowadays .New restaurants and eateries are springing up every day in all parts of the world and people are willing to explore new cuisines ,varieties of dishes etc . Such times are a blessing ,if you are a foodie !! For not only can you indulge yourself in great food ,but also help others make good choices -through your food reviews and knowledge .
Who is a food reviewer / critic ?
Like a film critic reviews films ,a book reviewer reviews books ,similarly a food reviewer or critic is a person
Requirements to be a good food reviewer ?
First and foremost ,to be a good food critic one needs to be passionate about Food !!
You should be fond of eating out , experimenting with new food places and cuisines . Your food tastes need to be varied to be able to appreciate and enjoy different flavors and bring it to peoples' knowledge .
It is not enough to just say " I enjoy good food" !! Second requirement for a successful food reviewer is to have sufficient knowledge regarding the art of food. Be it different cooking styles or ingredients ,or the knowledge about the perfect crust of an apple pie ,the food critic needs to have a good idea about it all .
This usually comes with experience -maybe years of cooking experience in your own kitchen or experience of savoring different kinds of food at various places .
Besides the above two basic requirements ,the third requirement is to be able to express yourself well in your review . Thus you need to have a good command over the language in which you are writing ,and make your writing interesting enough to attract peoples' attention and make them trust your judgment .You should have the ability to give good descriptions without sounding boring and your reviews need to contain more than just mundane ,everyday comments like "The food was good..or the dish was bad !! "
How to actually review food ?
Next is the all important task of actually reviewing the food and writing a solid review . It involves a number of processes , not just going to a restaurant and tasting a dish and making comments .Here are some tips that food reviewers should keep in mind when doing the job :
Be observant and make mental notes of things other guests might not notice .This will help in adding value to your review as well as give a more accurate picture to the reader .Besides the main food ,some of the important things that can be noted and mentioned in the review are - ambience , courtesy and knowledge of the hotel staff ,whether the atmosphere is for family dining or a hangout ,details of prior reservation if necessary ,parking facility etc .
Next thing is to go through the menu carefully and make a note regarding the variety of dishes being offered ,whether the restaurant has a buffet choice and the approximate rate of the dishes to get an idea about how expensive the food is .This is important because obviously you might not be able to taste all that the restaurant dishes ,so you can at least give the readers a fair idea about what all the menu has
to offer.While ordering make sure there is enough variety in all that you are ordering so that you can judge the restaurant on different parameters . For example ,if you are ordering a non vegetarian starter make sure that one of the dishes of the main course is vegetarian .Similarly ,if one dish is baked the other one can be grilled .
In this respect ,it is sometimes beneficial if you take a few people along with you as together you can try more variety of food. If you go alone ,the maximum you can eat are possibly two dishes and a drink .If however you go as a group or two people you can try everything from soup to salads to desert without worrying about running a huge bill .
Before ordering it might be a good idea to quiz the hotel staff or ask them for suggestions on what to order .In this way you can ensure that you don't miss out on the restaurant's specialties and strengths . If the so called "signature dishes "of the restaurant itself are not living upto their expectations ,you can hazard a guess that the restaurant might not be that great !!Make sure that you mention a few of these specialties in your review also .
Once the prepared dish is brought to the table ,you can mention if any noteworthy detail deserves attention for example -the presentation ,garnishing ,size of servings ,temperature of the dish etc .
The food has arrived and the foodie in you is ready to take over !! Remember that to be a good food reviewer you should evaluate the food and present your judgment as truthfully and accurately as possible .You should be able to describe the dish fairly well ,if not to the last detail ,mentioning the key ingredients used ,the taste and texture of the dish ,if any flavors stand out etc . Use well meaning words instead of beating about the bush and avoid any flowery language .And your knowledge of food might be great ,but avoid getting too technical about the food and instead concentrate on the general aspects like taste ,value for money etc .
Another good idea is to take pictures of all the dishes that you ordered .This will not only make your review visually appealing and attract more viewership , but will also tempt people to actually explore the place .
One point that should definitely not be left out in a review is the approximate budget that readers need to keep in mind while visiting the place .The calculation may not be very accurate but a rough idea should suffice . This is necessary because while some people are okay with shelling out a lot of money for a good meal ,many look for value of money also while eating out .
And lastly ,you can perk up your review by adding tit bits of personal experiences or narrate some personal memory associated with the place like your first date dinner or a memorable birthday party that you celebrated there .
How to publish your food review ?
Initially it is best to create a blog and add all your reviews to attract readers .Then as viewership goes up ,one can send them to local newspapers ,magazines ,e magazines ,websites covering food options in a city etc .If you are good ,you might be hired as a paid reviewer to go to places and review their food .