5 Ways to Tell if a Restaurant Reviewer Knows Food

Anyone can call themselves food reviewers.  Heck, we call ourselves food reviewers.  But, how do you know who to trust?  Can you trust us?  (YES!  See why after the poll)  What makes a good food reviewer?  And how can you tell that a restaurant reviewer knows food?

Can you tell by the size of their bellies?  Mine has definitely grown since the beginning of our Quest.  But, does that mean that I know food?  Especially Chinese food?  Or, does it just mean that I like to eat.  And if something tastes good, I just eat lots of it.  I also like lots of junk foods, but again that doesn’t translate to being able to assess my ability to rate Chinese food.  So, a big belly might not be a good indicator.

How about food stains on shirts?  You could assume that means they like to eat a lot.  But, it could also means that they have poor aim.  Or, poor laundry habits.  Again, in my humble opinion, not a good indication that they know food.  But, you can use that sign to confirm WHAT they ate and match it up against their review to verify if they correctly identified and labeled the food that was rated.

So, it’s becoming clear to me that the way you can tell if a Restaurant Reviewer really knows their food is very subjective indeed.  And each person has their own criteria to determine if the writer really knows their food.

I’m curious though to find out how others would answer this question, so please take a moment to take our one question poll below, checking off no more than five answers (and feel free to add your own or to add any comments to help us gain a better understanding), to help me determine the five ways you can tell if a restaurant reviewer knows food.

[polldaddy poll=8934414]

You can rest assured however, that The Chinese Quest truly does know their Chinese food.  Our opinions, and reviews, and completely unbiased.  We never alert the Chinese restaurants upfront that we are reviewing them.  And we do our best during the meal never to tip it off that we are taking copious notes during our meal in order to write our review.

How are we doing?

Humbly submitted for your consumption,

—Mee Magnum  (“Chop!  Chop!”)