Eddie’s Food Gripes: People Who Tear Restaurants Apart in a Review
Adeline (nickname: Eddie) loves food, a lot of it and often, both at home and out. Now, that usually goes well, but sometimes it doesn’t. In the series Eddie’s food gripes you can read about the latter. This time: those sour reviews of restaurants.
I’m known here as a sour complainer who always has something to moan about, but in real life I’m an understanding and fairly cheerful person. If I do say so myself. People can break all kinds of rules, make me run around in circles a thousand times, and I’ll still try to keep my glass half full. Sorry for this revelation, by the way; you probably weren’t waiting for it. But it does explain why I get annoyed by bad reviews.
Completely torn apart in a review
Recently, I ate at a fairly new Greek establishment in Amsterdam’s chic southern district. The reservation had been in the diary for weeks—something about appointments you have to make three months in advance—and I had already been drooling over the photos on Instagram. Until that one newspaper. The restaurant had been completely torn apart in a review. Filleted. Finished off. Burned to the ground down to the very last ingredient. And that’s when my companions and I began to have doubts. It was nothing but misery. The bread was too expensive (‘We apparently have to pay 11 euros for the saddest bread basket in ages’), the fish too limp, the herbs too overpowering, and I’m pretty sure there was even cork in the overpriced wine. After some back-and-forth texting, we went anyway.
Half of Amsterdam skips the restaurant
The bread was so fucking fantastic that we ordered a second basket. I wanted to lick the herbs off the fish, it was so delicious, and if I hadn’t had to drive, I would have ordered a full bottle of wine. Of course, I’m only a mediocre amateur eater with an underdeveloped palate, but the food really wasn’t as bad as it had been in that one review.
What am I saying? The food was delicious, the service was even friendly (!), and yes, the bill was steep, but worth it. And yet half of Amsterdam skips the restaurant because of that one review, about that one evening and that one dish.
Then go back
I dare admit that I’m not at my best every evening either. Sometimes I’m a little slower than usual, a little less fun, and occasionally I feel a little less than fabulous. Would you write me off immediately? I certainly hope not. I think it works a bit like that with a restaurant too. Even a Michelin-starred establishment sometimes fails to cook up a storm. They’re only restaurants after all. Just go again, to see whether it really was such a miserable experience.
And if it’s still exactly the same, then of course you can tear it apart as much as you like.
Also read:
- Eddie’s food gripes: that layer of water at the bottom of the fridge
- Eddie’s food gripes: the supermarket sample
- These are the 7 gross sins that a great many people are guilty of
