When giving scores to restaurants, it can be pretty hard to remain consistent, so in order to organise myself a little better and give you a fairly dependable guide (based on the experience I had at the time of the review) here is the system that I try my best to stick to:
Quality – taking into account the experience as a whole – food, service, atmosphere etc:
0 – Nasty. Pretty devastating. Eat here only in the event of apocalyptic holocaust and geniuine danger of starvation.
1 – Miserable. Generally wretched experience. The world would be a better place without this establishment.
2 – Poor. Unpleasant in most aspects. Few redeeming features and many glaring shortcomings. Best avoided.
3 – Disappointing. Generally unfulfilling experience but glimmers of hope. Much work to be done here. Although not wholly unpleasant, I cannot recommend a visit.
4 – Mediocre. The experience was in no way unpleasant, but not especially interesting or worth a recommendation. Much room for improvement in general.
5 – Above average. Worth checking out if you’re nearby, but don't expect fireworks. Some significant hiccoughs but not enough to spoil the experience entirely.
6 – Good. Generally good, but hit-and-miss. Some glints of greatness but some significant failures/inconsistencies. Worth a visit.
7 – Very good. Great experience in many/most respects. Well worth a visit, but needs polishing before it's worth getting really excited about.
8 – Excellent. Interesting menu and very decent performance from the kitchen and front of house. Room for some improvement but highly recommended.
9 – Outstanding. Outstanding menu and a very enjoyable experience all round. Great atmosphere and service. Touches of genius but not quite perfect in all areas – a few tweaks needed. Go and check it out as soon as possible.
10 – Perfection. Gasp-inducing brilliance all round. An experience that would be almost impossible to improve upon. Pick up the phone right now and book a table!
Cost – I prefer to avoid putting things into price-bands but the following ratings should give a rough indication of how much you are likely to fork out and whether I would consider it good value:
£ - Cheap as chapattis. You will probably already be carrying enough in your wallet.
££ - Affordable. You probaby won’t have to think twice, depending on how hungry you are.
£££ - Not cheap. Probably not every-day prices but shouldn't leave you broke.
££££ - Expensive. Pay-days and special occasions only (unless you’re loaded!)
£££££ - Extravagantly priced. Consider calling your accountant, remortgaging the house or pulling your child out of private school before booking a table here.
*** - Considered especially good value for money, regardless of the actual cost.
X - Considered poor value for money, regardless of the actual cost.
