Columnists / Meg Houghton-Gilmour
A guide to food guides
When we are deciding where to eat, sometimes the choice of where to look for a recommendation can be just as overwhelming as the number of restaurants to choose from.
So often these days the word ‘Michelin’ is used as an adjective to describe something vaguely pleasurable without any understanding of what it actually means.
So let me debunk these ‘guides’ and see whose advice we should really be taking.
is needed now More than ever
The Michelin Guide
When to use it: When you’re in a new city and you want to eat somewhere you know will be good, particularly if you’re feeling flush. I do find the app particularly useful for its location feature, which shows you your proximity to the Michelin guide restaurants.
Every guide should have a map feature, which is especially useful when travelling – photo: Michelin guide app
When not to use it: When you’re feeling open minded enough to try something that’s not been chosen by a load of white men who are obsessed with the French way of cooking and are self-absorbed enough to not notice the irony of a tyre company handing out green stars. Some argue that the Michelin guide actively prevents innovation; chefs clamour to get a star by fine-tuning their menus to meet the requirements of the guide, causing a creativity bottleneck. Once they’ve been awarded one, they’re reluctant to change anything for fear of losing it.
World’s 50 best
When to use it: When you want to tell your friends you’ve been to one of the best restaurants in the world. Their voting method and panel seems independent and robust, so if you are looking to eat in one of the best of the best, it’s probably a good place to start.
When not to use it: When you’re skint. They’re the best 50 restaurants in the world (supposedly), they’re not likely to be cheap. Or when you’re in Bristol, because we don’t have any (yet).
www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50
AA Guide
When to use it: When you’re travelling and for some reason can’t use the Michelin guide.
When not to use it: When you’re outside of the UK. Unless you’re in Gibraltar, in which case it may be vaguely useful.
www.ratedtrips.com/aa-rosette-restaurants
Hardens
When to use it: When you’ve run out of other guides.
When not to use it: Most of the time; it’s a glorified trip advisor. Once you’ve made it past the sponsored listings, some of the recommended Bristol joints are… questionable.
The presence of numbers implies they’re in some sort of order. I would disagree with any of these being in the top four restaurants in Bristol… Photo: Screenshot taken from Hardens.com
This scoring system is based on reviews submitted by users. F stands for food, S for service and A for atmosphere – or apparent lack of in the case of Wilson’s. Photo: Screenshot taken from Hardens.com
www.hardens.com/restaurants/bristol/
Good Food Guide
When to use it: When you live in London and love a paywall. Or if you have a time machine and can travel back to when they were in print.
When not to use it: Well you could just use the Michelin guide, which is almost exactly the same, for free. Up to you.
Trip Advisor
When to use it: When you want to read hilarious reviews – one of my recent favourites about one of Bristol’s best restaurants ‘amazing how a restaurant can hit all the wrong notes. Appeared nice from the outside, discreet and pleasantly unassuming. Only one other group there so it was quiet. The front of house approached my girlfriend and seemed almost indignant that we had walked in (we had washed and hadn’t been defecated on by pigeons from memory)’. I won’t do them the disservice of naming which, but I can assure you this restaurant is easily in the top five in Bristol.
When not to use it: When you actually want recommendations from people who know about food. Admittedly, some people do go on Trip Advisor to write informative reviews, but often it’s disgruntled customers who want revenge. Anyone can leave a review and there’s no differentiation between chains and independents. The proof is in the poached pineapple pudding; Turtle Bay features twice in the top 20 restaurants in Bristol according to Trip Advisor.
Ask Barney
When to use it: When you can’t decide where to go and want someone else to do the thinking for you. The tone of voice is fun and it’s eminently usable.
When not to use it: When you’re not in Bristol, Cardiff or Birmingham – they’ve yet to launch anywhere else. And when you want to know restaurant opening times, which they seem immune to.
Square Meal
When to use it: Perhaps if you’re a part of their Square Meal rewards scheme? Or if you want to enjoy a hilariously written description.
When not to use it: When you struggle to differentiate between Bristol and Bath. Search for Bristol restaurants and nearly half the top ten are in Bath. They also seem to have an affinity for Bella Italia and Turtle Bay, despite claiming to be ‘the market-leading independent restaurant commentator’ on their website. Search for Italian restaurants and Purezza (closed) is on there but Cotto isn’t….
This, believe it or not, is a description of The Spaghetti Incident. It sounds like it’s been written by an AI, but not a good one. Photo: Screenshot taken from Square Meal’s website
News flash, the Prince of Wales is now serving an identical menu to La Guinguette. Or is it? Photo: Screenshot taken from Square Meal’s website
La Liste
When to use it: I have time for La Liste, mainly because I think they have a similar appreciation to me for an immaculately curated spreadsheet. They take all the other guides and publications, plus reviews from chefs, calculate the ‘grade’ of each review and the trustworthiness of the source and then give every restaurant a score out of 100. From a data perspective, it’s probably the most accurate. But ultimately it’s also based on a lot of other guides, which as we have seen, are not without flaws. The app is free and has a map feature, so it’s worth a look. If you can’t be bothered to download it, the nearest top 1,000 restaurant to us is Osip in Bruton.
When not to use it: When you want up to date information. In Bristol, they seem to think Flour & Ash is still by the Arches…. It’s been three years?
EatDrink24/7
When to use it: When you want a comprehensive guide to Bristol’s restaurants, with panel picks chosen by some of the city’s best restaurateurs and chefs. Or when you want to sit down over a cup of coffee with a physical guide, which seems an exceptionally rare find these days.
When not to use it: When you’re not in Bristol, duh.
This year’s EatDrink24/7 guide will be out in July. Photo: Jon Craig
Ultimately, there’s a different guide for everyone. It is perhaps wise to consult more than one, or you risk developing tunnel vision. And don’t forget that these guides are businesses – they’re doing it to make money, not out of the goodness of their own hearts – which is absolutely fine, so long as the reviews and ratings can’t be bought. Also worth remembering is that fact that some of the best food I’ve eaten, and I suspect the same of you, has been in restaurants that some of these guides will never feature.
So there you go. My ultimate advice when consulting restaurant guides is to read a few, but not to let it stop you from following your nose and trying somewhere that has piqued your curiosity.
Meg Houghton-Gilmour is Bristol24/7’s Head of Audience. Subscribe here to her weekly food & drink newsletter.
Main photo: Bristol24/7
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