This is, as Joe Strummer said, a public service announcement and it may "Rock the Casbah" a bit.
The idea of Very Cheap Eats (Email me as gastrotomATgmailDOTcom if you'd like to become a reviewer) is to provide a guide to the best cheap food in Australian in the sort of places you'd actually choose to go out and spend an hour or so eating in. It is about meals of at least two courses costing less than $20 (or roundabouts) excluding beverages.
It is not about takeaways and food courts. I'm happy to keep existing posts up but i just wanted to clarify this as it is important to stay true to the Very Cheap Eats vision.
The idea was bourn out of frustration of the existing guidebooks by AOF over at Confessions of Food Nazi. The Cheap Eats Guide some years ago lost the plot with even its price guide of $30 being fairly meaningless.
The Friday before the latest edition was published I ate at Cheap Eats Restaurant of the Year Rumi up at the far end of Lygon St. Aside from a couple of greasy stuffed fingers of pastry the food was pretty good. The service was excellent and they even went to the trouble of making a special iced tea for me (I was participating in the alcohol free charity event) that was off menu.
I enjoyed the meal immensely despite having ordered too much. The fit out of the restaurant is delightful and the ambiance alluring (apart from one very loud woman nearby).
But it cost about $80 for two. It was an incredibly good value meal. But it was not a Cheap Eat.
Both Cheap Eats and The Good Food Guide give a very comprehensive coverage of Melbourne. But they have incrementally added so many features and seem to want to add more restaurants to their pages to bust the magic number of 500. This is the publishers chasing the dollar rather than serving the reader. They should each focus on what really are the best cheapest and simply the best eats of all.
When AOF posted this I quickly registered a blogger account and a domain because this blog Very Cheap Eats is such a good idea. As far as I am concerned it is a community project and anybody can join (we have space for 100 contributors).
But AOF and I feel there should be some strict guidelines to ensure we don't go down the Cheap Eats route and lose the plot.
I've also given some guidelines to what should be covered to give a comprehensive review. I know this means a bit more work and observation but it also makes Very Cheap Eats a much better resource if you try and cover the items below.
THE RULES AND REVIEWING GUIDELINES
1.The venue
It should be a sit down venue where you can enjoy two courses and a beverage of under $20 from ordering pretty much anything on the menu. If it's a few dollars over that's not too much of a problem. It could be a particular day of the week where the food is cheap. For instance, I must post about the Sunday Lunch at Madras Banyan Tree where the only option is a vegetarian banquet for about $20 plus drinks. Any other time and it would cost more to eat there but i think Sunday is within the spirit of Very Cheap Eats.
The location doesn't matter. It can be anywhere in the world. Please include the name (linked to website if there is one), address and telephone number at the top of the post.
2. Double posting.
Yes, you can double posts and link back to your blog, as I have with this over at Tomato. It would also be nice to point to Cheap Eats to help build readership.
3. The food and ingredients
Is the food fresh and presented well? Does it taste good or inferior. Are the portions large or small? Don't be scared to give your opinion.
4. Drinks
What did you drink? Does it serve coffee, tea, wine beer or anything else? How much do they cost?
5. Service
Is it self service or table service? Are the waiters attentive or lazy? Was service slow or quick or did they keep bringing you the wrong thing?
6. Money
How much did each thing you ate cost and do you think it was worth the money? Remember, broadly speaking you should be able to buy a meal of two courses for around $20 excluding drinks.
What would be really useful for readers is to give the minimum and maximum prices for starters, mains and desserts and the price of coffee.
7. Ambience
This is important as we want to review proper cafes and restaurants that you would want to go out and eat in at night. We don't want takeaway stores. Is it a place you'd want to spend time in or is it a horrible strip lit tiled room? The reader needs to know.
8. The best and worst of the venues
try and identify what you think is the best and the worst of the venue. Perhaps it is the horrible loos or the rude service. the reader wants to know. be ballsy and show some opinions because that's what readers want. Don't be frightened of opinion.
Friday, April 18, 2008
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8 comments:
Good parameters for reviewing there. Clear and helpful, while ensuring readers will continue to enjoy the site. Nice work!
Ed....I am reticent to make posts too formulaic. Although, as you say, you are just suggesting some guidelines, and there is no real push for a formula. The problem is that there are far too many restaurants that would fit the criteria description. Some writers may take these guidelines as gospel and we risk loosing vibrancy and character.
However, I can think of 2 intangibles to consider that are perhaps an important "context" to these guidelines (after the $20 of course).
Firstly the personality of the writer needs to surface. Following rigid guidelines makes it too easy to end up with sterilized drivel as seen in other publications...the exact thing I wish to avoid.
Secondly, I think one of the most important criteria to be considered is how "special" a place is...For example, Stickyfingers presented PekoPeko for good reason. It stands out in a glut of cheap Asian Rice/Noodle/Dumpling choices.
Let's hope that we do not get a LaPorcetta review that describes the ingredients, ambience, drinks cost and service...regardless of how well articulated it is.
Thanks Desci,
Andrew, this is only a rough guide. The only formula we demand are the name and address details preferably at the top of the post but a few basic should be covered so that we know what the venue is about.
My co administrator is concerned that we'll end up with too many takeaways and food courts but ther are always the exceptions to the rules.
I've never been to Peko Peko and its a good review from Sticky.
Howdy all, since the concept of this blog sprung from my frustration of how the fairfax publication had lost its way and the concept of a cheap but well made sit down meal was getting harder to find, I was nudging Ed to keep things on track. Guidelines are just guidelines. But I think these are good ones.
I think we can cover most of the suggestions in a review without making it formulaic. But if we want to do a round up collaborative post on say - best food court meals or takeaways, I'd prefer to leave it to a once off. My concept of a Very Cheap Eat has been going out for a night out of good food and company and it being affordable for those on all incomes. Like Ed said - Rumi, which is a great neighbourhood restaurant struggles to hold onto "cheap" status when even without booze it's hitting around $40 a head. Tiba's doesn't quite have the same ambience, unless you are into plastic mosques and air fresheners but serves middle eastern food which is tasty and reliable for a fraction of the price. It's about being forwarned I guess!
Ideally a review shouldn't be based on a single visit. To be fair to the place - everyone has good or bad days with service, food or the behaviour of fellow customers.
AOF, Phil's made a good comment on costs for other places and I'll work on adding something to the sidebar as we get input. Good idea for a round-up of food courts - like a blog carnival event and double posted here.
Ed - I linked to a currency converter when I wrote teh original post. Wonder if there is a widget that converts it?
Some thoughts for other roundups
Lunches for under $10/$5
Best Asian/Italian etc very cheap eat
Best pizza
This blog is an awesome idea! I'm bursting with excitement to try out a few of the recommendations. At the same time, I can't wait to be able to start sharing my treasured restaurants in Melbourne!
Great idea for a blog, I only found it today after Lisa commented on mine. I'll be reading back though all of the entries :)
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