Another kind of food guide

It just occurred to me tonight that another kind of food guide could be in great demand.

After flipping through the pages of the Zagat Survey, I was getting suspicious at its 25-point review system. According to its introduction, point 0-9 means a "poor" restaurant. But I couldn't find even one restaurant that was rated below 10. What is the point of the 25-point scale if points 0-9 are skipped? We might as well just go with a 0-15 scale. I guess the Zagat Survey will receive threats and blackmails if it makes public those who well deserve 0-9 points. Its purpose is to tell diners where the good eats are. Its current system is a win-win situation for itself and the restaurants it recommends. But there is real value in publishing a list of bad restaurants. Seriously, I wouldn't mind doing that. It serves two purposes. One, it helps fellow diners avoid bad food. Secondly, it serves as a wake-up call to those restaurants to make improvements. But of course, I don't want to get death letters. So I'll just wait for someone else to do it. Anyone?

P.S. Momofuku's ramen was not worth the rave in New York Times, though its pork buns were pretty decent.

Comments

Anonymous said…
ok, this is totally unrelated to your post, but i thought i should tell you that i was in nyc 2 weekends ago to help my sister move. we were walking along 56th street, and guess what i saw...joe shanghai! :) it's between 5th and 6th avenues. i've been meaning to tell you about it for the past week and a half, but i keep forgetting. anyway, 'hope all is well with you! are you gonna watch the da vinci code? ;)
Albertitto said…
Really! I'll stop by there sometime. I swear, so far Mike and I have had the most pleasing dining experiences near that street. La Bonne Soupe and Aquavit are two that come to my mind now, and they're both on 55th.

I am sooooo looking forward to da vinci code!! My work will be to drag Mike out of the house early so that we don't get crappy seats. Tom Hanks was on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me this past sunday (obviously for promotional reasons) and he was absolutely hilarious!