What Do You Look For In a Restaurant

[Colt45]

I like a comfortable ambience. Good service. But I've always looked at restaurants as places where people get fed, so the food is paramount. It doesn't have to be fancy, but I do look for honest. I understand that food can be art, but molecular gastronomy is not my style. I also don't feel great about paying twenty bucks for a plate of pasta. The occasion is really irrelevant - the previous still applies. As much as I love a good steak, I'm no fan of steak houses...

One of my favorite restaurants was a place in Newport Rhode Island - I most often sat at the "bar" which enclosed the open kitchen. A very nice space, clean, bright, unpretentious. One owner was head chef, the other poured the wine. Great food, no muss, no fuss. You could wear a jacket and tie, or shorts and a t shirt.

I'm not against fancy and black tie, but again, for me it ends up being the food......

[LLC]

Good ambience and food is important while not being too overpriced. But most important in how I’ll judge a restaurant is the wine service. To many places get something as simple as serving red wine at the wrong temperature wrong. Those I will not go back to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Colt45]

3 minutes ago, LLC said:

But most important in how I’ll judge a restaurant is the wine service.

Oddly enough, when I check out a new place, the first thing I look at is the wine list. As long as there are a few decent choices, it's not a deal breaker. I agree that reds are often served too warm, but also that whites are often served too cold.

[Ken Gargett]

very common problem - reds too warm, whites too cold. 

unless they are a destination i am keen to try for whatever reason - reputation, favoured chef, word of mouth, type of cuisine - normally, my first box to tick is if they will do BYO. if not, usually go elsewhere. 

[Derboesekoenig]

If I hear a "ding", I'm walking out. No nuked food for me, no thanks.

[LLC]

very common problem - reds too warm, whites too cold. 
unless they are a destination i am keen to try for whatever reason - reputation, favoured chef, word of mouth, type of cuisine - normally, my first box to tick is if they will do BYO. if not, usually go elsewhere. 

Common but inexcusable. Not hard to get it right and it shows a total lack of attention to detail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chompers79]

How good the food is. Everything else is secondary for me.

[garbandz]

the restroom...........

[Frozen North]

The freshness of the ingredients, and then how cold their beer is.

[Fugu]

On 7/27/2018 at 2:17 AM, Colt45 said:

the food is paramount. It doesn't have to be fancy, but I do look for honest.

... in a nutshell.

On 7/27/2018 at 2:17 AM, Colt45 said:

unpretentious

'unpretentious' - indeed is the term that's key to me. Sadly a rare species for which you have to look far and wide

[Bill Hayes]

Depends on the occasion and my mood. Usually, if I'm fine dining I prefer a bit of space between tables and carpet on the floor so it isn't too noisy. I can get agitated with constant clanking echoing at times. I also like a good sommelier to help with my wine selections. I don't quite know enough to be really confident on my choice so I use their expertise to make the experience memorable. Never can remember what I drank though. I also like to order a lot of smaller dishes so a good degustation menu is something I would go for if a special occasion. When I'm in the mood for a drink I like smaller, busy, noisy places like Izakaya in Japan. If there's locals packing the place then it must be good.

Things I like - Spanish Tapas with sherries and light reds - Japanese with sake and Sapporo beer - French influence with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and maybe a Shiraz or Cab Sav - Argentinian/Peruvian with Malbec. I would like to explore middle eastern a bit more but don't have a lot of experience and not sure about wine match etc.