Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Istanbul Restaurant Review

My partner and I were also given a video review and would like to answer some questions for it.

The review is about a girl going to a  Turkish restaurant located in Birmingham, UK.




The trip adviser website


What is focused on in the review?

In this video, she mentions about the Good things of the restaurant such as the manners of the staffs. One thing she really liked was how they greeted her with a warm and welcoming smile.
Also, she tells us about the food and the service in details such as the portion size, quality of food, the waiting time, and the customer service.

How does it differ with the written review and what does it have in common?

The one biggest thing that differs is that the video is longer and is recorded in person so we could tell how much she liked or enjoyed the restaurant. It makes and persuades the viewer how much she recommends the restaurant. Thus, the video is about 10 minutes long so it is much more in detail than the written review. (the cott&co)

Are chefs, owners, managers, or restaurant featured in the video?

Only the restaurant, herself and some pictures are featured in the video. She mainly records herself when she is talking about the restaurant.

What criticism do you have of the video?

I thought it would have been a little better if the reviewer wasn't recording herself all the time and if there were more videos of the restaurant atmosphere and the dishes.






The Cott & Co. Fish Bar

My partner and I were assigned to review an article called

Cott & Co, at the Cottesloe Hotel, is easy like Sunday morning



and were to answer the following questions.

It is a review about a restaurant in Cottesole, Australia. 




Does the reviewer show any special "insider" knowledge of the chefs or the restaurant's plans for the future?

The reviewer does not state any special knowledge about the chefs or the restaurant's future. However, it writes about the stylish and fine designed interiors and atmospheres. The restaurant is located near beach and is a dinning bar with mainly seafood dishes served. 


What is the writing style of the review?

The writing style of this review is very casual but to the point. It uses more like a conversational language than formal language.

From the type of restaurant being review and from the style of writing, what would you guess about the readers of this newspaper?

This review is mainly for  tourists since this fish bar is located inside a hotel and maybe for local people living in Cottesole.

Does the review include a convenient grid so that the reader can see, at a glance such facts as the restaurants location, the price range of menus, and etc?

The reviewer does provide basic facts about this restaurant; the location, price range, hours, and phone number. But when I first read this article, I did not know where the restaurant was located. I thought it was better and easy to understand if the reviewer posted a map of the restaurant. 

What additional information can you find about the restaurant?

The review is more in detail and has additional information than the official website. 

Based on the review, would you and your partner like to try this restaurant?

Yes, we would like to go here. I have never been to Australia so this would be the one place to visit in the future.

Beautiful and well designed cafe in Nakameguro.



Today I would like to introduce one of my favorite cafes in Tokyo, Frames Cafe located in Nakameguro station which I came with my sister. I have heard about many delicious and fine restaurants and cafes in Nakameguro so I was very excited coming here.


The location is very good as it only takes three minutes from the station of Nakameguro.
You will notice this cafe right away because the building is nicely designed and decorated. It is one block away from the Yamate street so it is surrounded by a nice and quiet neighborhood. The store offers some terrace seats so if it is not such a cold day, people can enjoy their meals and drinks outside.

When I entered the restaurant, the waiters and waitresses were dressed up very casual. The hairstyle, hair color, piercings, shoes, and clothes seemed to be free but all of them had aprons on. When we entered the restaurant, they asked if we wanted a smoking or non-smoking seat so we chose the non-smoking seat and they directed us right away to our seats. At first I was a little worried about the non-smoking seats because the non-smoking and the smoking seats weren't separated by any walls or other things. However, somehow, even if we sat at the non-smoking area, we could barely smell the smoke so we were able to enjoy our time.





The atmosphere inside was very stylish. It had book shelves, TVs and chandeliers, which made it even more stylish. It was a place where people can enjoy their meal time leisurely with soft and calm music.

Speaking of meals and drinks, I came here during lunch time so they only had drink, lunch and dessert menus. For the lunch menu, there were 6 options and everything came with a drink bar( free refills).
There were several beverages that customers can refill such as hot coffee and tea, iced coffee and tea, orange juice, apple juice, and iced latte.

The lunch options were:
1. Lunch Plate: Pork grilled steak with onion sauce. (comes with soup, salad, and rice or bread)
2. Todays Pasta: A. Bacon and eggplant tomato spaghetti
B. Shirasu and fresh tomato peperoncino (comes with soup, salad, and bread)
3. Todays Rice Bowl: Broiling Salmon and Avocados with Wasabi Sauce(comes with soup and salad)
4. Soup and Salad: Tuna with boiled egg and black olives with red vinegar dressing salad. Chicken soup. (comes with focaccia)
5. Vegetable and beef curry (comes with soup and salad)
6. Hamburg steak. (comes with soup, salad, and bread)

**The lunch menu changes every week. The dinner menu stay constant at all time.**

There were many drinks on the menu since it is a cafe. The price range is from 430yen to 1000yen. They provide many types of beverages like alcohols, espressos, teas, and sodas.
The price was cheap compared to other cafes in Nakameguro for the amount of the drink for one serving. The price of the food was neutral as most of them was under 1000yen.

What I ordered was the pepproncino spaghetti, a garlic based spaghetti. It was 980yen that came with a salad, bread, soup, and free refill drinks.




After ordering, the food came in about 15 minutes. Since it was a weekday lunch time, there were many customers so I was expecting it would take longer but was glad that it came earlier.
The spaghetti was delicious, however, I would not recommend it for people who does not like fishy tastes. Thus, since it was a garlic based spaghetti, I though it would taste more like garlic but the Tobiko(fish egg) and Shirasu(small fish) made the spaghetti base taste more like fish than garlic which was a little upsetting. However, the overall taste and the amount was good for this price.





The surprising thing about the menu was that during lunch time, if students show their student ID cards,   they can receive a 50yen discount at the cashier. Therefore, this meal was only 930yen!
Overall, this restaurant is good in value and amount. Very tasty and would come here again for dinner time next time!


My Evaluation

Service staff
-dress code 4/5
-politeness 5/5
-service quality 5/5

Menus
-Serving size 4/5
- Price range to the food quality 4/5

Restaurant
-Cleanness of the restaurant 4/5
-seating comfort 3/5
-music choice 4/5
- clean silver and plates 5/5

Building
- noticeable 5/5
-signs visible 5/5
-attractiveness 5/5


Total: 52/60



I hope this article can help!


Store address.

〒150-0042 東京都目黒区上目黒1−18−6 NMビル1F
03-5724-5097



My video review