Monday, July 9, 2012

Zomato Restaurant Guide 2012

Who needs a restaurant guide for the city?

In a printed form that is. May be some tourists who are not connected to the internet all the time or someone who actually wants it offline. The internet is there otherwise.

Zomato has quite a good online presence and this print version could have been a nice way to explore some of the possibilities around restaurants and fine dining establishments offline. But this print version in my hands has failed to deliver to a person who wants a place to eat in a certain locality, if searching on the internet is not an option. This is how I feel this guide fails...

There is no index to guide you through the localities
Many restaurants have been listed, all in alphabetic order. Who would know the names of restaurants without knowing the locality? 
There is an index in the contents list which enlists the restaurant categories. There are only three cuisine categories listed , Asian and Oriental, Italian and European and North Indian and Mughlai, broadly covering the cuisines and not specifically enlisting.  
All other categories go like Casual dining, Catching up, Legendary, Notables etc etc. A person new to the city wouldn't know how to find a place.


Okay there are a few categories which might make sense.  Beer in a Bar, Best wine list, Business and Travel, Late nighters etc.could make sense for someone who really wants the information.


There should be a folding map of the city dotted with the eateries around so the tourists would be benefited. I have needed such a food guide always when visiting a new city and I was looking at it from that point of view. It disappointed.


The index in the back pages could have been better categorised too. I didn't see many places I already know  listed in this restaurant guide. Every city has so many small restaurants serving local cuisine and that should find a mention too. I would prefer a separate section for local street food in such a guide. Only some Mughlai eateries are listed and that is not sufficient in my opinion.


This restaurant guide disappoints me absolutely. Hoping for a better compiled edition next year.


Zomato restaurant guide 2012 was reviewed for Blogadda under the sponsored book review program.