Ridiculous Restaurant Reviews [General]

2013 Sep 24
I just ran across this review of Mellos: michaelsuddard.blogspot.ca

And I don't think I've ever read something so weirdly unaware of the type of restaurant they were reviewing.

Post your ridiculous missed-the-point reviews, I guess?

2013 Sep 24
Dining is a highly subjective experience. Like I always say, one person's review is not a useful thing to read, even when that person is a professional.

Singling out this particular blog seems a little unfair, especially since many of his other reviews are spot on (in my opinion)!

[EDIT: You describe the blogger as "weirdly unaware" but the fact is, weirdly unaware people do compose some percentage of a restaurant's clientele. I see restaurant reviews as a whole benefiting both the customers and the businesses alike.]

2013 Sep 24
Yes, of course dining is highly subjective, and I probably wouldn't have thought twice if this had been about any other restaurant at all, I just can't imagine going to the greasiest of greasy spoons and complaining about the potato selection and the fact that the staff was surly?

Maybe this is just my experience affecting my opinion because I've been to Mellos a ton of times since I was a kid and every time I go it's the most harrowing dining experience of my life and there's roughly a 90% chance that someone's going to sing something at me in French or yell at me to quit whining.

Apologies, I didn't mean this in a malicious way at all, I just found the specific review funny because of the way that Mellos is.

2013 Sep 24
Calling the review ridiculous is the part that sounded malicious--it is difficult to ridicule without malice. But now I understand your perspective better. :)

re: potato choice, I think the reviewer's concern was that the server assumed fries instead of asking for customer input on the "choice of potato" mentioned in the menu. It's a grey area... those of us experienced with diner-style restaurants know to ask what the choices are rather than wait for the server to ask us. However, imagine a foreign visitor wandering into an establishment like this. They might be left with a terrible impression of Canadian hospitality, and there's no harm in pointing that out. Whether or not anyone listens is another story! ;-)

2013 Sep 24
Yeah. I'm sorry he whacked his knee. ;-)

2013 Sep 25
The guy's tone/manner of writing suggests he's reviewing a white table-cloth restaurant, not a greasy spoon.

2013 Sep 25
He's just oddly detailed in all his reviews and gets fixated on strange things. I read his Burgers 'n Fried Forever review last week in which he spends a good chunk of space marvelling at the audicity of the owner for putting a sack of potatoes on the floor.

2013 Sep 25
Haha... yeah I find it entertaining too! :-)

The reality is, if he thought about things exactly the same way everyone else did then there wouldn't be much motivation to create a blog. Also, eccentricities challenge our comfort zones in a good way.

2013 Sep 26
Reminds me of the Gale character in Breaking Bad, the singing lab assistant.