Saturday, August 25, 2007

More from 'The Editor'

What a strange thing this Sydney/Melbourne thng is. Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide has just come out with TEN 3 star Sydney restaurants and only ONE in Melbourne (and not any in the rest of Australia!)
I've had the pleasure of eating at a few of these establishments, including Pier and whilst I don't disagree with their fine ratings I do think they are extremely Sydneycentric
Despite Victorian restaurants having picked up a swag of awards they seem to me to be sadly under rated and a very uneven selection.
Some examples Isthmu of Kra doesn't get a mention, nor does Fenix which is ridiculous in my view. Mercers, which was there a few years ago s dropped out - they deserve to be there. I wold certainly put Orita or Akita in before Bar Lourinha and how did Gingerboy get in in front of them?? Flower Drum is largely living on its reutation it is good but terribly dull whilst Lau's Family Ktchen is surely only there because of Gilbert Lau's reputation. The food there is also good but the menu is extremely limited.

What we realy need in Victoria is the equivalent of the American Zagat Guide. Over 300.000 patrons offer their opinions on restaurants!
Am I right or am I wrong?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Menu and wine list now twice the size they were when I last visited.
Food and service very good tho a bit expensive. Worth an honourable mention but not star quality

Anonymous said...

Problem with Zagat is that rely on 300,000 reviewers, many of whom are not exactly gourmands...