Poor experience at well-reviewed restaurant

I have been resident in these parts for some 15 months now and read the Courier on a regular basis. Restaurant critique and sport are my issues.

On the “foodie” side, my wife and I eat out two to three times each week. Our favourite of 12 months ago is now sadly at the bottom of our list – a demonstration as to how fickle the hospitality industry is and the woes of complacent management and chefs.

Your “foodie” with his portrait in your paper every week must be very well known in the trade. To me any critic should be anonymous, arrive unannounced and be responsible for his own bill – and these issues should be declared at the end of each article.

Wherever your man goes he must be recognised and spoiled accordingly and no doubt fêted by management. A recent article made reference to a new sushi facility, but failed to comment on the specialist chef’s history and training – local or overseas. Is he a recent failure at another local establishment no longer dealing in that specialist line?

Service standards differ immensely. One establishment reviewed recently waxed lyrical about its service. This week it took 15 minutes to pour a draft beer, dumped the bottle of wine on the table – no opening, tasting or pouring and the ice bucket was a luxury on request only. They then managed to serve four fairly insipid meals at three separate times. Was it a “bad day at the office”? There was only one other table in use (and I wonder why?). In such circumstances would your critic have, the following day, given the restaurant the right of reply and then mentioned all?

Personally I do not think that you are giving your readers an objective view, more like pandering to the local industry!

On the sports side – do local teams ever get support? Some matches, school or otherwise, get a comment – but what about upcoming fixtures with details of time and venue?

Enough of my folly, we’re going out to lunch.

LESLIE ASHFORD

Ballito

David does not book a table under his own name and always pays for the meal. No freebies allowed. He reviews all restaurants, not only those that advertise. You ask why he did not enquire about a sushi chef’s training. The same could be said for any chef, and it’s the quality of the food that matters. Your point about poor service a week after his review, David can only describe what he experienced on the day he was there.

The point of the reviews is a guide to the restaurant and what it has to offer, not to go overboard on criticism. The final assessment must be yours.

Your sport question: do local teams ever get support? What? That’s what the sports pages do! If clubs and schools inform us of upcoming fixtures, they are published.- Editor.