What’s the best online restaurant reviews guide?
With almost everyone having access to the Internet these days, it comes as no surprise that more and more people are going online to find what are the best cafes to visit or the best restaurants to eat around town or while you are travelling overseas. There are plenty of food blogs and good online food guides around, so this begs the question:
What is the best online Perth restaurant reviews guide?
Eating WA / Oz Eating
Without a doubt, Eating WA one of the most popular online restaurant review guide in Western Australia. It is owned by OzEating, which has similar guides around the country but it seems that EatingWA is their crown jewel. This is a fairly interactive website with forums, regular competitions, plus the normal functions of providing restaurant critiques. They also sell a VIP Card that provides discounts at over 100 eateries around Perth which costs $50.
Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon is an international restaurant review guide which has graced our sunny shores of Australia. They have a presence in the USA, UK, Canada, and all of the major cities around Australia. What I like about Urbanspoon is that they make it easy for people to see what website members have said about a particular restaurant or cafe, plus they integrate blog posts from food blogs which makes it even better when you’re trying to find out what other people are saying about the venue.
What’s more is that they have an iPhone app for tech savvy people who want to find out where to eat or drink on the go. This app is also available on the iPad, Blackberry, and Android smartphones. No wonder they say that Urbanspoon rocks!
Your Restaurants
This well-loved restaurant guide can be easily accessed as it is partners with Ninemsn.com.au. What I like about Your Restaurants is that they categorise eateries via popular suburbs to eat in and that they tell you what are the most frequently viewed restaurants or cafes in the city. They also have a easy search options function where you can find places where they serve cheap meals, vegetarian food, degustations, or restaurants with water views for a romantic night out. Or, if you really can’t decide what restaurant to explore, you can just ‘Ask the Oracle’ – although this function needs to be worked on as it can take you to a restaurant business page that is not even in the state!
Other than the big 3, there are others such as Eatability, Miettas’, Best Restaurants Australia (powered by DeGroots Media), and more.
What are the online Perth restaurant review guides that you use regularly, and what do you love about them?
I use YourRestaurants to find out opening hours and I like the little snippets of info they have about it. I don’t really read the reviews there though!
For Perth restaurant reviews, I prefer reading blogs or the newspaper… not sure why I don’t read the reviews on these great local food guides!
@Brenda – Oh that’s interesting how you just read the business information but do not read the reviews people have left on these Perth restaurant review websites. Why do you think that is?
Do you have a preference on what newspaper you read for the cafe or restaurant reviews? E.g. The West Australian or the Sunday Times reviews?
I love EatingWA! That’s my favourite place to read cafe and restaurant reviews in Perth.
I used to always refer to eatingwa when looking for restaurants, but I tend to use Urbanspoon more now (the iPhone app). However, I try not to take the reviews too seriously – after all, people are prone to bitch and moan when they’re unhappy, but to forget to give praise where it’s due! On the other hand, though, a lot of people have low standards when it comes to food, and whilst I’m no food snob, I’m pretty suss of your average noodle place having a score of 97%.
What I don’t like is that more menus aren’t online, and that fewer sites have opening times.
Like others, I prefer to read blogs to get a good idea of where to eat – and that’s one feature of restaurant sites that I love, the fact that many of them do link to blogs now.
Thanks for the mention, Angie. We’re looking to expand our content on Perth and WA restaurants over the coming weeks – any tips, please send them through to admin@degrootsmedia.com.au. Cheers, The Best Restaurants Team
I agree with you, Erin, about how people tend to spread bad stuff about a place as opposed to spreading good stuff. If I remember back to my uni studies, they say that for every 1 person who says a good thing to others about a business, 10 others will say a bad thing to others about a business. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything unless it really is awful. The thing is that it’s all up to the tastebuds of the individual… e.g. some people love licorice, while some others hate it with a passion!
Thanks for visiting Alecia! I noticed that you missed out one of my favourite places in your cheap and cheerful list so I’ll send you that tip shortly.
Where is the coffee in the cafes you mentioned from? I love good coffee and the best so far is the Italian roast ones. Nice to know there’s great places in Perth.