What to Look For When Reviewing a Restaurant

By Rajinder Kumar Gulati

The hospitality industry is a burgeoning industry in the present day's scenario. Although it is an age-old industry, it continues to thrive and is expected to prosper much further. The industry comprises of hotel chains and restaurants besides delis, diners, café and cafeterias. A restaurant can easily be defined as a clean and tidy eating place where a person walks in with high expectations regarding service, seating arrangement, decor, cleanliness of the kitchen, quality of food and environment. The opinion that he forms after he leaves the restaurant is the most important, since the first impression is always remains the last impression.

A reviewer crystallizes his opinion very critically after analyzing various aspects of the restaurant. There are in fact several factors that are taken into consideration while carrying out a review. The first impression that a person gets on entering a restaurant is the manner in which he is received. An atmosphere of cordiality plays a very important role. When on entering an eating place, a person is received graciously by head of the wait staff, the restaurant scores the first point. Further, when the guest is ushered to his reserved table with ease without jostling with the other guests in the restaurant leaves an indelible impression on the mind of the guest. He feels happy that he is being looked after with proper care and handled with courtesy. However, one of the most irksome aspects of a restaurant is the wait time involved to get a table and especially so when a person has already made advance reservations for a table either through a phone call or online. There are people who prefer fine wining and dining in any restaurant and where these facilities are available, they flock to such a place. It is generally believed that hotel chains have not found much favor amongst diners since they are unable to provide personalized service. The current trend is to hold large-scale parties at restaurants and usually look for restaurants that have the inherent facilities and the resources to hold these large parties, such as, wedding receptions, birthday celebrations, anniversary parties as well as corporate meetings. One of the essentials that a customer looks up to is convenience in parking of vehicles. Restaurants offering free valet parking lure favorable patrons.

The layout of the seating plan should be in such a way that the guests do not feel claustrophobic. A feeling of suffocation in a restaurant puts off the mood of the guest. Kitchens in restaurants are widely known as commercial kitchens. The designing and planning of a kitchen in a restaurant requires the professional and expert advice of an architect. The kitchen is one of the most important portions of a restaurant where cleanliness and neatness are of utmost significance. One of the primary requirements of a good and decent restaurant is that the kitchen is far removed from the dining area. A clean kitchen spells the quality of the food being served in the restaurant. It should also be properly ventilated and airy complying with the established codes of the hospitality industry apart from the health and safety environments. Fire extinguishers are essential as kitchens are prone to outbreaks of fire. A kitchen in a restaurant is required to be safe and secure with proper safeguards for the security of the serving staff. In a kitchen, exhaust fans provide sufficient ventilation which in turn improves the productivity of the kitchen staff as hygienic conditions keep them cool and sweat free. The kitchen should be open and having enough space for the serving staff to move around freely particularly during peak hours. It is also necessary that only catering equipment that is mandatory and is frequently used should only be installed in the kitchen that is normally not very expensive. Generally, stainless steel equipment is installed in the kitchens that is convenient to use and can be easily cleaned. There was a time when the only fuel available for cooking was coal or wood. In the present scenario, cost-effective and optimum fuel consumption is the objective of every eating establishment. Owners always prefer to use Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is not only cheaper than other fuels but is readily available. One of the benefits of using LPG is that there are no smoke emissions and are eco- friendly. The moment the guest is seated, he is offered the menu. The menu generally comprises of starters, main course meal and desserts. A restaurant that offers more variety attracts more customers as the choice of selection of dishes is varied and wide. Normally in a restaurant that portrays a menu that pertains to a particular country, such as a Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and Indian, it is normal that the cuisine of that country receives precedence over any other type of gourmet food. In an Italian restaurant, one can expect a pizza, pasta or any of their native dishes. A Japanese restaurant has on its menu, sushi and traditional Japanese dishes, while an Indian restaurant serves mostly Indian cuisine mainly dishes from the Mughal period. These dishes have become a favorite amongst the foreign clients abroad. They relish the spicy and tasty dishes that tickle the palate. An Indian restaurant located anywhere throughout the world serves spicy and Indian delicacies for which it earns a reputation. Indian restaurants abroad are frequented by foreign guests as compared to the Indian fraternity. Still, Indians when suffer from bout homesickness and have an urge to revive the taste of Indian food visit the Indian restaurants. The decor of the Indian restaurants being ethnic in style and home cooked food transports the lonely Indian back to his hometown, even though momentarily. The quality of the food goes along way in fascinating guests. A delicious and sumptuous food coupled with excellent quality of service is one of the qualities that qualify a restaurant to be a really good restaurant.

It is beyond doubt that there would be a phenomenal increase in the Hospitality Industry if proper norms of hospitality are followed and delicious food is served to customers who are looking for excellence. It is most essential that proper norms are followed, if a restaurant wants to earn an unparalleled reputation that would stand well and merit a place in the industry.

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