Restaurant Spy blogs

The read thingie

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:38:39 +0000

Have just turned on the "read" function which tells you how many times people read an article. So don't worry if you see 1 read or 2 reads or anything.....its been read loads of times before but this is a counter just from now 31st March 2008 6pm.

London Reviews N and O now added.

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:05:37 +0000

Blimey this takes a long time....

Some old things are better than new

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:44:19 +0000

Regular visitors will probably notice that we have gone back to the old search engines of master.com and google rather than the drupal one that came with the new site make-up. We've decided to do that to improve the search range as master.com covers a lot of the old site reviews too.

London Reviews M now added.

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:41:16 +0000

Including the wonderful Moro. Yes I know I'm taking a long time, but its boring cutting and pasting. Some of the reviews not moved over are restaurants closed and/or reviews that might not quite stand up anymore, so there's a bit of filtering. Remember if you know of any restaurant closing down, let us know. M

London reviews D - L

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:11:32 +0000

Now added. Also the search string has been changed so you can put in two letter searches, eg N8 to find restaurants in a London area. Hope that's helpful. Also new food news archive page.

Coming soon, hopefully, Google Maps + Catering Jobs + many many more book reviews.

London C Reviews

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 11:57:24 +0000

London C reviews now added.

The Guardian

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:13:10 +0000

Thanks so much to Sean Dodson at the Guardian for his article, missed it myself but was pointed out by an eagle-eyed reviewer. Here it is if you missed it:

How to DIY it

Sean Dodson

Saturday August 12, 2006

The Guardian

Spies like us
Promising a more authentic alternative to the work of professional food writers, websites specialising in amateur restaurant reviews have been popping up like a pieces of toast in the morning.

London reviews

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:14:12 +0000

I've just started adding reviews from London to the new site. So far A and B. Fascinating to come across some of those old reviews and fantastic memories. Middle Eastern places in Hampstead, Banners in Crouch End, trying to delete reviews of closed down places as I go.

I might miss a few though so please feel free to write at the contact email above if I've overlooked anything.

Latest reviews added.

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:52:21 +0000

I've been experiencing incredible pangs of nostalgia as I've been adding some of the old reviews from way back. Dirty tables in Battle, Havoc trying to get a drink in a pub in Welwyn and not succeeding, Daisy finding delight in Ottery St Mary - blimey it brings it all back, when the only time I could do this was an hour between 11 and midnight when everybody had gone to bed.

Birmingham. Curry capital and all that - why don't we have more reviews from up there? Is it a secret?

Slow Food

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 08:45:15 +0000

I joined the Slow Food movement last year after reading a number of great articles about them. In essence they stand for all the things that Spy does - good food, individually prepared, local produce, family eating together, etc, etc - but I have to say that I am not sure I can face stumping up for the membership again.

You see, the one thing that got me when reading through their lavish "National Geographic" style quarterly magazine, was how unbearably pompous they all were. And yes, of course I would like to source my chillis direct from growers in Arizona, eat seasonal fruit and veg, drink only musty home steam brewed beers, but I have a life too.

Time after all

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:56:57 +0000

It will take time to transfer over all of the different reviews, but please be patient. You can still always go to the old search reviews button at the top menu to find things. Transfer is gathering apace. I've moved about 70 reviews - mostly international ones, and will move to the South East soon. Some crazy guy is giving us grief over the rage pieces, checking them day and night, sometimes in the middle of the night, so they are down for the moment and will be available only to spy memebers in the future.

The Migration by M

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 13:57:19 +0000

Well -its nearly here after four years of looking at different online databases, changing servers, etc, etc - finally with the aid of the Drupal cms system we are beginning the huge task of migrating thousands of Spy reviews from 2001 to 2006 onto the new site. Its going to take ages and no doubt there will be huge hiccups along the way but at least we are starting. The benefits ultimately will be huge - more postings, more comments, more interaction, but still keeping the irreverance from the team here and all of the associated writers that you know and love. The search facility doesn't work yet - we have to update our php - and so for the time being we'll be working side by side with the old site. Bear with us and looking forward to your registrations and your comments.

Opening foodie comments

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 20:03:55 +0000

Sometimes the traditional stuff is still the best. I was amused to see on Gordon Ramsay's latest foray into TV, The F Word, a strike back for simplicity and tradition.

If you've not seen it, for this segment a panel of tasters are selected from the audience, based on their ability to recognize different flavours fed to them by Mr Ramsay himself. They are then asked to blind-taste a dish prepared by both Gordo and his celebrity guest, chosen by the guest as their best dish.

Bread and Butter pudding was chosen by Al Murray and duly both set about making their versions. Ramsay littered his creation with various citrusy flavours alongside the standard ingredients but for Murray it was a straight down the line B&B pud. It unanimously creamed the Ramsay version which came across as too sweet and too confused.