NOTE: Mystery Critic has created a brand new website - www.mystcritic.com. You are welcome to check it out - it has all most recent reviews. This blog will no longer be maintained but will remain accessible with old reviews. WHAT'S THIS BLOG ALL ABOUT?
I want to provide the world with my unbiased, multicultural, high-quality and fun restaurant reviews. Every time I search on the web for restaurant recommendations, I get frustrated. There's just too much junk out there - either unqualified reviewers who can't tell the difference between pork and veal or garbage ratings entered by the restaurant owner's nephews.
I would like to start a grassroot movement to encourage those with real taste to express their opinion so that no one will be wasting money on disappointing dining experiences. It's more than trying to find a restaurant to go to tonight - for that you have your local yellowpages - but rather to cultivate an appreciation for great food and restaurants.
WHAT, ANOTHER RESTAURANT REVIEW SITE? ISN'T CITYSEARCH.COM OR DINE.COM GOOD ENOUGH?
There are at least 100 website you can either read and/or enter reviews, but let me be blunt here: If you want to read trash reviews done by people with no taste and are only capable of evaluating restaurants by the color of their roof, go to Citysearch or Dine. I believe that I write more credible and worthwhile reviews because I have a great taste for different types of food, honesty to present true feelings, and ability to tell a fun story about my restuarant experience. I'm never going to cover thousands of restaurants worldwide like those websites can, but I guarantee that every restaurant I write a review for will give you a memorable experience (in a good way). I have tremendous respect for quality reviews from sources like Michelin or Zagat. While I read them too, I must say that they are not for the average Joe to understand and appreciate. I want to create reviews that your next door neighbor can read, understand, appreciate, and find useful.WHAT ABOUT THOSE NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE FOOD CRITICS?Some of the newspaper and magazine food critics are really good at what they do. There are two things I probably will do better than them: 1) I will review more than just restaurants in one city or area, and I will review all kinds of ethnic food since I have an unique background, and 2) I can be a true critic - I am not afraid of telling the truth about the restaurants that I visited, including negative things. That'll make my reviews more fun to read. WHAT KIND OF RESTAURANTS ARE YOU GOING TO COVER?
All kinds - I like all cuisines at all prices in any place on earth! I LUV trying out different types of food, especially when I travel. That's why you'll see restaurants from all over the world - from China to Costa Rica. Since I live in the Silicon Valley, I will end up covering more restaurants in my neighborhood.
I will NOT cover chain restaurants though, granted that there are some good ones out there now. You can read about those everywhere already. Also, I will NOT cover restaurants where I had a bad experience in any of the areas of review. If I bother to spend time writing a review, it means the restaurant is decent enough for average joe.
SO WHO ARE YOU???
I am a software consultant working in the Silicon Valley. I'm an Asian guy who grew up in Latin America and I've also travelled extensive in Americas, Asia, Europe and Africa - not just for the cuisines, but for the whole cultural experience. I love cooking, eating (when my wife lets me) and drinking (very selectively though). I'm approaching middle age and I have two young kids.WHY ARE YOU A QUALIFIED RESTAURANT CRITIC?
I have a great sense of taste. Ever since I was conscious of the act of eating, I can tell good food from bad food. I can tell you if the cook sauteed or fried the meat before they braised it, and I can smell the difference (blind-folded of course) between Japanese and Thai rice. My family and friends are constantly annoyed by me because I'm super critical of the food I eat - or what I rather not eat - either at home or at restaurants. One major distinction between other critics and I is that I have personal experience in the restaurant business. My parents once owned and ran a restaurant where I learned to cook and worked as bus boy and waiter, and I have worked in several bakeries and restaurants in my teenage and college years. I like the business and wish I owned a restaurant - but then again that would disqualify me as a restaurant critic.
Finally, having lived in four countries and travelled to more than 20, I have a "globalized" taste bud. I can eat any authentic cuisine and tell you why it's good or bad by local standards.
WHY ARE YOU ANONYMOUS?
Most of the restaurants that I'm putting on this blog will be in the Silicon Valley, California. I don't think it's a great idea to post my identity here since some restaurant owners - especially those in the tech-saavy Silicon Valley who surfs the web every nigth after they close shop - might recognize my name (on credit card) or face (if I post a picture here) and slam me with a baseball bat just because I said their food tastes like sewage from a pig farm.
WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS WEBSITE?
I want to achieve two things with this blog:
1) educating the mass that it is our duty to treat our taste buds with respect and to say NO to those lousy food cookers (they don't deserve the title chef, or even cook) out there and
2) making sure that you will enjoy your next meal at a restaurant - or at least have a more realistic expectation - and get you interested in thinking about what you have really paid for.
Please do provide me with comments or let me know if you hav any questions - I want to make this blog easy to read, use and enjoy by everyone! Send email to mystcritic@hotmail.com and I'll get back to you immediately.
