Restaurant Review – Sai Yung Kee (Draft)

Here is a bit of practice on reviewing restaurant reviews before writing my own restaurant review.

Web address of the review.	Name and Location of restaurant	Useful information in the review.	Information missing from review.	Visual appeal from review.	Good ideas to use in your own review.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/feb/05/louis-louis-london-restaurant-review	Louie Louie, London	Description for every dish ordered	Overall rating and recommendation	Great, has pictures of the restaurant and the dishes	Pictures and information about the chef and crew
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/12/trump-grill-review	Trump Grill, New York City	Pictures and descriptions to back up every dish, environment and waiter’s performances	Overall rating	Great, has clear pictures of what the author was talking about	Environment rating and description
http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2046476/restaurant-review-kakuuchi-tai-hang-good-value-casual-japanese	Kakuuchi, Hong Kong	Description and price for every dish	Conclusion	Some clear pictures formatted for every dish	Formatting every dish with a photo above it
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/reviews/rudies-50-stoke-newington-road-n16-restaurant-review-the-best-caribbean-in-london-a6803436.html	Rudie’s, London	Price for every dish with simple explanation	Photos	Lack of photos is an issue, but formatting from appetizer to dessert in chronological order	Write from appetizer to dessert
http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/2017-02-03/restaurant-review-kairos-juice-bar-blends-good-health-good-taste	Kairos, Intracoastal West	Summary of the restaurant’s food and experiences from different perspectives	Overall rating and cons to some of the food/drinks	Clear photos for what the author is describing	Descriptive words for dishes

I concluded that the two most important features in the restaurant review are the food (of course) and the overall experience (waiters, environment, music, seating, etc.), which should be weighted around half-half. Photos should also be included.

Draft 1: 

Restaurant Review

Sai Yung Kee is a restaurant in Tai Wo Shopping Mall. Located at the end of the shopping mall, many people who live just outside of the mall walk pass it every day, but don’t ever step in to take a taste of noodles, or drink a sip of milk tea. Once one customer steps in, their quality of food and quality of service won’t disappoint anyone.

As I stepped into this small restaurant, it gave a great feeling of Hong Kong in the 1960s to 1970s. The environment was somewhat dark, decorated with dim, yellow lights, with pictures on the side of the table, trying to hook all of the consumers back to the past. There wasn’t any music, but there were many people chatting, giving a sense of livelihood in the restaurant. The staff were very active and were generous, although they had a sarcastic side when they started to chat with me. Surprisingly, there weren’t many people and seats as well, but there was some echo, which made the restaurant somewhat lively.

In the restaurant, I ordered one of their signature dishes – Large wonton noodles, as well as a cup of iced milk tea. Within five minutes, both of my orders arrived, freshly made out of the kitchen.

When the Wonton noodles arrived, I questioned myself, “Where are the wonton?” It turned out that the five pieces of delicate wonton were hiding below the portion of noodles, afraid of showing themselves to the consumer. The arrangement in the bowl of noodles could be better by placing the wonton on the top and the noodles as the base. On the other hand, the bite-size shrimp wonton tasted really fresh, and the wrapping was also clean, since none of the filling fell out. However, the noodles were a little overcooked, because they were a little soft, albeit it still kept a little chewiness. The noodles were somewhat jumbled up as well, making it hard to separate single strands of noodles from the cluster. The soup base tasted a little saltier than expected. However, the fresh, crunchy spring onions and the savory red vinegar did complement the soup pretty well, giving some texture and liveliness. Overall, a generous 8 out of 10 rating for the wonton noodles seems fair.

Along with the noodles, the iced milk tea helped to mitigate the saltiness of the soup. At first glance, the milk tea was decorated quite well, although not many ingredients were used. The strong flavor of the tea and the richness of the milk were in great proportion, and fitted together really neatly. However, there was too much ice, filling over half the cup. It also tasted abnormally sweet. A 7 out of 10 rating for the milk tea seems fine, as there was nothing special about it.

Sai Yung Kee offered some satisfactory service and delicious food, which was more impressive than I first thought. For a price of 42 dollars, a bargain for a classic bowl of noodles and cup of tea won’t disappoint anyone who comes in to get a bite.

Photos: All of the raw photos as I started to select my final 3-4 photos for the outline. I also wanted a clean, simple outline, which matches the simplicity of the food.

I ended up assembling everything together for a final copy. I edited my final words on the final copy itself.