By Victoria Rollison
You’ve got a friend dropping in from out of town and it’s up to you to pick the restaurant. Is it really possible to get a good recommendation off the internet? With hundreds of sites vying for your attention, promoting thousands of restaurants, Rescu. has scoured the choices to bring you sites that really do help!
Australian Good Food and Travel Guide:
This site is so full of information that it’s hard to know where to start! Before you begin searching, it is best to sign up so you can access the whole site. Sign up is free, and by entering your email, you’ll be kept abreast of news and reviews in the future.
Next, it’s best to click on the state you are looking in, and then narrow this down to the actual region you want to dine in; the site lists every suburb imaginable!
Each restaurant listed includes a map of its location, information about prices and menu, contact information, a link to their website and reviews that have been added by other members. Apart from being spoiled for choice, this website has it all!
True Local:
At first, the true local site feels like another Yellow or White Pages. But it doesn’t take long to realise that it includes a lot more information about restaurants than either of these sites.
With a simple search page, you can enter ‘Restaurants’ and your suburb on the first page, which quickly narrows results. You are then given a list of restaurants in the area, with a detailed explanation of the type of cuisine, background information and contact details.
Most of the restaurants listed have at least one review and this number seems to be ever growing. The reviews are quite plainly written by the general public as some are glowing and others are downright scary! One fantastic feature of the review section is that you can search by positive, negative, old and new reviews so you can narrow to just a few that are the pick of the bunch!
Menu Log:
The Menu Log is truly dedicated to a great dining experience. With a section for ‘Eating In’, there are listings and reviews for home delivery or pick-up across Australia. All you have to do is nominate home delivery of pick up, type in your postcode and you are given a detailed list of choices.
In the ‘Dining Out’ section, you can do a comprehensive search, including restaurants, cafes, pubs or bars, location, price, cuisine type and my favourite – ambience. With choices such as buzzy, luxurious, family friendly and traditional, you are given so much more of an idea of what to expect when you arrive.
Each search starts with the venues that have been given the best reviews from diners, so your search is instantly narrowed down to the best places on offer. This site seems to have it all, including a section of dietary needs, which is a huge benefit to vegetarians, people with allergies, lovers of organic food and many other categories. With a specials page that has many specials exclusive to Menu Log visitors, there isn’t much more this site could offer.
We all have our favourite spot to go out and eat, but now there is a fast and easy way to find your new favourite! Just click and dine!