An alternative approach to getting guidance about where to eat comes from what I call consumer opinion sites. The influence of this "new media" is growing considerably when compared with the established traditional sites like those of the major publishers.
To my mind there's both good and bad in that.
Tripadvisor, zomato, Dimmi and their like can point us towards places where people actually do like to eat. The tendency in the mainstream is to favour places that reviewers think we should be eating at.
A downside of the new approach is that it is so easy to manipulate. An AAP story on the Yahoo 7 site summarises the problem:
Internet users increasingly rely on online customer reviews when making spending decisions, whether they're buying an iPhone case on Amazon or hiring an Uber ride in their hometown. But just how much can you trust those reviews?It's something to keep in mind as you look through these lists of top rated restaurants as at this morning. Links are provided to the minority that have made it to our site.
A new lawsuit in which Amazon accuses more than 1,000 people of offering to post bogus glowing write-ups for as little as $US5 apiece might give you cause for concern.
The case, filed in Washington state court on Friday by the nation's biggest online retailer, casts light on what appears to be a burgeoning practice: the commissioning of paid, fake reviews that masquerade as testimonials from ordinary people.
Fake reviews are nothing new to online retailing, and Amazon is far from the only big company affected. Yelp's restaurant reviews and TripAdvisor's hotel ratings have long been a target of critics who claim that merchants can easily post positive reviews of their own businesses.
Tripadvisor Best Restaurants in Sydney | ||
| Farmhouse Kings Cross 5 of 5 stars | #1 | 70 reviews |
| Twenty 8 Acres 5 of 5 stars | #2 | 179 reviews |
| ONE6EIGHT Balmain (Balmain) 5 of 5 stars | #3 | 35 reviews |
| Est 4.5 of 5 stars | #4 | 378 reviews |
| Bulletin Place 5 of 5 stars | #5 | 67 reviews |
| Fortune Village Chinese Restaurant 4.5 of 5 stars | #6 | 167 reviews |
| The Sardine Room 4.5 of 5 stars | #7 | 289 reviews |
| Marrickville Pork Roll (Marrickville) 5 of 5 stars | #8 | 48 reviews |
| Medusa Greek Taverna 4.5 of 5 stars | #9 | 673 reviews |
| Pizza Boccone 4.5 of 5 stars | #10 | 149 reviews |
zomato Best Restaurants in Sydney | ||
| LuMi Bar & Dining Pyrmont 4.9 | #1 | 124 votes |
| La Mama del Gelato Anita Central Park, Chippendale 4.9 | #2 | 182 votes |
| Flour and Stone Woolloomooloo 4.9 | #3 | 191 votes |
| MakMak Macarons Newtown 4.9 | #4 | 68 votes |
| Brasserie Bread Botany Bay 4.8 | #5 | 241 votes |
| Zeta Bar Hilton Sydney, CBD 4.8 | #6 | 124 votes |
| Pho Viet Restaurant Cabramatta 4.8 | #7 | 56 votes |
| Veggie Patch Food Van CBD 4.8 | #8 | 51 votes |
| Five Points Burgers North Sydney 4.7 | #9 | 157 votes |
| Gelato Messina 8 locations ›Darlinghurst 4.7 | #10 | 1845 votes |
Dimmi Top 10 Diner Rated Restaurants in Sydney | ||
| Cornersmith, Marrickville 9.2 | #1 | 43 reviews |
| Berowra Waters Inn, Berowra Waters 9.1 | #2 | 29 reviews |
| Serendip, Gymea 9.1 | #3 | 34 reviews |
| Billu's Indian Eatery, Harris Park 9.0 | #4 | 88 reviews |
| The Stinking Bishops, Newtown 9.0 | #5 | 168 reviews |
| Delishus at Richmond, Richmond 9.0 | #6 | 213 reviews |
| Clareville Kiosk, Avalon 9.0 | #7 | 92 reviews |
| Sixpenny, Stanmore 8.9 | #8 | 594 reviews |
| Nel Restaurant, Sydney 8.9 | #9 | 366 reviews |
| Bah-BQ Brazilian Grill, Crows Nest 8.9 | #10 | 971 reviews |
I should add that Dimmi goes some of the way towards stopping some of the rorts by only taking reviews from people who booked a table through their commission earning booking service.
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