Food Reviews

Can anyone tell me what sort of info they would expect from a food review.

Some people have said they only want to hear about what it tastes like but in some cases this would only be a few sentences and then knowing what dooyoo raters are like that would end up being SU.

Others complain if you write about the package or ingredients.

Tell me what you would like so I can write a good one.

Thanks
x

Taste comes high on the list for me, and I cannot write good food reviews for the life of me because I fail to describe taste. Packaging is only relevant from a passing point of view, so maybe someone can recognise it on the supermarket shelf. I think for me whether or not its suitable to vegetarians would help as my husband is one, and also things contained within the food like gluten and dairy products because they account for a large proportion of allergies. I think food reviews are really hard to write unless you have so much conviction about the product but perhaps other members more specialised in this area than me can help.

I don't like ingredients or nutritional info in food reviews at all. At the very most you could mention that for say a mars bar its not for dieters or summink but unless its something were the nutritional info is important such as a diet meal, low fat option then I don't need to see it. Lists in any form are bad for me.

It should be primarily about the taste, the smell, the presentation and the value for money for me. Comparing it to similar products us usually a good thing. Reviews saying. "The mars bar tastes chocolatey and caramely" do not get above SU generally from me.

Unless it is a gift style item such as a box of chocolates I do not need to know about the packaging. Neither do I need a prolonged company history unless it mentions the particular ethics of a compnay such as Nestle. I would not rate up or down a review containing such information.

I think you should say whatever you want to say, Wendy, and then leave raters to rate how they see fit. It's all up to you, that's the beauty of opinion site writing. If you have a point to make about any aspect of a product, make it. If you don't have a point to make, don't source 'facts' just to include that aspect - with food reviews for example, people say don't include the ingredients. Well, to my mind, that all depends.

Say, for example, you buy a ready meal and get it home only to inspect the ingredients and discover that that vegetable gratin is in fact 50% white sauce and the vegetable content is not what the pretty picture on the packet would have you believe, and that annoys you, say so. If you don't give a stuff what the proportion of white sauce to vegetables is, don't say so.

People say don't mention nutritional info. But if you have a point to make about the nutritional value of a product, make it. Say, "Well, I'm on a diet, and this has only 0.5 Weight Watchers points so that makes it a valuable store cupboard treat for people like me. However, the no added sugar means it contains aspartame, and that tends to make me visit the loo a bit too often, so if you're like me in that regard, be warned." If you don't give a stuff about diets or aspartame doesn't make you bosh off to the loo every two seconds, don't say anything.

See what I mean?

thanks for your input everyone.

the only reason i asked is that i like to write good reviews and in order to get VU's (which are important to me!) i need to include the right things. and if i want a crown then it needs to be the correct content in guides and non guides opinion.

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I think you should say whatever you want to say, Wendy, and then leave raters to rate how they see fit. It's all up to you, that's the beauty of opinion site writing

agreed Jill but as stated above if I just included three sentences about the taste as the packaging was boring and there was no interest for me in the nutrtion then I would only be rated SU and that's importatnt to me not to get those ratings.
x

Taste and texture are the twoi most important things or me.

Packaging is only really relevant if it either adds to or detracts from the product, I remember as a student buying corned beef in a can with those awful wind up opening mechanisms that was prone to break.

Again nutritional value is relevant if it is unusual, I would expect snack foods and chocolate to be high calorie so there is no need to tell me that unless they are not.

I have only ever had a couple of crowns for food reviews and the only tip I can give towards getting a crown is to try and be a bit creative and humourous with the review. I would hate to be the guide for Food and Drink as most of the reviews are a bit predictable and stale (sorry for the pun), review writing should be informative but it should also be enjoyable for both the writer and the reader.

These are my views however I'm sure others will disagree.

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agreed Jill but as stated above if I just included three sentences about the taste as the packaging was boring and there was no interest for me in the nutrtion then I would only be rated SU and that's importatnt to me not to get those ratings

Yarse. I see that. Therefore, only write on things about which you feel you have enough to say! I still think, particularly with low-value products, such as food items, the best reviews are actually the brief, to the point, useful ones. They might not get VUs and crowns, but that's more an indictment of the silly state opinion sites have got themselves into, than it is a reflection of what's truly useful in consumer reviewing. It might be appropriate to write six or seven paragraphs on a high value item, but honestly, who wants to read 1,000 words on a ready meal?

And that's coming from someone who's written plenty of overblown food reviews! I think I once managed 1,500 words on a bag of sugar!

When I write a food review or a recipe I expect to get some SU rating as for instance someone may not like currys (example).

I really can't see why writing for a VU is more important than writing for U (The person)

I would actually agree with Angus here. Good grief this is getting repetitive. Whilst we all strive to get good ratings, why does it matter so much or more than writing your heart out and doing the very best that you can. I can't personally think of a food that would make me passionate enough to write a VU review, and certainly don't have the capability in the food department to write one but if I thought of a food review as being a public service of giving information, perhaps I would be tempted regardless of ratings.

I think the best way to write is to remember that you CANNOT please all of the people all of the time..........Include in your reviews anything you think is relevant to the food product......some people want to know the nutritional values, some need to know about allergies, most need to know the taste and presentation, some want to know what the packaging is like (unless there's a pic already then this becomes a waste of time)

The most important thing is to write for yourself openly and honestly.......take on board comments but only change them if you REALLY agree with them and not for the sake of trying to please everyone else! xxx