Best Of MenuPages Reviews: The People Have Spoken!
No more polls, ever. But, in fact, a clear plurality emerged. Despite the miniscule sample size, we're prepared to declare Joe's 10/21 review of Smak-Tak to be the best review of the period 10/16-10/23. Wow, that's really niche; no wonder no one voted!
A little background - last Tuesday, we nominated four MenuPages user reviews as the best of the previous week, and asked you to vote for the "best," based on rather fuzzy metrics. We advised the reader to vote for "whichever one gives you the best sense of the restaurant, good, bad or ugly. Alternatively, choose the review that you most enjoyed reading, whether you learned anything or not." As such, it's somewhat difficult to unpack the results, especially considering that there were only fourteen votes. But we can try!
First, we'll privilege the winner with a full reprint of his review (oh, if only Joe knew of the laudation he's receiving!):
The runner-up was Boy7, reviewer of Ping Pong. This review was quite critical, calling out the poor value and poorer service he received, but balancing it slightly with a (few) positive notes from the meal. Boy7 gave context (he was there with a guest from San Francisco, another Asian food bastion), did not specifically shill for another restaurant, and supplied a very vivid description of the shrimp and peanuts he found especially unappealing: "Its just boiled shrimp with too much peanuts and oyster sauce." You can visualize this perfectly in your head and on your palette, right? Such was the strength of this review, but not enough to clock in at more than 29%.
The also-rans, brett on Semiramis and Zellah60609 on Bridgeport Coffee House, pulled in a mere 14% each. We're sympathetic about the Semiramis review - it wasn't all that great, and we put it in mostly because Semi is somewhat undersung. The Bridgeport review, though, we rather liked. Zellah talks about the aspects of the coffee shop that appeal to her, and then names a specific flaw or two, directing her concerns to the owner so as to attempt to rectify the situation. But it's done in a constructive, rather than mean-spirited, fashion. This review, we feel, has the best chance of improving the lives of the most number of people. In extremely minor ways, to be sure, but that is beside the point.
At any rate, thank you for suffering through this exercise, and we've gotten the message about our attempt at interactivity. We didn't take it personally! Next week, we will return to your regularly scheduled BOMPR.
Smak-Tak [MenuPages]
Smak-Tak [Official Site]
A little background - last Tuesday, we nominated four MenuPages user reviews as the best of the previous week, and asked you to vote for the "best," based on rather fuzzy metrics. We advised the reader to vote for "whichever one gives you the best sense of the restaurant, good, bad or ugly. Alternatively, choose the review that you most enjoyed reading, whether you learned anything or not." As such, it's somewhat difficult to unpack the results, especially considering that there were only fourteen votes. But we can try!
First, we'll privilege the winner with a full reprint of his review (oh, if only Joe knew of the laudation he's receiving!):
I was in town on business and heard about the Polish section of Chicago from my sister in Florida. I searched the web and took a chance on Smak Tak. What a find!!! I was pleasantly surprised how quaint and authentic the decor was, it reminded me of Zakopane in Poland. I started with a bowl of borszt which was really good and then couldn't decide between the pork cutlet or the pierogi so I got them both. They first brought out the pork cutlet which looked wonderful. It was huge and covered with mushrooms. It was accompanied with real mashed potatoes covered with dill, a nice portion of marinated carrots and a delicious cucumber/sour cream salad. About half way through that I was already stuffed but they brought out the pierogi, 13 of them! I asked for an assortment and they delivered. First one was blueberry, then plum, then cherry, then cheese, then meat...I had to stop before I burst! They were delicious!!! I had to pack up leftovers. The best part...the whole thing with a drink was just around $20. I HIGHLY recommend this palce and will definitely go back next time I'm in Chicago. Na Zdrowie!What's nice about this review is that, even though it's overwhelmingly positive enough to be a shill, the name drop of the semi-obscure Polish ski resort, and the vernacular "cheers" at the end, probably make it real. That, and everyone seems to like Smak-Tak. And also, his IP address places him somewhere in Texas - normally damning, but in this case, exonerating! As for the review itself, it's quite descriptive, and definitely makes us hungry for Polish food. Pierogis of three food groups - who can resist? Oh man, by the way, there should be more vegetable pierogis in the world, right? So all that and an upbeat demeanor got Joe and Smak-Tak nearly 43% of the vote.
The runner-up was Boy7, reviewer of Ping Pong. This review was quite critical, calling out the poor value and poorer service he received, but balancing it slightly with a (few) positive notes from the meal. Boy7 gave context (he was there with a guest from San Francisco, another Asian food bastion), did not specifically shill for another restaurant, and supplied a very vivid description of the shrimp and peanuts he found especially unappealing: "Its just boiled shrimp with too much peanuts and oyster sauce." You can visualize this perfectly in your head and on your palette, right? Such was the strength of this review, but not enough to clock in at more than 29%.
The also-rans, brett on Semiramis and Zellah60609 on Bridgeport Coffee House, pulled in a mere 14% each. We're sympathetic about the Semiramis review - it wasn't all that great, and we put it in mostly because Semi is somewhat undersung. The Bridgeport review, though, we rather liked. Zellah talks about the aspects of the coffee shop that appeal to her, and then names a specific flaw or two, directing her concerns to the owner so as to attempt to rectify the situation. But it's done in a constructive, rather than mean-spirited, fashion. This review, we feel, has the best chance of improving the lives of the most number of people. In extremely minor ways, to be sure, but that is beside the point.
At any rate, thank you for suffering through this exercise, and we've gotten the message about our attempt at interactivity. We didn't take it personally! Next week, we will return to your regularly scheduled BOMPR.
Smak-Tak [MenuPages]
Smak-Tak [Official Site]
