2011 Reader Restaurant Awards: What the Bloggers Said
Beijing’s magazines aren’t the only ones dishing out the awards and recommendations when it comes to dining. The blogosphere has chimed in with their thoughts on restaurants, as well as some feedback to keep us on our toes. Check out our awards and compare them with the responses they elicited from some of Beijing's favorite bloggers.
The bloggers: Music blogger BeijingDaze offers insight on the awards as well as a list of his top spots for the year. Sports and food writer A Modern Lei Feng offered comparisons with our results, as did foodie and photographer LumDimSum. Blogger and a guest for our expert picks, Shelley Jiang, includes some additional categories with a more Chinese and regional twist. BeijingBoyce threw in some insight on the "ballot stuffing" controversy of reader-voted awards.
Overall our Awards got favorable reviews from the bloggers, summed up perfectly by BeijingDaze’s input that “I might not agree with a lot of their selections or with the winners but I must respect them as the popular choices by that species known as the Genus-Expatus.” Working up to the Awards, BeijingBoyce highlighted the problem with ballot stuffing and offered some appreciated praise for our efforts to deal with the issue.
BeijingDaze and Haw Berries & Kumquats also took the chance to offer their picks in categories that didn’t make it into this year’s Awards, like Xinjiang, Laziji, Cheese plate, Best [Dessert] Plate, Guizhou, Beijing, and Noodles. These lists offer some great alternatives from the more popular restaurants, and are a great list for anyone looking to check out different Chinese cuisines around Beijing.
LumDimSum and A Modern Lei Feng went for a compare and contrast of our Awards with some interesting results. LumDimSum offered different options, while Lei Feng was split between offering agreements and alternatives to our Awards. Two venues in particular were voiced as alternative options for Best New Chinese: Dianke Dianlai and Xu Xian Lou. LumDimSum’s list featured 798’s Fennel in Service and High End Brunch, while Lei Feng’s favorite Dianke Dianlai, got the spot for Service, Yunnan, and Best New Chinese.
For some additional comparison, stop by and see Time Out's Food Award picks.
Check out all the bloggers for some good reading on our awards, dining and some good reason to get beyond Sanlitun:
BeijingDaze: The Beijinger’s 2011 Restaurant Awards: Blabbers, Ramblings and Alternatives.
A Modern Lei Feng: Modernleifeng’s 2010 Restaurant Awards
LumDimSum: theBeijinger’s 8th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards: Hatsune Wins Best Japanese 7 Years Running
Haw Berries & Kumquats: The Berries Best
BeijingBoyce: The Beijinger Restaurant Awards: Reveal the Cheaters!
