The ratings

-- Food
-- Service
-- Ambience

In comparison with other restaurants in the same price-bracket, performance is ...

-- Exceptional
-- Very good
-- Good
-- Average
-- Poor

Anything else I need to know?

That phrase above in bold is important

Our rating system is unlike those found in other guides and websites (most of which tell you nothing more helpful than that expensive restaurants are, by and large, better than cheap ones).

What we do is to compare each restaurant's performance -- as judged by the average grades awarded by reporters in the survey -- with other restaurants in the same price-bracket.

This approach has the advantage that it helps you find -- whatever your budget for any particular meal -- where you will get the best 'bang for your buck'.

Where do the grades come from?

Ratings are based on our annual survey of restaurant-goers.

Current ratings are based on the survey for our 2008 guide, in which 8,000 people contributed over 100,000 reviews and ratings.

Prices

The price shown for each restaurant is the cost for one (1) person of an average three-course dinner with half a bottle of house wine and coffee, any cover charge, service and VAT. Lunch is often cheaper. With BYO restaurants, we have assumed that two people share a £5 bottle of off-licence wine.