Note; When i first saw the SMH guide promoted I looked for the Melbourne Guide on the Age website and I could have sworn I didn’t see the Melbourne version or anything on the SMH website. Wonder when they will start promoting it – soon, perhaps. Currently it is hidden under the “mobile” button on the page links. It’s a great resource.
…on a battered mobile phone. But not in Melbourne just yet. When I’m next in town with friends, hungry but blank, I want the Melbourne version of the Good Food Guide, which despite shortcomings is the most credible guide in the market.<del>I just wonder why Sydney is leading all the innovation.</del> The Good Living supplement has a blog of sorts and now is the first to take it’s restaurant guide to the mobile phone (and soon the Apple iphone, hopefully). Yesterday I tried the guide out. Via SMS I received the domain, clicked through and searched for Asian restaurants in my old stamping ground of Surry Hills. It works quickly and well on the Optus 3G network. On one small phone it is a giant leap for gastrokind. But again, what’s happening in Melbourne?
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
steady on then!!!
the food blog in the good living is a complete waste of cyberspace! rarely is there a post online, and any discussions that are started are few and far between (look at the dates).
Furthermore when it comes to actually publishing submissions on the blogspot, the moderator (usually the person that wrote the original post) often doesn’t publish commentary that isn’t in agreement with the SMH view of the world.
the melbourne version is on the bottom of that smh weblink it says to text MELBOURNE FOOD to 0416905937 or type m.gfg.theage.com.au into your phone browser
Grocer, I agree.
Haalo – I looked for a melbourne guide but missed it – unles they only just posted it. Entry corrected and i see they have added a mobile button that I think is a recent addition to the Epicure page.
This is probably OK as an advertorial for tourists only. I still find the most credible food guide in the market to be a combination of my social network & blogs from like minded people who have built my respect.
I would be curious if any of your readers who have lived in Melbourne for more than 5 years would use a service like this from SMH/THEAGE? I doubt it…but would be interested to hear opinions…
I can imagine using it. If I’m out and about in a suburb with which I’m unfamiliar, I might like to scroll through and see what’s about. But normally I would have done my homework beforehand, so your point is valid Andrew.
The big question for me is whether ALL restaurants are included, or if it’s only the ones who agree to pay some sort of supplement.
A pretty good mobile guide for melbourne exists at:
http://mobile.yourtime.com.au
It’s by the people who put together the yourRestaurants.com.au website.
Andrew, I reckon these guides are for more than tourists although I have to admit for reviewing this year for the Melbourne version. I think they sell 30,000 to 40,000 copies of the book so obviously some people find it useful. I’d use it on a friday night and I’m out at some pub and we decide to eat but can’t think where to go but want to try something new.
Tim, i doubt ther is any payment as it is based upon the guide which is independent.
SH, That’s the differnce the Your Restaurant sites are comprehensive and good but they don’t offer the critical look that the Age guide does – it offers a profile of a restaurant and there is no guarantee that any one venue will serve anything of quality.
Ed, thanks for the info. I wouldn’t have known!
And I am booking myself in for Attica (finally!). After your review last time, I am looking forward to it.
Anh, I’ll be interesting to see what you think. I’ve been back since and the food was amazing especially the smoked trout broth which comes with smoke (it’s not as bad as it sounds). I also going back for my birthday next month. Enjoy.
I loved the food at Attica but the service was a bit dodgy- they thought we had alreadyordered without being offered a menu and then it was hard to catch the eye of any of the waiters to tell them
Fiona, that’s a shame but it happens with these smaller restaurants that probably have less staff than the bigger city ones, which is a shame. Glad -when it arrived – you loved it though. It will be interesting to see how the chef ben Shewry develops.
i do refer to the good food guide but I don’t consider it as a bible.
I have found that from editor to editor the relevance to my perception changes. I did like it for a few years under matthew evans, but at the moment i don’t. as for the reviews in good living, I find that they have become same same from week to week and i don’t seek out the tuesday paper any more.
back to the GFG though, I do think it is good as a sort of melways for restaurants – where am I, what’s nearby and then go from there. again, if someone is looking for a recommendation for an area or specific criteria, it provides a good starting point.
Some guides have more cachet than others. Everyone in the industry knows this so they dont take much interest in say the American Xpress or the Hotel Assoc. ones.
This is unless you win your category.
As to the general dining public, if they use any review to decide where to go-they aint hip! Simple as that. All of us know that by the time it gets to a guide, its over red rover! That is, us who are infatuated with the now. We will & the paid reviewers will, have moved on to the next bright young thing or re-discovered nugget toiling somewhere that has been ingored for years or until fashion’s cycle has rounded.
There will always be a tenuous balancing act between ‘opening the publics eyes’, to a particular place & dismissing it when it inevitably gets busy as a result.
Kinda like saying you liked U2 before they got famous. They’re still a good band but everybody likes ‘em so you cant anymore because you’ve got to scour the horizon for the next breaking talent/style/movement.
I’m not sure where to post this tbh
. I know people are real edgy with all the blog spam etc. I use to run a blog myself, so I’m aware of the work you actually do to keep this up 
. Anyway point is I thought I’d try and put something back into the community so I’ve written a little plugin folks might like. You can find it if you click through to my website. If you don’t like it just delete this comment. Thanks for your time.
Ed, I was wondering if we could organise another get together at say Pizza e Birra, that one whoever turns up turns up, there is no cleanup, we can go almost any night, the pizza come out fast as so people could order as they came in… we could even set an amount for the cost of a pizza and say 2 drinks so no one is left holding the bill… ??? What do you think??? I am writing to you because I think all the bloggers read you more than me so I would get better “coverage” or contract with everyone… Let me know, I can make the booking if you like… Vida x
Ed,
further to the “how modern is the SMH; good living even has a forum” mention in this post, i thought I would let you know that this weeks topic (the first one in ages) “Dining al desko” had 3 (THREE) comments published. I can only assume there were some more as my comment was not published (it tied in nicely with my SOLE straightforward sandwich post!
So, I think it’s clear that just because a publication purports to do something, doesn’t actually mean it’s the real deal. it seems to me, that the SMH and fairfax generally are paying lip service to hedge their bets. likewise with the new cuisine website.
K
Grocer, Like the comments as being a melways for restaurants – it sums it up well. i’ve noticed how poor the SMh blog does. i see on the revamped Gourmet Traveller site there is a blog tag that doesn’t work yet. i wonder how they’ll fare and if they will bother to do it properly?
Vida, happy to post although I’m a bit busy until towards the end of this week. The trouble with meeting at a restaurant is that half the people may not turn up and it’s not fair of the owner. Happy to post on it but picnic style may be more realistic.