I took a theater criticism class in college and the main rule I remember is "Never say something is good or bad. Describe it." or something like that. The point being even if you're personally not into something, convey the strengths and weaknesses together so others can get a better sense of whether it's for them because people aren't all looking for the same thing from an experience.

> Also, don't be the guy who goes in on a mission to dunk on the expensive restaurant.

Don't burst your bubble, right? Jay Rayner would like a word :-)

The west's fetishisation of fine dining is so far away from the Japanese model that it allows for this idea that the most expensive thing can still be unsatisfying, laughable or misleading, because it's "in its own category".

It is a trope to say "people starve elsewhere in the world" but it is also a truism. If expensive food is not objectively better food, reject it, and seek better food that isn't expensive.

Heh. Go watch the Japanese Iron Chef episode with the guy from SF.

Japanese gourmets definitely do the "ridiculously expensive, questionable choice" thing too. The beef episode made me want to cry.

So if a restaurant is very expensive, it must be immune from reviews?

Not in my world, no. In fact the expectations should be higher so it better deliver much higher quality of food.