Spies like us
Promising a more authentic alternative to the work of professional food writers, websites specialising in amateur restaurant reviews have been popping up like a pieces of toast in the morning. Take a look at the recently reloaded Restaurant Spy (restaurantspy.com), which contains over 1,300 reviews written entirely by people who pay their own bill. The relaunched site, which covers everything from The Ivy to the Little Chef, has grown into a reliable nationwide food guide, which, like a waiter hovering for a big tip, can't do enough for you. Not only does it allow you to download its entire set of London reviews to your iPod (restaurantspy.com/node/528), it even serves up juicy pages of material suspected of being written by unscrupulous restaurateurs filing their own reviews (tinyurl.com/er659).
Add your own
An even more hands-off approach is employed by Add Your Own (addyourown.com), a site that leaves its readers in charge of editing the pages as well as writing all the reviews. A kind of Zagat's Guide for a community of readers weaned on Wikipedia, it covers big American cities, as well as a little of London (check out the hilarious map of an American's view of the capital) and Paris. Similar sites of note include restaurantsomh.com, which covers London, Venice and Rome and the restaurant pages of Consumer Reviews (tinyurl.com/r7fmm) which even rates the nearest branch of Nando's. Collectively, it all points towards a growing gourmet guide spanning the globe written by paying diners rather than simply those being paid to dine.
Beer ahead
You either love or hate the Munich Beer Festival (oktoberfest.de), which starts next week. If you're in the lovers' camp you can fly there at little cost. Return flights from Stansted to Munich with easyJet.com from £46, including taxes.
