What you won’t find in my guide

Penny Blood — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:45:32 +0000

So it turns out that many guidebooks are written by people who have never even been to the place. They are just cobbled together from other people’s research. This is no doubt one reason why the photos are ALWAYS SO RUBBISH. I can understand why. More often than not, when I ask to take photographs of somewhere the owner or staff look at me like I’m trying to hawk them used tube tickets. The Falafel King told me he would sue me and the Grocery in Shoreditch said they were going to call the police. Even when people are willing, you only have a short window to get a good shot as other customers get in the way and you start getting suspicious looks if you take too many, it really is a minefield. This probably explains why we are so used to looking at a picture of something the shop sells rather than the shop itself. My friends do get a little offended when I’m constantly taking out my camera and shouting at them to get out of the way.

There is also no shortage of websites listing places to go. To me these websites are boring, ugly and only useful for addresses and telephone numbers. A long list of reviews with completely contrasting opinions from a bunch of people I don’t know or have any idea what their taste is, is completely meaningless. How do I know if when someone dismisses Crazy Homies their favourite restaurant isn’t Nandos? It’s too much of a liability. At least here I’m fairly consistent and you will quickly garner what I like and what I don’t like and take it from there.

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What you won’t find in my guide