Citibank's Zomato Restaurant Guide 2012 - Bangalore (First edition)
Published by Hachette India Rs.199/-
What this guide features:
- 250 must-visit restaurants in Bangalore
- Recommendations for various occasions and moods (Romantic dinner, girls’ night out etc)
- QR codes to view menus, photos and other info
Nicely formatted guide that begins with an ”About Zomato”, instructions on how to use the guide, info about Citibank dining privileges (deals for Citibank card holders), restaurant categories, restaurant details, an alphabetical index of restaurant names, the area and page number where you can find them in the book and space to make notes. Glossy pictures interspersed throughout the book are very appetizing.
Zomato launched its website in 2008 to serve more than three million unique users across its web and mobile platforms every month. Its restaurant guide section is very popular, making it easy to find a good place to eat based on your preferences, your choice of cuisine, location and budget. There are menus, ratings, photos and maps for restaurants in 10 cities in India and this includes Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh. The site also offers downloadable mobile apps.
So why did they create this print guide when it is so much easier to browse the website?
The book is for those who would rather flip the pages and look for their choice of restaurant. The guide features Zomato users' personal experiences. It begins with an alphabetical list of restaurants based on restaurant categories like Asian and oriental, business and travel, late nighters, pure vegetarian, Sunday brunch, value for money....and so on. There are 22 categories. There are icons to indicate whether the restaurants are veg, non-veg, dining in, and whether they offer delivery or have a bar. There is a “Don’t miss” blurb for each entry with must-try items on the menu.
The next section is "Restaurant Details” which lists the restaurants in alphabetical order giving you all the info you need about a specific restaurant, including its phone number, type of cuisine, address, QR code, applicable discounts, description, special features and user reviews and rating. There is also a cost rating mentioned with each restaurant.
Throughout the guide are full page advertisements of popular restaurants. Very cheerful.
What I liked:
- The look of the book. Very slick production
- User-friendly - easy to follow page format
- Very useful – also includes restaurant timing and costs
- Lists the specialties of the restaurant
- QR codes for the tech-savvy
- Index at the end – restaurants by alphabetical order with area and page number so we can go back and find the full details
- And of course, Nirav's personal note with the book!
What I missed
Area-wise categories – yeah, I know. Asking too much. But if I wanted to find a restaurant in say, Lavelle Road I’d have to flip quite a few pages to find it. Or just go online and use the Zomato site. Index 2 could have been area-wise segregation - easy to do with the same listing of restaurants in the index as it would just be a matter of dividing them area-wise. Maybe in the next edition.
Overall, the Citibank Zomato Restaurant Guide 2012 is a great effort.
Would I buy the book for Rs.199/-? (Rs.149/- on Flipkart) Yes. I would.
And so can you.
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