On the Webb: Critic loses face...

...or should that be, "Face loses critic?" 

“Face” is the name of the latest restaurant that was unlucky enough to be reviewed by yours truly. Like many restaurants in Beijing, the food is average and overpriced.

A website that I review(ed) for, however, will tell you a different story.

In its bid to “monetize,” BestFoodinChina crudely cuts out negative comments on reviews of restaurants that are potential buyers of advertising. This is how I summed up Face:

“Average-to-good Thai food in an environment that is comfortable enough to justify the large bill. Perhaps this could be called “Face value”.”

The following paragraph was also given short shrift:

“If I were hungrier - it was only a little past midday – I might have been a bit more positive about what came next, a platter of Thai appetizers. This dish reminded me of something you might buy in the frozen section of a western supermarket - it would be part of a range called something like “Taste of the Orient”. There was plenty of the obvious - spring rolls, fish cakes, prawn cakes – but what should have been delicate and flavoursome, was crude and oily.”

In addition to deleting the above, dozens of negative words were pulled and several incorrect corrections were made to my grammar and style. I wouldn’t recommend you do, but you can read the edited article here. As requested, the editor removed my name.