restaurant review essay c1

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Writing - Part 2 - C1 Advanced (CAE) - Practice, Write & Improve

Exam question:, type: review.

Write your review .

Student's Answer:

“Amour: the spirit of Paris- a review

Set right in the heart of Paris, famous Amour restaurant is usually called a \”French spirit\” by local people. Although it doesn’t look like elegant French locations usually suggested by the tour guides , you will undoubtedly fall in love with it at the first sight.

Having been here for the first time, it is the place that I was astonished by. Restaurant is hidden in depth of the streets, the building is old and rather cosy, than fancy; the territory is, without exaggeration, tiny: few tables inside and several of them in the garden, full of wild roses. Both breath-taking aroma of the flowers and calming atmosphere of the city make customers feel like they are in a French romantic movie!

Unfortunately, Amour does not offer a wide range of meals, however, everything we ordered was completely delicious: marvellous desserts, coffee and, of course, traditional croissants. Besides, we were told in secret, that the latter is considered nearly the best in whole Paris!

The only detail I was quite taken aback with, is the uncleanness of the dishes: I wish I was wrong, but it seems to me that tableware is hardly ever washed here, as not only the forks, spoons and plates were dirty, but I also could unmistakably see someone’s lipstick on my cup.

Al in all, I’d rate Amour 4 out of 5; after all, hygiene conditions absolutely didn’t meet my expectations. Yet, if you are looking for a spot to dive into authentic vibe of France, this restaurant is lucky find for you. “

Amour: the spirit of Paris- a review - an appropriate title

Set right in the heart of Paris, (relevant details) famous Amour restaurant is usually called a "French spirit" by local people. (details) Although it doesn't look like the elegant French locations (descriptive writing) usually suggested by the tour guides , (suitable terms) y ou will undoubtedly fall in love (engages the reader) with it at the first sight.

An appropriate introduction focuses on the identification of the reviewed restaurant and engages the reader.

Having been here (participle clause) for the first time, I can clearly emphasize (lost context) it is the place that I was astonished by. The restaurant is hidden in depth of the streets, (evaluative writing)   the building is old and rather cosy, than fancy; (descriptive ) the territory is, without exaggeration , tiny : few tables inside and several of them in the garden, full of wild roses. Both (conjunctions) the breathtaking aromas of the flowers and calming atmosphere of the city (descriptive writing) make customers feel like they are in a French romantic movie!

Unfortunately, (contrast clauses)  Amour does not offer a wide range of meals, however , everything we ordered was completely delicious: marvellous desserts, coffee and, of course, traditional croissants. (subject-specific vocabulary) Besides, we were told (passive forms) in secret, (narrative writing) that the latte r (referential words) is considered nearly the best in whole Paris!

The only detail I was quite taken aback with, (introductory phrases) is the uncleanness of the dishes: I wish I was (wishes) wrong, but it seems to me that tableware (subject-specific vocabulary) is hardly ever washed here, as not only (inversion) the forks, spoons and plates were dirty, but I also could unmistakably see someone's lipstick on my cup.

All in all , (spelling) I'd rate Amour 4 out of 5; (relevant elements) after all, hygiene conditions absolutely didn't meet my expectations . Yet, if you are looking for a spot to dive into the authentic vibe of France, (relevant vocabulary) this restaurant is lucky find for you.

Very well written rich and interesting review provides the right amount of details and diverse descriptive forms and phrases;

Content: 5/5 have you answered the question?

All content is relevant to the task. Target reader is informed.

• Have you been to a good restaurant recently?- commented
• Your opinions- commented
• Specific elements of the restaurant which caught your attention- the service, the atmosphere or the food- commented

Communicative Achievement: 4-5/5 have you completed the task in the right sort of language?

Evaluative writing - review give relevant details and information which are expected by reader Descriptive writing - review appeals to the reader’s five senses (have colourful adjectives and various descriptions) Narrative writing - review is telling a story insignificantly (a sequence of events that took place)

The organisation: 5/5 have you structured your writing properly?

The review begins with a correct description of the item being reviewed, then there are paragraphs in which the topic is developed and an appropriate ending with recommendations

Language: 5/5 have you used a good range of grammar and vocabulary?

Vocabulary There is a impressive range of vocabulary, including less common lexis.

Grammar There is impressive range of simple and more complex grammatical forms which are used with control and flexibility.

Errors, are minimal and do not impede communication

  Score: 19-20/20 Grade: C1/C2

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A restaurant review

Learn how to write a restaurant review.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

MultipleSelection_MjI2MjQ=

Vega, New York

Reviewed yesterday

Great mains, pity about the chips

Came for lunch with my sister. We loved our Thai-style mains which were amazing with lots of flavour, very impressive for a vegetarian restaurant.

But the service was below average and the chips were too terrible to finish.

When we arrived at 1.40, we had to wait 20 minutes while they got our table ready. OK, so we didn't have a reservation, but the restaurant was only half full. There was no reason to make us wait at all.

We ordered the chips as a side dish and they looked delicious. But, when we tasted them, they were overcooked and swimming in oil so we left most of them. We expected a lot more for $10!

When the waiter asked if everything was ok, we said we really didn't like the chips and he said 'That's funny, I love them' and that was it. He didn't offer us anything else or take them off our bill. Also, when we didn't leave a tip, he looked annoyed.

I was really excited about visiting Vega, and the mains were just fantastic, but the rest of the experience was really disappointing.

• Use an informal or semi-formal style.
• In the title, give the main idea or opinion.
• Write about the important parts of the experience, not every detail.
• Organise your ideas into paragraphs.
• Write about the good and the bad.

Have you ever had a bad meal in a restaurant?

Language level

The last week I tried a cute coffee shop near my house. I think is my favorite place to get a coffee and peace time. First, the place was very nice with fall decorations. Second, the service was kind and fast, they explained me so clear somethings about the menu. Also, the food arrived really fast and the Chef walked to my table to give my food (I felt so special). Finally when I check the bill, I was in shock because was cheap. It was best bacon Sandwich I have ever eaten!

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A good recommendation doesn't become a good meal! I can't say I have had a bad meal in any restaurant but I had a bad experience in a one Michelin Star Restaurant recommended by a good friend. That day, enjoying a walk around where the restaurant were located, my husband and I decided to ask for a reservation that night, but the chef told us it where all fully booked. Well, hours later, when we where going home, we saw the restaurant almost empty and we came in to ask why he told us they were all booked. The chef, invited us very annoyingly to leave the restaurant without any explanation. Next day in restaurant's web we leave a review saying what happend. The chef answered us in the same arrogant attitude, without any acceptable explanation.

I went with my sister, my mom, and my uncle to an ice cream place; it was great inside, Mario and Luigi drew and a lot of decorations, so we sat, but we needed to wait for 30 minutes there without any attention, so we decided to left the site, the person that was working there asked us why we were leaving the place, but we didn´t say anything and we went off that place without a word.

Mexico restaurant, Fukuoka

The interior design is great, the food and service are terrible. When I visited Fukuoka city with my girlfriend for the first time, we tried Mexican food for the first time in our lives. We both thought the restaurant looked great and its dishes must be delicious. So we ordered 4 dishes, and all looked so cheap even though they were expensive. I think they use instant food, instead of cooking real dishes. They also took table fees and service fees too. I don't think it is reasonable to take such a fee.

Yes,I had a very bad meal when I and my family went to a near restaurant and we ordered pizza and fajita, unfortunately the meal was too bad ,so we couldn't complete the meal.

Yes, I had a horrible meal one of the restaurants. I have never encountered like that before since I am a kind of person who enjoys every foods. Even though the service is good, the meals were not delicious at all so I am afraid to recommend you.

Have you ever had a bad meal in a restaurant? That was well, But pay attention ingredients :) I usually invite myself to the restaurant as a reward when I have advanced my to-do list according to my schedule in 1 to 2 months. Since I love pizza, I usually order pizza. Also, I love hot green pepper and add it to all of my food. two weeks ago, I dined out and I ordered pizza as usual. of course, one which I hadn't eaten before( with the name of shicago). It was well but when I ordered, I didn't pay enough attention that there weren't any vegetables as ingredients and It was an experience that proved me I really preferred to have vegetables in my food. the environment was calm with light music with a view to the highway.

Sumathi Restaurant - Belize City This restaurant has bad customer service. Owners allow in-laws to disrespect and mistreat customers while consumption. In-laws go as far as verbally abusing you and threathening you and calling police while spending your money there. These are very crazy scenarios you may want to avoid.

Sarku, Bogotá ★★★★★ Delectable mains, excellent sushi and delicious dessert

I went to this restaurant whit my girlfriend, I had something like Peruvian food in mind but Asian food sounds fine to me, I am open to new dishes.

I have seen a sort of burrito in a large menu at the entrance, but when we were already inside the normal menu didn’t have neither this “burrito” nor another type of hamburger but with rice instead of bread.

We ordered as a main one order of Ikigai which was new for us, a kind of ball shaped crab palm tempura very juicy and overall delicious. Then the main dish arrives we order ceviche sushi and sushi with crab palm and coconut milk, we interchange half of each dish to try both. It was a great idea because both tasted very well, but for me a little better the ceviche sushi.

In the end we ordered a chocolate volcano that was like a chocolate cake with liquid chocolate inside accompanied by ice cream for dessert. I am really a chocolate lover, so the taste was perfect for me.

We will definitely return to this restaurant.

I loved the food, the service was great, the dishes were just delicious, I'll recommend it.

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CPE sample writings

Welcome to the biggest on-line collection of articles, essays, letters, reports, proposals and reviews for the CPE and CAE Cambridge English Exams. Teachers and students from all over the world arparticipate by submitting their writings. Support the Blog with a Paypal donation and I will correct your writing. For more info write me via Email (see my profile below). Enjoy the Blog !

Tuesday 5 March 2019

Bad restaurant review, bad restaurant review., no comments:, post a comment.

• How to Write a Review for Cambridge C1 Advanced

• Posted on 28/09/2022
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: C1 Advanced , CAE , Cambridge Exams , Writing

Are you planning to take the Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE) exam?

If so, you will need to complete two pieces of writing during the Writing paper. Part 1 is always an essay , while part 2 gives you two different questions and you must choose only one of them to complete. One of these may be a review.

As writing the perfect review for part 2 can be quite tricky, we have created this handy guide with everything you need to know to impress your examiner and get top marks in your exam.

Let’s get started!

Before you Begin

Imagine this! It’s exam day, you turn the page and see this question:

Question taken from Cambridge English Language Assessment website . (September 2022)

What is the first thing you need to do after reading your question? Well, you need to consider the following things:

• Who is our reader? This helps you know what style to write in.
• What is the topic? What are you writing a review for?
• What do you need to include? Which questions do you need to address?

We recommend you read the question carefully and underline the key information.

Now that you understand the question, it’s time to plan your review.

Three Steps to Writing the Perfect C1 Advanced Review

Step 1: plan it.

Planning your review is one of the most important steps so you don’t waste time correcting any big mistakes later!

Think of a book or film which focuses on somebody who has made an important contribution to society. When you have one in mind, you can start thinking of the structure of your review. Take a look at the example structure here:

1. An interesting title

2. An introduction

3. A summary of the plot

4. What did I learn about the person’s life from the book/film?

5. How did the book/film help me understand why this person made their important contribution?

At this stage, it is important to also think about the vocabulary you want to use. Remember to use advanced C1 vocabulary in your review (try to avoid ‘very’ and ‘really’).

Here is some advanced vocabulary that you can use to describe films and books:

Step 2: Write it

Now that you have your plan, it’s time to start writing!

Firstly, think of a title. You can keep it simple if you cannot think of anything too creative. For example, it could just be the name of the book or film that you’re reviewing.

Next is the introduction. A nice feature to use here is a rhetorical question . This is a question you ask your audience to grab their attention, for example:

Have you ever watched a film that has had a long-lasting impression on you?

Or you could include a general statement about the book or film:

The film Super Size Me received glowing reviews from critics. Spurlock’s story is eye-opening and gives the viewers some food for thought .

You could also give some background information about the film or book:

The plot of the film Super Size Me centres around Morgan Spurlock, a director who conducts a social experiment to highlight the effects of consuming McDonald’s fast food for an entire month.

Now you need to move onto the main paragraph. Here you should summarise the plot of the film or book. For example:

At the beginning of the film, Spurlock undergoes a medical examination to ensure he doesn’t cause long-lasting irreversible damage to his health. Throughout the month, he only consumes McDonald’s meals…

After briefly describing the plot (remember, no spoilers!), you can address the two questions.

For the conclusion, you need to sum up your thoughts on the book/film. You can do this by using some of the phrases below:

– Taking everything into consideration,…

– All things considered,…

Step 3: Check it

Checking your writing is probably the most important step. You don’t want to avoid losing out on points over tiny mistakes, right?

Here are some points to think about while checking your review:

• Have I answered all the questions?
• Have I stayed within the word limit?
• Have I used the appropriate writing style?
• Is my spelling correct?
• Have I used punctuation correctly?
• Have I used advanced vocabulary and a good range of grammar?
• Is everything connected and coherent ?

Useful Grammar

Make sure you are using a range of grammatical structures in your exam. Your grammatical accuracy as well as your grammatical range are both taken into consideration by the examiner.

Take a look at some of these grammar points that you will most likely come across in the C1 Advanced exam:

Conditionals

Cleft sentences

Modal verbs

Remember that you will also need to know these for the reading and use of English section of the exam, so it’s a good idea to brush up on your grammar!

Top CAE Writing Part 2 Exam Tips

Here are some important exam tips to help you feel more prepared when writing your review:

• You have 90 minutes in total for the whole exam
• Divide your time equally between part 1 and part 2 of the writing exam
• For part 2, use 10 minutes to plan , 25 minutes to write , and 10 minutes to check
• You have a word count of 220 and 260
• The review could be for a film , book , hotel , magazine , restaurant or a product

Remember to get plenty of sleep before your exam so you feel well rested for the big day. Good luck!  

Looking for Help with your CAE Exam Preparation?

If you’re looking for guidance and feedback to help you pass your Cambridge C1 Advanced exam with confidence, then take a look at our exam preparation courses . Classes are dynamic and practical and our friendly professional teachers will help you get the score you need.

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Gripping (adj): something that holds your interest (usually a story).

Cliffhanger (n): a story which is exciting and suspenseful because you don’t know what will happen next.

Fast-paced (adj): lots of exciting action happening quickly.

Letdown (n): a disappointment.

Second-rate (adj): not impressive, mediocre.

Eye-opening (adj): some information that is new and surprising.

Food for thought (exp): something worth seriously thinking about.

Undergo (v): to experience something, usually something unpleasant or a change.

Irreversible (adj): cannot be reversed.

Coherent (adj): a piece of text that is clear and is connected well.

Brush up on (pv): to improve your knowledge of something that you may have forgotten a little.

adj = adjective

exp = expression

pv = phrasal verb

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Cambridge C1 Advanced (CAE): How to Write a Review

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Introduction

A review may be about a book, magazine, film, play or concert; it may also be about a product or a service. A review in the C1 Advanced Writing paper does not merely ask for a general description of the thing reviewed, but requires an evaluation of its suitability for a particular purpose or audience. The target reader is specified in the task, and candidates should be encouraged to use this information when choosing appropriate ideas and language to include in their response. from: Cambridge English First Handbook for Teachers

In the C1 Advanced Writing exam there are two parts. Part 1 always requires you to write an essay while in Part 2 you can choose from different text types. Apart from reviews, you can also decide to pick a proposal , a report or an email/letter .

Reviews are fun!

Reviews are fun because reading reviews is fun. Who doesn’t enjoy a few opinions from other people before making the decision on which restaurant to go to, which film to watch or which book to buy? Also, in our day and age, we are constantly looking at social proof for a wide range of topics so reviews are much more natural to us than they were only a few years ago when the internet wasn’t everywhere so you might even have written about a few of your own experiences online.

Of course, when writing a review for C1 Advanced you have to follow a specific structure and fulfill certain requirements, but the good thing for you is that they are always the same so you can study and practise them and become better every single day until you get to the official exam and it won’t be a problem for you anymore.

We are going to look at different aspects of review writing, from looking at a typical task and its structure, useful language and mistakes to avoid. If you are interested, keep reading.

>>> Find out how your C1 Advanced writing is marked. <<<

What a typical review task looks like

Speaking from my experience as a teacher and preparing numerous students for the exam, I can say that most review tasks look pretty much the same. The structure is very very similar and once you know what to look for, you can use it to your advantage by saving a lot of time and going into the test ready and calm.

When you see a writing task for C1 Advanced (not only reviews, but really all of them), you should always ask your self a few very specific questions which can help you to better understand what you have to do and set you up for a successful writing exam.

• What is the situation? (topic)
• What exactly do I have to include in my review? (main points)
• Who is going to read the review?

To find the answers to these three questions read the task very carefully and underline the key information.

I underlined the information in different colours as each colour refers to one of the questions from above. First of all, the topic is underlined with red. Secondly, the main points or questions you have to answer in your review are green and, finally, you are writing for a website called Great Lives (blue).

This structure is usually the same in every task so make sure that you look for the same type of information whenever you sit down to practise reviews.

You might ask yourself why it is so important to know who you are writing for, but this tells you exactly if you should use formal, neutral or informal language. Imagine you had to write to your boss or the director of your school. You would choose a more formal style than if you were writing to your friends. In our example, we should choose something that is more of a neutral style. After all, we don’t the people on the website, but we want to keep it light and as interesting as possible.

When writing in a neutral style you can use contractions like ‘I’m’ or ‘don’t’ and you can use phrasal verbs as well as interesting adjectives and adverbs to make your review more lively. However, I wouldn’t recommend using slang words or too many colloquial expressions nor anything that is too formal as you would in an essay or formal letter.

How to organise your review

Now that we know what the task’s topic is, what exactly we need to include and the tone we should write in, it is time to look at the structure of a review. Luckily, this can be repeated from review to review and you simply have to change the content depending on the topic and main points.

Remember, there are two main questions for you to answer here (Did you learn anything new about the person’s life? Did the book or film help you understand why this person made their important contribution?) It makes a lot of sense to give each of those questions their own paragraph as they talk about different aspects of your review.

Additionally, you should add an introduction (with a title) in which you create some anticipation and engage the reader as well as a conclusion where you summarise your main points and make a recommendation (because that’s why we read reviews). In total, that comes to four paragraphs which could look like this:

• Title/Introduction
• What new things did you learn about the person’s life?
• Do you now better understand why the person made their important contribution?

Conclusion/Recommendation

Obviously, your main topic paragraphs should be longer than the intro and conclusion, and keep in mind that there is a word limit of 220-260 words.

Always plan your review

I say this in every article I write here on teacherphill.com and I’m going to say it again in this post because it is such an important piece of advice. Unfortunately, many candidates simply ignore or forget about it and find themselves in the official C1 Advanced exam nervous and unprepared so I want you to include this in your practice.

Whenever you sit down to write for your exam preparation, make a plan before you start your review, report, proposal, email/letter or essay. It only takes 3-5 minutes and it can save you so much time down the road when you need to make corrections.

A plan can be very short and only include a few keywords that you add under each heading so you know what you want to write about and don’t have to rethink everything halfway through the writing task.

• Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Ask a question to engage reader. Brief life background.
• New things I learned – his work as a lawyer, marriage problems, his reliance on Winnie
• Why did he do all of it – oppression in South Africa was terrible
• Conclusion: The film gives great insight into Mandela’s life. I definitely recommend it.

There you have it. It took me just a couple of minutes to jot down my ideas and now that they are recorded on paper we are ready to write our review.

The different parts of a review

After looking at how to analyse a task as well as organise and plan your review, it is time to get into actually writing it. We are still going to work on our example task and, of course, you might have to adjust your language and content for different topics, but you should get a good idea of what is expected from you when writing a review for C1 Advanced.

The introduction of a review aims to engage the reader from the beginning. You want to create interest and anticipation of what you have to say about the book, film, restaurant or whatever else you might be reviewing.

It is always a good idea to start with a question because you can involve the reader’s own mind and, therefore, generate the engagement you want. Also, don’t give any spoilers, but hint at what’s going to come in the rest of the text .

Let’s look at a possible introduction.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – a review Have you ever been so passionate about something that you would sacrifice your very best years for it? Would you even put it ahead of your family and friends? In the film Mandela: Lond Walk to Freedom we get not only a glimpse of Nelson Mandela’s life, but rather dive deep into who he was and how he changed a whole country.

I gave my review a title, which doesn’t have to be fancy, and in the introduction I didn’t do anything crazy either. It starts with a couple of questions to generate interest and I don’t give away too much of the storyline. Obviously, a lot of people know something about Nelson Mandela’s life, but that’s not the point. Give the reader just a tiny little taste so they want more and keep reading.

The body of your review for C1 Advanced includes all the main topic points that we elicited earlier from the example task.

Each point gets its own paragraph to make sure that the text is clearly organised.

You also want to make sure that you keep the reader’s attention which you have carefully caught in the introduction. Treat it like something very valuable that you don’t want to lose again until the end of your review.

While the whole film captivated me throughout, there was one aspect that truly stood out to me. Nelson Mandela and his second wife Winnie had a one-of-a-kind relationship driving each other to continue and grow the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa even after Mr Mandela was captured and imprisoned . It is a testament to their dedication and partnership and something that a lot of us can learn from. Despite having a strong and driven partner in his wife, I still used to be astonished by the fact that someone would simply sacrifice themselves and give up a big part of their life to help others, but this biopic made me reconsider. Witnessing a segregated society and all the racial abuse the black community had to endure during apartheid, there was no other option for Nelson Mandela than to stand up and fight for equality .

I’ve highlighted some of the more important language features for you. At the beginning of each paragraph, I play with contrasting statements (while, despite) as this keeps the reader guessing. I also tried to use some vocabulary that is specific to Mandela’s life (anti-apartheid movement, sacrifice themselves, segregated society, racial abuse…had to endure, stand up and fight for equality) and some words and expressions to make the review more interesting for the reader (one-of-a-kind, captured and imprisoned, it is a testament to…, astonished).

All of these little things together make for an engaging review that the reader wants to read fully and thoroughly.

To finish your review you need a conclusion in which you summarise what you’ve written up to this point and make a recommendation to the reader. After all, that’s why we read reviews in the first place – we want someone to tell us about a product or an experience and see if they would recommend it or not.

There is some specific language that you should incorporate when you make a recommendation because you want to persuade the reader and make the examiner happy :

• I recommend/suggest [title/name] to + person
• I recommend/suggest + -ing
• I recommend/suggest that …
• You should + base verb
• You might want to + base verb

Nothing crazy, but you want to cover all the bases.

All in all, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom gives some incredible insight into the life of one of the world’s most famous and influential personalities of the 20th century. It would be a shame not to watch it so I highly recommend that you check your favourite streaming service or buy the film as soon as you can and I promise you won’t regret it.

You see that it is very much straightforward. The first sentence recaps what I like about the film and the second one makes a recommendation and tries to persuade the reader (“I promise you won’t regret it.”).

How your review is marked

The marking scheme in C1 Advanced is pretty complex and there are a lot of things for the examiner to consider when checking your review. For this reason, I decided to write an article about how the writing paper in CAE is marked and you check it out by following the link below.

>>> Find out how your writing in C1 Advanced is marked. <<<

Now it is up to you

Take the advice in this article and start practising reviews. With more experience it will become easier and easier for you and when the official exam comes around, you will be ready.

Lots of love,

Teacher Phill 🙂

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