Don’t want to hit the phones to book a table at your favourite restaurant? If it’s listed at restaurant booking site Dimmi, you won’t have to — you can do it direct from your browser. More »
Booking a restaurant by phone can be a risky undertaking when you get an answering machine. Bookarestaurant.com lets you search an area by available tables and make a booking directly. More »
According to research rounded up over at website The Daily Beast, loud and fast music at restaurants makes people eat faster and drink more. More »
Fancy dining out at a discount? Dinemore sells bargain-priced gift certificates for a range of Australian restaurants, offering an easy way to feed yourself or offer a present for a relative or friend. More »
Don’t have the energy to cook tonight but want something a bit more ambitious than ordering big-chain pizza? Menulog lists restaurants across Australia and lets you order from them directly online. More »
It’s never fun to be a squeaky wheel, but whether you’ve been served an overcooked, undercooked, or just plain wrong dish, there’s a proper and improper way to let your waiter know that you’re less than satisfied with what’s on your plate. More »
Web site OpenTable—the long-running standard for restaurant reservations online—has added a new review system to the site, which aims to filter out fake reviews. We’ve all researched a restaurant and found that the glowing praise online didn’t come close to the actual experience, and often that’s a result of inauthentic reviews. OpenTable will only allow diners who ate at a restaurant and booked through their reservation system to rank it, which they hope will result in more accurate reviews. Even if the reviews aren’t your cup of tea, we’ve never featured the very useful OpenTable before, and the free reservation service is a must-bookmark for any foodie. OpenTable [via TechCrunch]
US-centric: The food experts at Health magazine have scoured the menus at popular restaurant chains in search of the healthiest foods on the menu, rounding up several healthy menu options at otherwise unhealthy chains. For example, next time you find yourself staring down your fork at a never-ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden, you could opt instead for the low-fat Capellini Pomodoro (644 calories, 14 grams of fat) or the Venetian Apricot Chicken (448 calories, 11 grams of fat). Aside from the Olive Garden, the article runs down and handful of other chain favourites like Denny’s, Ruby Tuesday, and P.F. Chang’s. We’ve already covered five fast-food chains you can feel good about, but Health magazine’s list offers a few healthy alternatives for sit-down fare. Got your own favourite low-calorie dish at a national chain? Let’s hear about it in the comments. Health magazine names top chain restaurant fare [CNN]
