My grading system

For restaurant reviews, perhaps I ought to explain my rating system, as it may confuse you. I am a somewhat lenient grader, but here is how I think. Most of the time, I rate out of 10, since it gives the most gradients and you can see little nuances between an 8 and a 9. But when I rate out of 10, I am actually using two scales. The scale from 10 to 6 is the "good scale."

- 8 and above is good; it means I would return happily anytime, or would order the dish again (Obviously a 9 is a pretty good. I have yet to experience a 10).
- 7 to 7.5 means I would return depending on the occasion, or I might order the dish again, depending on what was offered
- 6 means I might return, depending on what others restaurants I could eat at and how convenient it was. I might not order the dish again, unless I couldn't find something else to eat. This means I wouldn't hesitate to order such a dish, but I wouldn't get excited about it either.

The scale from 5 to 1 is the "bad" scale." Generally anything that get judged with a 5 or below is something that I am reviewing so that you can avoid my experience.

- 5 is something I didn't enjoy

- 4 is something not good

- 3 is something pretty bad

- 1 or 2 is something truly awful

If I am rating based on stars, I use 4 stars to mean the very best. This is like Christian Etienne (Avignon, France) or Inn at Little Washington. Four stars equates to a 9 out of 10, or above.

- Three stars is still stellar, like my favorite restaurant in DC, CityZen.
- Two stars is a nice meal, like TenPenh or Volt (Frederick, MD).
- One star is something I would not go out and pay for myself, but I wouldn't object if someone else did. Meaning, it's not worth inconvenience, but it's still a nice place.
- No stars, well that's pretty self explanatory.

I normally reserve star ratings for nicer, more formal dining, because this is how other reviewers rate them.

Sometimes I give restaurants or dishes no rating. This is either because of laziness or indecisiveness. For those, I am sorry, and generally I don’t call them “reviews” so much as just written experiences that I am sharing with you.

I hope this clears things up!