Signature dish: Critical choices

The other day, I got into a discussion with a friend about the restaurants I review for 48 Hours, the magazine published on Thursdays with the South China Morning Post. He commented that I reviewed too many Japanese restaurants. So I checked the list of places I had visited over the past few months and found I had eaten at 11 Chinese restaurants, 10 Japanese and 21 serving "other cuisines" - which I see as pretty even-handed. Wanting to play devil's advocate, he checked the Open Rice website to find out how many different cuisines were represented in Hong Kong and wondered if what I review shouldn't reflect that same extensive range.

I then showed him the list I compile every month of new restaurants. He was astonished - he had no idea so many places open each month. It's not even a comprehensive list; although I regularly check Open Rice, as well as other Hong Kong-based food websites and blogs, to find out about new places, I'm sure there are restaurants I miss hearing about. Last month, about 60 new places opened, not counting the cheaper restaurants, for which I maintain a separate list, to be reviewed for the "HK$100 and under" column in 48 Hours. Of the 60 new restaurants, at least a third are highlighted as ones I'd like to review for one reason or another - whether it's because there's a buzz about a place within the food community, because I've heard positive things about the fare or because it's been opened by a famous chef or restaurateur. Of the 20 or so "reviewable" restaurants, probably only eight to 10 will make it into the paper - there are only two reviews a week and only four or five Thursdays each month.

I showed my friend the different types of restaurants that make it onto the list and explained that if my reviews lean heavily towards Chinese and Japanese cuisines, that's because a preponderance of those types open. And while I do try to write about a broad range of cuisines, if, say, an Indian restaurant opens in an out-of-the-way area, replacing another Indian eatery, I'm probably not going to review it unless someone I trust tells me that the food is unusually good.

When I review a bad restaurant, it's by accident, and I try to cut my losses before that happens.