Z(OMG)-omato

If there is one thing I hate about Pune it is the ubiquitous sycophancy showed by Punekars for some of their most ordinary restaurants. Having recently moved here (and then tasted the said ordinary food in the said celebrated restaurants), I have started a minor movement to discredit them on Zomato.com (my preferred foodie site). It's been a ritual to post a review there (usually scathing) after having visited a place (and also to chide some of the famed Punekar obsequiousness). Here's some things I'd like to say about the site:

The Good

Navigation: I have found that the site has an incredibly clean look (in contrast to its "belchy" sounding competitor), which makes navigating the site less like visiting a porn portal.

What's the program:







Quite recently they've also added an "Events" section which is really neat and unlike anything I've seen before. I stumbled across the events section when I was groping around to check if I could find a stand-up act somewhere in India, amazingly I found one, nice work Zomato.

The site also has a very useful mobile app (Android, iPhone, BB) which suggests a random nearby restaurant evertime you shake your phone. Also let's you review, locate and call the retaurant, right inside the app!

The Not So Good

The app (Android) uses a little too much battery for my liking. The Zomato developers really need to optimise it to make sure that doesn't happen.

There is just no easy way for users to submit a restaurant to the website. I was really excited to find this burger place in KP and wanted to suggest it to Zomato, but no way. It is a noble intention to try and keep multiple entries and spam from the site, and encourage restaurant owners to list on the site, but there just has to be some way to submit a suggestion for a restaurant. The option doesn't pop up on either the site or the app. In fact what better than to have a feature in the app which would allow users to suggest a restaurant (GPS tag, photos of menu, phone number in tow)! That much less for the team to do.

I have also found the distinct lack of reviews on the website (for REALLY popular restaurants). There's no dearth of users, so why no love? People come to the site because of user reviews, Zomato really needs to spice up their review contests to attract more users. I think cookies help too, people usually GO to a restaurant after they search for it on Zomato, a gentle reminder to review the restaurant on the next visit wouldn't hurt.

I don't know how much Zomato is working on this front, but it is ideal if the restaurant owner is made aware of the feedback on his eatery and preferably be given the oportunity to respond. Good restaurants employ PR guys to handle online reviews, it is a big draw for users if they feel their suggestions and complaints reach the reviewees ears.