Member of The Guild of Food Writers
Member of The Guild of Food Writers

Editorial Policy

FooDiva reviews restaurants anonymously, whilst paying her own way. This no-freebies policy means you can trust FooDiva to speak her mind, and to share impartial, intelligent restaurant reviews. The reviews offer constructive feedback, and are simply the opinion of FooDiva alone. FooDiva dines with one guest to allow for a greater variety of dishes and a fair representation of the dining experience.

Since 2020 on the back of the pandemic, the dedicated restaurant review section is focused on new homegrown openings only, between one and three months of opening. These are scored on a one to five knife rating (and that sometimes includes half scores) which reflects the dining experience on six parameters – food (spanning flavour, technique, quality of ingredients and presentation), service, location, interior, atmosphere, and value for money. The rating encompasses the overall restaurant experience with everything from making a reservation to the arrival experience, the meal itself, and getting the bill.

  • One knife – don’t even think about dining here
  • Two knives – poor and forgettable
  • Three knives – average
  • Four knives – excellent in most parts, but not all
  • Five knives – an extraordinary and perfect dining experience

Restaurant operators, PRs & marketers:

  • Please do monitor reviews of your restaurants, and feel free to respond to the review and follower feedback by using the comments function or on the social media posts. Even a negative experience can be transformed into something positive with the right response, and ultimately, improve customer satisfaction.
  • You may like to email FooDiva with a heads up of new homegrown restaurant openings and the menu to help her decide whether the outlet qualifies for an incognito review. Direct message ‘pitches’ on any social channel, Instagram and Whatsapp included, will not be responded to.
  • In addition, FooDiva has a number of other sections – food features, drink stories, chef interviews and culinary travel – so please do consider these in your pitches.
  • In line with the editorial policy, FooDiva does not attend restaurant opening events, nor accept any restaurant review invitations. If there is news value in other media events for homegrown concepts, and time dependent, FooDiva may join.
  • For marketing and commercial opportunities, please click here.

Last but not least, as an online publisher, FooDiva is responsible for the content on this website, so here is the privacy policy and code of ethics.

A bientôt.

FooDiva. x

Web Comments

8 Responses to “Editorial Policy”

  1. Rima Dudeja June 18, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Hi There,

    Marks & Spencer has recently opened their new cafe in their flagship DFC store on the 4th June. We’s like to invite you for a food review. I have just read that the reviews would be anonymous, however, this is just to inform you of our new cafe.

    Incase you need any other information such as recipes, food images, interviews with a Chef, perhaps a food competition, please feel free to call me on 050 745 7317.

    Many Thanks,
    Rima

    • FooDiva June 27, 2012 at 9:37 pm

      Thanks Rima. I shall bear it in mind for a future review 🙂

  2. Shereen Halbawi November 28, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Hello!

    We’d like to invite you to review our Christmas collection in our Forrey & Galland boutique located at the Dubai Mall.

    Please email me back if you are interested!

    • FooDiva November 28, 2012 at 7:12 pm

      Hi Shereen – my email is samantha@foodiva.net – feel free to drop me a line. Thanks.

  3. Rachael August 26, 2013 at 3:31 pm

    Hello 🙂

    Wondering if you could please do a review of Bennigan’s in the Dubai Mall? Concerned about the amount of bad steak I’ve had here and I really want to try their all you can eat but I don’t want to get burnt again 🙁

    Rare means still mooing no??

    Hope you can help a DubaiNewbie out.

    • FooDiva August 26, 2013 at 9:24 pm

      Hi Rachael – sadly I don’t review chain restaurants. There are so many new openings in Dubai I have to prioritise and simply cannot get round to reviewing them all. If you’re looking for a steakhouse here are my reviews which gives you a selection http://foodiva.net/?s=steakhouse&Submit.x=-362&Submit.y=-44

      Rare isn’t quite blue which is the closest to mooing 😉

  4. Kobus March 25, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Hi There

    There is a cafe in Jumeirah beach road its been open for about 6 month “The Hamptons Cafe”
    Would Like to invite you for a review on this cozy little cafe.

    Thanks

  5. Diana November 9, 2016 at 11:05 am

    Hi Foodiva,
    I can’t seem to find a contact e-mail. Just wanted to let you guys know that we are starting our brunch on the terrace overlooking the polo fields on the 18th, I read as per your policy that you wait a month before visiting. Just wanted to drop you a message and let you know that we will be starting, so if you have space in your Friday brunch calendar in December or January i hope we will get a spot. it is a different brunch to most in Dubai, as it gives a great opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and nature, with our lush green fields and the sport of polo as the main entertainment.
    Hope to see our brunch reviewed here at some point.
    Best regards
    Diana

I’d love to receive your feedback, so feel free to comment any time.

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