Seattle's Most Useful Food Blog
There are more restaurants in the International District than I can count, and without relying on recommendations, it's hard to get a sense of which ones are worth eating at and which ones I should never enter.
Which is why MSG150 is brilliant. A group of what I'm guessing are coworkers, led by the blog's founders, Adam, Emmett, and Geary, are systematically prowling a 16-block stretch of the International District, lunching, reporting, rating, and photographing. Their rules include:
1. We will eat at all establishments whose primary source of income is food. This excludes coffee shops, total dive bars, and scary marts, but everything else is on the list.
4. We will eat at restaurants in a predetermined order. However, if the next restaurant cannot accommodate us when we show up, we will skip it for that day and come back to it on the next outing.
6. No jokes about being hungry again at 3 pm, unless you are offering to buy snacks.
So far, the group numbers up to 11 people, and every diner reports on his or her experience. MSG150 has the two qualities required of a truly useful blog: It is thorough, as well as fearless.
The site can be a bit unwieldy with so many reviews and pictures, and so far it's not searchable by name but by month and by rating — 1 to 5 chopsticks; so far Jade Garden has scored the highest rating at 4.6. However, you can search for the restaurant by name at urbanspoon.com, and if MSG150 has written about the place it will appear in the "Blog Posts about X" section.
I am now a devoted follower.
6 comment(s)
Elvis says:
i ran into MSG 150 a few weeks ago and it is indeed brilliant. The pictures are what makes it so informative...you wanna see that big bowl of noodles you\'re gonna dive into.
One piece of advice--have the pictures up toward the top rather than having a user scroll down to the bottom. Much more user friendly!
Posted On: Tuesday, Mar. 25 2008 @ 3:05PM
Adam Phillabaum says:
Hey! Thanks for linking to us, and writing so positively about our little blog. I think I\'m actually blushing!
Geary made some improvements about a week ago... and we do have pictures \"inline\" with our reviews now.
Posted On: Tuesday, Mar. 25 2008 @ 3:31PM
Harriet DeWitt says:
Geary, it is hereditary. And you seem to have the dominant genes.
Great job.
Posted On: Wednesday, Mar. 26 2008 @ 4:59AM
sally says:
those chums wouldn\'t no a good meal if it bit them in the a##
Posted On: Friday, Mar. 28 2008 @ 1:18PM
sally says:
those chums wouldn\'t know a good meal if it bit them in the a##
Posted On: Friday, Mar. 28 2008 @ 1:21PM
Teddy Villamarin says:
Best new restaurant!! A definite must eat. Huiyona in North Capitol Hill on 10th and Miller. Try the Steak and Eggs "Korean Style" or the Shrimp Lollys. My friends and I love this place.
Posted On: Friday, Jul. 10 2009 @ 8:34PM