The Sauce in stats: 2024 in review

How many bad reviews do we actually write?

A few weeks ago we all saw our deepest music embarrassments unwrapped with some rather questionable graphics - thanks Spotify. But there’s no denying that data is fascinating - even more so when it’s presented in a nice digestible format. So we thought we’d take this opportunity to look back at our crowning reviewing achievements this year by crunching some numbers. After all, Christmas isn’t Christmas without mince pie… charts.

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First up - what do the people want? The most-read list gives us some insight. Listicles. You want listicles. And places in Southmead…

Most read (of all time):

1. Bristol’s best restaurants: 11 places to eat in 2024 part one (1.39k reads)

2. Thikanaa, Southmead: ‘The Indian chip butty I didn’t know I needed’ (1.32k reads)

3. Chez Candice, Boiling Wells: ‘I fell down the rabbit hole and never want to leave’ (870 reads)

4. Bristol’s best restaurants: 11 places to eat in 2024 part two (870 reads)

5. Other, Cannon Street: ‘Quite simply some of the best food you can get in Bristol’ (855 reads)

6. The Malago, North Street: ‘When dinner on North Street goes south’ (801 reads)

7. Desi Dera, Stapleton Road: ‘Five of the best wings for just £3 is frankly ludicrous’ (788 reads)

8. Dongnae, Chandos Road: ‘The best new Bristol restaurant of 2024’ (767 reads)

   

   Vada pav from Thikaana in Southmead - just £2 a sandwich!

Total reads this year: 32,553

It’s very important to me that we cover the whole of Bristol, not just certain neighbourhoods. We are always striving to be as inclusive, accessible and diverse as possible. As you can see below, we’ve done a pretty good job, but there’s still room for improvement. If you know of any independent and interesting restaurants in our lesser-served neighbourhoods, let us know in the comments.

Geographical coverage:

A prawn for each restaurant we’ve reviewed

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The question on everyone’s lips: how many bad reviews do we actually write?

Apparently I’ve got a bit of a reputation for writing bad reviews. Where did that come from?! To set the record straight, we write far more positive reviews than we do negative.

Total number of reviews this year: 33

Percentage of reviews where the food has been paid for and the restaurant has not known we’re coming: 100%

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Raising our profile…

It's always an exciting moment to wake up to the rush of notifications that heralds a mention on the national circuit. Not only is it humbling and validating for me as a writer, it's also hugely important for growing The Bristol Sauce's profile, and for helping other restaurant-goers to find us. After all, don't we want the rest of the world to know about the fabulous food in our favourite city?

This year, The Sauce has had four national mentions:

• The Telegraph, December 8 by Xanthe Clay: “My friend Meg Houghton-Gilmour, who writes wickedly honest reviews of local restaurants at The Bristol Sauce is a proud Mancunian.”

• Smashed #34 by Andy Lynes: “The 24 June edition of The Bristol Sauce, Bristolian Meg Houghton-Gilmour’s excellent restaurant-themed Substack, was entitled ‘Bristol's best restaurants: 11 places to eat in 2024 - part two’. In it, she wrote a 100-word review of Bokman, saying ‘Bokman is a love story told through Korean cooking that will leave you utterly star-struck. Don’t miss the Tongdak - one of the best roast chickens you’ll ever have.’ In the 11 August edition of the Observer, Jay Rayner wrote a 1,000-word review of Bokman and said pretty much the same thing. That is why Substack is the future.”

• Smashed #44 by Andy Lynes: “I first read about Dongnae (the second restaurant from wife and husband team Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson who also run Bokman) in The Bristol Sauce which is where I usually find out about Bristol restaurants.”

• Hold The Front Page: “Meg aims to provide what she described as “honest and engaging food writing in Bristol” with “authentic reviews of Bristol’s vibrant food scene.” To ensure transparency, Meg has made clear that all meals reviewed on the platform will be paid for.

Lovely stuff.

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If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? Who knows. What I do know is that there’s absolutely no point writing restaurant reviews if no one reads them, so thanks for being here.

The Saucers

Current number of free Saucers: 440