Welcome to DineOut!

The Canterbury Earthquake (and aftershocks)

As you are probably aware, Christchurch & the greater Canterbury region has been rocked by a severe 7.1 magnitude earthquake. Since then, there have been over 150 aftershocks, many of which have been compounding the issues with homes and businesses in the region. We have personally seen the devastation as this has happened to us, in our own city. Thankfully, we are fine, but many others have been impacted dramatically by this natural disaster. Here are some of the resources here which may be of help, or information to you:

• CJD wrote an article about the quake on Sunday
• Read our thread on the quake, affected buildings and who has survived and is open
• Who has survived and who is open? We have created a register to keep everyone up to date. Please update the listings where you know their status

If you have any information that you feel would be useful to everyone, please post it in the thread above, or contact us and let us know and we'll get it out there for you.

The 2010 DineOut People's Choice Awards have been decided on, with The French Cafe and Sezn taking out the gold medals. Check out the full list of award winners here.

When it comes to dining out, it's always very easy to stick with what you know. Trying somewhere new can be a bit hit and miss - you don't want to pay out good money for a mediocre experience, or mismatch the restaurant to the occasion. How can you minimise the mediocre and maximise the great dining experiences?

This is where DineOut comes in. Browse or search through our extensive database of restaurants and cafes around New Zealand, and read reviews submitted by other diners. Did they have a great time? Was the service awesome? Food divine? Would they recommend the restaurant? DineOut reviewers are ordinary people who eat out occasionally or even regularly, and DineOut is the forum to allow their experiences to be shared.

If you would like to submit your own reviews, first you will need to register. Once your registration has been confirmed, you can add your own review from the restaurant's listing page. When reviewing, your comments are really important - think about the kind of information you would like get from a review and go from there.

Any questions? Check out our FAQ page for more information about how DineOut works. If you have any other questions feel free to contact us.

If you haven't, why haven't you? We'd vote for you! [read it]

(over) Two weeks into the 2010 Monteith’s Beer and Wild Food Challenge [read it]

Restaurant patrons nationwide have voted and 39 restaurants around the country have been awarded gold, silver and bronze status on restaurant review site DineOut [read it]

10 Most reviewed restaurants on DineOut

1. Sezn, Dallington, Christchurch (125 reviews)
2. The French Cafe, Auckland (101 reviews)
3. Monsoon Poon, Wellington (99 reviews)
4. Orbit, Auckland (98 reviews)
5. Cook'n with Gas, Central city, Christchurch (96 reviews)
6. Mu Premium Steak House & Bar, Christchurch (94 reviews)
7. Nicolini's Italian Cafe Bar and Bistro, Wellington (94 reviews)
8. The Grove, Auckland (90 reviews)
9. Prego Restaurant, Ponsonby, Auckland (89 reviews)
10. Portofino Pizzeria Ristorante, Auckland (82 reviews)