After the summer break, #whampreview is back – and it’s bigger than ever.

If you’re new to all things blog/Twitter around here, then some background: over the past couple of years, we’ve tried out 11 different local restaurants and rated them on food/service/value and overall experience. Each time just eight of us have gone – with the exception of Barraco when I was full of the Christmas spirit of generosity. It’s a different eight each time and for many people this is a calmer and quieter way to meet some locals than the party atmosphere of whampgather. Plenty of friendships have been forged at whampreviews and I think each one has been a great night out.

What now?
As the whamp community has grown so has demand for places at whampreview. It got to the stage where I was turning away more people than I was taking. Time for a rethink. We’re going to start increasing the number of people now, the precise number will depend a bit on the restaurant. Where possible, we will still order off the à la carte menu. No longer will we be anonymously reviewing the restaurant – that’s simply not feasible or fair with large numbers, the event is more about trying out somewhere new or different or that has a new menu, and getting to meet each other over a plate of food and glass of wine.

So, where are we going next?
Next up is perennial favourite The Wet Fish Café on October 6th. Despite its popularity, we’ve not reviewed the WFC before, largely because it wouldn’t have been possible to do it anonymously but that is no longer a concern. However, the restaurant has just this week launched a new evening menu so it seems like an ideal time to go and check it out. Owner André is also throwing in a free glass of prosecco for us all as an aperitif.

I want in! How does this work?
I’m lovin’ your enthusiasm. We have 16 places available. If you’d like to come then please or tweet me (@WHampstead) before midday Friday. If the event is oversubscribed then, as is customary, I shall draw the names out of a hat. (NB: this is not first-come-first-served as whampgather was). If you’re one of the lucky ones, I shall be in touch Friday afternoon and I will need a mobile number and active e-mail address from you.

Please don’t commit to this ‘on the offchance’. Once I’ve contacted you to say you’re in, then that’s basically a restaurant reservation you’ve made. Of course there are always odd very good reasons for last-minute dropouts, but for the restaurant’s sake (and mine!) please try and commit to the date – that’s much appreciated.

What’s the bill going to be like?
We always split the bill evenly, although we do try and take into account any large discrepancy in alcohol consumption. The Wet Fish is not the cheapest restaurant in West Hampstead and a three-course meal + wine + service is likely to run at ~£40/head. We may decide to share starters to bring this down a bit, and we’ll stick to house wine, but don’t come with a crumpled £20 note and expect that to be enough this time around!

Anything else?
If you go here, you can see links to all the previous reviews. Note that from now on we won’t be scoring every element of the evening. I’ll jot down some comments during the evening to incorporate into the write-up, but this is a bit more about socialising together and a bit less about hardcore restaurant reviewing than it used to be.

Woohoo!
Quite.