What review source do you rely on that is not tainted in the way I described above?

For reference your complaint was:

I've been using Yelp for several years and I have never found this to be a problem with them.

I personally read findeatdrink.com
I think they do a great job of listing places that are current and not paid by the restaurants to advertise.
I really like how they take recommendations from people in the food industry.

Look, no review site is perfect.
Yelp, tripadvisor, Zagats, chowhound, Michelin all contribute when I make my decision in picking restaurants in different cities.
Ideally, I like to ask a local. Local meaning someone that I know who lives there. Someone who’s food judgment I trust.
I would never ask a cab driver or someone I don’t know to recommend a restaurant. Not sure how anyone can do that.
It’s important to calibrate before you take someones opinion.

I think Zagats is very accurate for some cities, especially New York.
Often times you have people complain about Zagats but do not know how its supposed to be used.
I.e. they see a restaurant rated 28 and assume that its better than a restaurant that’s rated 26.
If you compare the same cuisine, its very accurate in determining which restaurant is better. Its not perfect but its pretty spot on.

Yelp and tripadvisor- I read reviews but don’t rely on them. My process for these? Might sound like a pain but I read reviews of reviewers who have reviewed restaurants I have been to and read their review. If I agree with the person on a lot of their reviews, then I take it as valid. I don’t place value in reading a review of a vacationer going to a new city and rating a restaurant. An example of this would be trip advisor. The highest rated steak house there is rated by a bunch of people who are on vacation (mostly from Europe). I have nothing against tourists but their reviews are based on that one experience, often time not so much about the food but rated based on how they are treated.

Michelin- its very difficult to say that their system is wrong. I know a lot of people that say some restaurant shouldn’t be on the list and others complaining that some restaurants didn’t make the list. More often than not, people complain because a lot of restaurants are expensive.

I'd be happy to calibrate with you to see if my taste is the same as yours.

Sounds like you asked the wrong concierge, haha.

or, the right concierge...some are better than others ;)

I'm not a foodie but I like food. The whole foodie thing is dreadfully overdone. Do people really need to photograph everything they eat*, add a filter and upload it to Instagram? I was at a dinner a few weeks ago and one of the girls was a self-confessed foodie who was critiquing every aspect of each dish and letting the table know that she had had that dish in <insert country of origin> and it was much better there.:rolleyes:

Full disclosure: I have on the odd occasion taken a picture of my food.

The first thing I look for on yelp/tripadvisor and the like are pictures of the food/hotel properties.
To me pictures are worth 1000 words!

To many blowhards in the world to just rely on a 5 star/1 star review

Depends where I am/what I'm doing. I am still old school and like guide books, which at least will present a range of options to consider. I'll accept that anything I eat on the first day of a holiday will be pants, as I'm too tired to care about what I eat and just fall into the nearest restaurant.

In big cities, I'll avoid tourist areas (London and Edinburgh particularly). There are good eating places on the Royal Mile for example, but only a couple (although one of those is superb and is one of my favourite eating places in the city!). If nothing else, avoiding those areas knocks 10% off the bill.

In resorts, I'll check out the possibilities during the day.

I'm more of a drinkie than a foodie. :D

I just go to the place across the road from the hotel - if there is a suitable one. Always seems to work out well for me. Otherwise I look whilst i'm wandering around town or ask on FT.