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Two honest scores, one verdict, ten places. Here's exactly how they're put together — no "algorithm" hand-waving, no pretending it's magic.
Harry Hungry is mostly automated. The scores are built from published reviews, critic coverage and other public signals, weighted by rules — not from a personal visit to every restaurant.
Methodology last updated
A cuisine, a mood, a neighbourhood. As loose or as fussy as you like.
Google, Yelp, Tripadvisor, the proper critics, booking sites — the evidence, gathered.
Weight the trustworthy, discount the shouty, and flag it when the sources disagree.
Ranked, with two honest scores and a plain-English verdict. Not three hundred. Ten.
Thousands of opinions → checked & weighted → ten answers
Score 01
How good does it appear to be?
A 0–100 read on quality — kitchen, service, room, the lot. Built from the sources below, then adjusted for how much evidence there is and whether the sources agree.
| 28% | Loud, generous, the big crowd. Useful for moderation. | |
| Critics | 22% | Eater, Infatuation, Michelin. The ones who go for a living. |
| Yelp | 16% | Sharper, crankier, occasionally unhinged. |
| Tripadvisor | 8% | Mostly tourists. Weighted down accordingly. |
| Aggregators | 17% | OpenTable, Facebook, Zomato and Foursquare — breadth, where a place is listed. |
| Signals | 5% | Reservation platforms, recent buzz, freshness. |
| 4% | A tiny buzz check. Not a substitute for anything. |
Starting weights. The mix changes with which sources are available and trustworthy in a given city, redistributed across whatever a place actually has.
Score 02
Will you be pleased when the bill arrives?
A separate 0–100 read on value — not a cheapness score. A $180 dinner can score higher than a $14 sandwich if it earns it.
Expensive is not the same as overpriced.
| Satisfaction | 45% | Quality, consistency, service, room. |
|---|---|---|
| Fairness | 30% | Portion honesty and what else is nearby for the money. |
| Distinctiveness | 15% | Can you get this experience for less down the road? |
| Hype tax | 10% | The more hype, the higher the regret risk. |
Harry doesn't punish a place for costing money. Only for not being worth it.
The H Stars
A 1-to-3-star award for the restaurants that are consistently highly rated across the available evidence. Price-blind — a taco stand and a tasting menu compete on the same axis — and impossible to buy. A star only goes to a place with a verified review base (real volume, or genuine critic coverage), never a thin or gameable sample. The top tier (H★★★) demands more still: the sources have to agree, and there has to be a spark of distinctiveness.
Consistently excellent, on a solid, verified base.
A cut above — one of the better tables in town.
The best in town — sources agree, and it's genuinely distinctive.
Quick to earn, slow to lose: a star only drops after two review cycles running below the line — never yanked on one noisy week. See who holds one →
Confidence
A score is only as good as the evidence under it — and that's not just a review count. Every place carries a confidence read, so a 90 from three reviews never outranks an 84 from three thousand.
Thin evidence — under 25 reviews and no critic coverage. Shown, but held at arm's length.
A solid sample, or genuine critic coverage. The score is worth trusting.
A deep sample (past 250 reviews) or several sources agreeing. As sure as Harry gets.
Source disagreement
The sources often disagree. That disagreement is a signal in itself — Harry reads it and adjusts, then tells you why on the card. The size of the nudge depends on the sample and the sources present, so these are illustrations, not fixed deductions.
Google's clapping, Yelp is grumbling
Pleasant to walk into, less pleasant once you've ordered. Harry splits the difference.
Tripadvisor loves it, the locals don't
The classic tourist-trap signature. Marked down, with a note.
Critics rave, the crowd is split
Often brilliant if you order the right thing, a mistake if you don't. Flagged, not buried.
Lots of stars, hardly any reviews
Could be a gem, could be the chef's mates. Treated with scepticism until the numbers grow.
The value verdicts
Every result earns one Worth It verdict — a one-line read on whether the money's well spent.
Quietly excellent for the money — bring everyone, including the ones who complain.
A grown-up dinner that doesn't shake you down. Order the second bottle.
Yes, it's a lot. Yes, it's worth it. Once a year, or when someone else is paying.
Save it for a reason. The room knows it's a Big Night and behaves accordingly.
It's not fancy and doesn't pretend to be. You'll eat well and walk out with change.
Half the bill is the postcode and the playlist. Fine, if that's what you came for.
You're paying for the view, the location, and the laminated menu. The food is along for the ride.
Cheap, and you'll feel it on the way home. Spend the extra fiver elsewhere.
The honest bit
Right then. What do you fancy?
Find ten good places →More: About Harry Hungry · The H Stars · Harry's best · Worth It ranking.