How to keep a restaurant journal: what to write down, with a template

What a restaurant journal is (and is not)

It helps to separate it from two things it gets mixed up with. A food diary for nutrition tracks portions and calories; a restaurant journal tracks experiences. And a public review is written for strangers; a restaurant journal is written for you, so it can be short, honest and as subjective as you like.

The question it answers is very specific: where did I eat or drink something I would genuinely have again? Everything you note down should help you answer it six months from now.

Why we forget where we ate well

You remember the place; you forget the details. Over time the dishes of two similar restaurants blur together, the name of the wine you ordered disappears and the photo sits in your camera roll among hundreds of screenshots, with no clear date or context. What fades first is exactly what you need to decide: what to order and whether it was worth going back.

That is why a restaurant journal works better the closer to the visit you write it, even if it is just two lines, and the easier it is to find afterwards.

What to write down after each visit

You do not need to write much. You need to write what you will look for later:

1. The place and the actual date. The name of the restaurant and when you went, not when you wrote it down.
2. Each dish and each drink separately. “Great dinner” is useless; “ham croquetas and an Albariño” is not.
3. A rating per dish. Whatever you always use: 1 to 10, 1 to 5 or three faces. What matters is sticking to the same scale.
4. Would you order it again? Per dish. It is the answer you will check most often.
5. Would you go back to the place? That is a separate decision: you might return for a single dish even if the rest did not convince you.
6. Who you were with and why. An anniversary dinner and a quick lunch are judged differently.
7. One line with the reason. “Cooked perfectly”, “far too salty”, “the waiter recommended the red and got it right”.

How to rate for your future self

A rating without a reason becomes useless within weeks: a 7 does not tell you whether it was a “fine but pricey” 7 or a “simple and perfect for a Tuesday” 7. Three rules that help:

• Rate the dish, not the evening. The service or the company can make everything seem better or worse than it was.
• Keep the dish apart from the place. An average restaurant can serve the best dish in town, and the other way round.
• Write the decision, not just the score. “Would order again” and “would go back” are the two answers you will look for when you have to choose.

Notebook, phone notes, spreadsheet or app

Any format works if you use it. Each one has its cost:

• A notebook. Lovely and screen-free, but you cannot search it and it is not with you when you decide where to eat.
• Phone notes. Quick to jot down, but they end up as one long list with no organized photos, no map and no way to filter what you would have again.
• A spreadsheet. Great for sorting and filtering, but awkward on a phone, photos stay outside it and, if you share it with friends, anyone with access sees every row.
• A restaurant journal app. Keeps photos, map and notes in one place. Before choosing one, check whether it is private by default and whether you can export your data.

How it works in Ilnami

Ilnami is a private food diary, and its structure follows the template above. Each memory brings together the place, the actual date and one or more dishes or drinks, each with its photos, a 1-to-10 rating, your notes and whether you would order it again. For the place, you decide whether you would go back.

• Save it on the spot or later, from photos in your gallery, with an optional AI scan you review before saving, or by hand.
• Find it on your map and filter the places you would go back to.
• Your summary reminds you of the places you marked “Yes, I'd go back” but have not returned to in a while.
• Private by default: no profiles, reviews or public rankings. You can export your data whenever you like.

If you want to share the list with your partner or friends without opening everything up, we cover it in how to organize favorite restaurants and drinks with friends.

Habits that keep the journal going

• Write it as you leave or that same night. If you cannot, take the photos and rebuild the memory later: the photo date helps.
• Two lines today beat a page never. Dish, rating and “would order again” are enough.
• Check it before you book. A journal nobody reads stops being written.
• Look back at your notes now and then. Your taste changes; your ratings can too.

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