One star on eatery rating scale nothing to shout about

Rating the country's restaurants for noise was not intended as a "witch hunt" but having to shout over the sirloin steak is bad for your ears, deaf awareness advocates say.

As Deaf Awareness Week kicks off today, the National Foundation for the Deaf has released preliminary survey results of the noisiest eateries in town and says a restaurant's noise rating should be served up with the tastebud rating for the hollandaise sauce.

"Most restaurant reviews focus on the food and the service, sometimes on the ambience but seldom on noise levels," said foundation executive manager Marianne Schumacher.

"Yet research shows the information would be welcomed by the public."

The survey, by the New Zealand Acoustics journal for the Acoustical Society, asks patrons to list their noise rating of a restaurant and post or email it so results can be compiled and made available to the public.

As the survey has only just begun, most ratings so far are by just one customer but the eateries on the noisiest list will probably come as no surprise to their patrons just the same.

Auckland's Prego gets a rating of two stars, meaning "take earplugs at the very least".

Prego's near neighbour on Ponsonby Rd, popular lunchtime eatery Dizengoff, also got two stars.

"I'm sorry to hear we're on the worst list but we have quite a bit of an atmosphere," said owner Troy Mentor

"When you get a lot of people, and we often have a full house, noise levels tend to rise but you can't ask people to keep it down.

"Our noise is not loud music. We actually turn the music down so people can talk quietly.

"But really, it's one of those things you can't control."

Surprisingly no Auckland restaurants merited a one-star rating, the highest for noise and defined as "lip-reading would be an advantage".

Instead, several Queenstown and Christchurch restaurants did.

That list included Sombreros, Lone Star and Luciano Ristorante.

Star performers on the quietest list, earning five stars because they were "the place to be and be heard", were Auckland's De Fontaine in Mission Bay, Delicious of Grey Lynn and Formosa Country Club Restaurant in East Auckland.

On the four-star list, translating as a "nice quiet evening", were Auckland's Langtons of One Tree Hill and Mezze Bar in High St, Queenstown's Bunker restaurant, Latitude 41 in Wellington and the Green Turtle in Christchurch.


Pardon?

* Lip-reading would be an advantage
** Take earplugs at the very least
*** Not too bad, particularly mid-week
**** A nice quiet evening
***** The place to be and be heard