The "Best ofs" I know of are generally concensus based though. If I asked 10 people in my area who are foodies, they would all generally agree with the results

The "Best ofs" I know of are generally concensus based though. If I asked 10 people in my area who are foodies, they would all generally agree with the results of what the best "Japanese restaurants" are in town. Having been to Japan myself (and speak conversational Japanese), I know what good quality Japanese food tastes like. I also know which local restaurants make their own noodles in-house VS those that don't, b/c I know most of the owners. Zagat unfortunately missed the mark on 3 restaurants. There aren't many Japanese restaurants in my town to begin with though. It isn't even a matter of price either. All 3 I'm thinking of, one is on the cheap-end, another mid-level, and another highend. So I find this margin of error to be enormously large. It's okay if 1 of them was on that list, but all 3 is just unusual. Plus some didn't even have a listing on that site. I have never heard of anyone actually using Zagat either, besides the plaques I see on restaurants to showcase their awards.