Ladurée: ★★★★★

Eighth stop
The next stop, the eighth stop already can be found in the capital of France, Paris and is Ladurée. Since 1862 Laduree first started as a bakery and developed to a pastry shop and nowadays Ladurée is a tea salon, pastry shop, restaurant, chocolate shop and an ice cream parlor. Ladurée has several locations worldwide, but the most beautiful one is located on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Everyday people from all over the world visit this location and the waiting row most of the time starts outside of the building. The most famous product of Ladurée is the macaroon. In French these are called ‘macaron’. These are small, round cakes, crisp on the outside and smooth and soft in the middle. There are several flavors and every season there are new flavors available. I love the macaroons and every time I am in Paris I need to visit Ladurée. My favorite flavors of the macaroons are caramel and coconut. Furthermore, Laduree has a very large collection of other nice things to buy, such as candles, scarves, champagne, soap, hand cream and many more. So, when you are visiting Paris my advice would be to definitely visit Ladurée and try a macaroon.

Social media research
 Ladurée has got a Facebook page and a Twitter account. The Facebook page has got over 7,000 persons who liked the page and on this page messages of products, new flavors of the macaroon and photos are placed. The twitter account has got over 2,000 followers and people can read as well as on the Facebook page new developments and products. This company is busy with developing their social media tools and this is a very good thing.  

Recommended, or not? I would rate Ladurée with definitely five stars. I have never been to the restaurant of Ladurée, but only with the experience of the other products of Ladurée I really love to visit the store and eat macaroons. The sweet taste of the different flavors are the best and you should definitely need to try this in your life!

Score: ★★★★★

Ladurée is simply the best!

Ciel Bleu: ★★★★★

Seventh stop
The seventh stop is a very exclusive and interesting stop in the special tour of judging restaurants and their social media usage all around the world. This stop can be found in the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam. The name of the restaurant is Ciel Bleu and is located in the Okura hotel on the 23rd floor in the Ferdinand Bolstraat 23. Ciel Bleu is the proud holder of two Michelin stars, and has notched up 17 Gault Millau points. Furthermore, Ciel Bleu is not just about inspiring culinary creations of the French cuisine, but offers a really exceptional atmosphere. Everything at Ciel Bleu revolves around you, because the guest comes first. The a la carte menu offers all kind of exclusive and special dishes, but there needs to be taken into account that the prices are of a high range. The cheapest first course is 29,50 euro. I recommend trying a menu when you are planning to visit Ciel Bleu. These menus have all kind of different dishes and this way you can explore more of the finest food of Ciel Bleu. Furthermore, with the spectacular view from the 23rd floor over the skyline of Amsterdam the whole evening is complete.

Social media research
Ciel Bleu has not got a Twitter account, but they do have a Facebook page. This Facebook page is empty at the moment and nothing of photos or messages has been put up there. I think that the two Michelin stars restaurant has chosen to not use any social media, but I think they miss an opportunity to promote Ciel Bleu to a younger public.

Recommended, or not?
I would rate Ciel Bleu with definitely five stars. The restaurant has very exclusive and special kind of dishes. Furthermore, the whole evening the guest comes first and the qualities of the staff are high. Ciel Bleu is an experience of a lifetime and with the combination of the view of the skyline of Amsterdam it is definitely worth visiting!

Score: ★★★★★

Ciel Bleu is amazing!

Kakama: ★★★★

Sixth stop
After changing the subject a little bit, we now continue to discuss some interesting restaurants all over the world and their social media usage.
The sixth stop can be found in the lovely city ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. The restaurant has the name Kakama, which is the abbreviation for the names of the owner of the restaurant. Kakama is an Asian fushion restaurant & bar with lots of different dishes. The interior is intimate and neat and the main colors are red and black. The restaurant gives the guests the opportunity to have dinner in the restaurant or in the lounge on the first floor. In the lounge there are several corners with cosy benches and on one wall the skyline of Hong Kong can be seen. I have some favorite dishes, such as Tja Sieuw (roasted pork meat) and filled pancakes with roasted duck. Furthermore, the restaurant offers all kind of menus, which are definitely worth a try and have a good price. The fingerfood menu and the different small dishes from Indonesia are recommended!

Social media research
Kakama doesn't have a Twitter account or a Facebook page. This is unfortunately and a missed opportunity to create more popularity among people and to promote new dishes or the existing menu. In this age of the rising popularity of social media it is very important for every company, also restaurants, to keep this into account. Furthermore, social media is also a good tool to upload pictures of the restaurant and to create a fan page.

Recommended, or not?
I would rate Kakama with definitely four stars. The restaurant has a very large variety of food and when you want to have an intimate and full evening with food this is the restaurant to visit! Furthermore, the employees are kind and also for people who live in the neighbourhood Kakama has the opportunity to take away.

Score: ★★★★

I always enjoy diner at Kakama!

Something Different

You are all used to read about the finest restaurants and their use of social media. Now I have a whole different subject, which is interesting to share with you all!

For the same course as this blog was created for we needed to make a web video and upload this on our blog. The web video is starring a lecturer of the course User Interface Design, named Suleman Shahid and he comes from Pakistan. In the web video we asked him several questions about his life now in The Netherlands and his past in Pakistan and his opinion on subjects such as social media and the future. Furthermore, he talks about his research.

Maxime: ★★★★

Fifth stop
The fifth stop of my reviews tour about restaurants all over the world can be found in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The name of the restaurant is Maxime and the address is P.C. Hooftstraat 63. Maxime used to be a restaurant called Patou, but since 8 February 2011 the place is refurnished and now it looks a little bit like Hotel Costes in Paris. Maxime is a boutique restaurant & hotel. The restaurant has the possibility to have breakfast, lunch and dinner and the choice to sit in or outside, because of the doors of glass that can be slid open. The menu offers all kind of dishes, from macarons together with the coffee untill a club sandwich. Furthermore, I love to go there for having a drink at five o’clock and snack their lovely cheese spring rolls. These are the best and when you have the time and opportunity to go there, try them!

Social media research
Maxime doesn’t have a Facebook page or a Twitter account. The reason for this could be because of the fact that Maxime is new in Amsterdam. When we’re browsing on the website there are in total three different locations where Maxime is located, therefore the pages could already been developed. I think this could be a point of improvement, because more people can get aware of the lovely place and food of Maxime. Furthermore, prices of the hotel rooms, menu offers and pictures can be shown on both of the pages.

Recommended, or not?
I would rate Maxime with four stars. The restaurant has a very large variety of food and drinks and the terrace is very nice in the P.C. Hooftstraat just across Louis Vuitton. Furthermore, the staff is kind and on the picture below the delicious cheese rolls can be seen.

Score: ★★★★

P.C. Hooftstraat's best!

Carpe Diem Lounge Club: ★★★★

Fourth stop
The fourth stop is a restaurant that can be found in Barcelona, Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem is located at Passeig Maritim 32 and is not only a restaurant but also a lounge club. The interior is very nice, romantic, cosy and in fairytales style. The menu offers all kinds of nice food and drinks. The people who like cocktails and sushi are at Carpe Diem at the right place! On the picture below you can see three different sushis, the foie gross rolls, the ebi tempura rolls and the CDLC rolls. All of these maki rolls were lovely and very tasteful!

Social media research
Carpe Diem has got a Twitter account and a Facebook page. The Facebook page has 3614 likes from people all over the world and every party or announcement is placed on there. Futhermore, the Twitter page is not so big and has not got many followers at the moment. This could be expanded and more information can also be placed on Twitter.

Recommended, or not?
The food and drinks of Carpe Diem deserve definitely four stars. The price is above average, but the taste of the food compensates this. There is even the possibility to enjoy the music after dinner. Carpe Diem is just awarded as one of the finest clubs of the world so when you are in the neighbourhood go and check it out!

Score: ★★★★

One of Barcelona's finest!

Villa Couvert: ★★★★★

Third stop
The third stop in my quest to find good restaurants is Villa Couvert in Oisterwijk. Villa Couvert is located in a beautiful forest. The address of the restaurant is Vennelaan 2 in Oisterwijk in the Netherlands. Villa Couvert has always served nice food, but since Dutch interior designer Eric Kuster redesigned the whole restaurant, finally the looks of the restaurant match with the quality of the food. The menu offers all kind of different dishes and for a reasonable price. For example a menu with five different courses is priced at € 55! This amount of money is not very much for one Michelin star quality food.

Social media research
Villa Couvert has got a Twitter account, but does not have a Facebook page. On the Twitter page of the restaurant there are messages about their latest updates. The Twitter account is very new because it has only seven tweets at the moment. To attract more people and awareness it would be better to upload pictures of the restaurant to Twitter, information about the menu and also by creating a Facebook page. On this page people can push the button “like” and this is also a good way to create more attention to Villa Couvert.

Recommended, or not?
The food definitely deserves at least four stars, maybe even five. The fact that I've given Villa Couvert five stars has to do with the ambiance created by interior design specialist Eric Kuster. Eric has put his own mark on the style of the interior, and I just happen to love his style. The combination of this fact with the taste of the food makes this restaurant definitely recommended! On the picture you can see one of the courses: scallops, lobster sauce and a sprout. It was delicious! These courses change all the time, so the menu stays mysterious!

Score: ★★★★★

Oisterwijk's best!