Some of us eat to live, others live to eat. However, deciding where to get a quick bite to eat, can lead to an unnecessary 20 minute discussion. Help is at hand with Zomato.

Zomato isn’t a distant exotic cousin of the humble tomato. No, it is in fact, an app which will make your life much, much easier. Over the past weekend we tried and tested Zomato and here’s what we found.

Zomato originates from India and was launched in 2008. The web and mobile device based application can best be described as a “global restaurant search and discovery app”, but also, as Gearburn so aptly put it, as the “Facebook of food”. Because Zomato isn’t merely a search engine, it’s also a social network for food lovers.

It has, to date, 1.4 million restaurants listed in 22 countries, with 90 million visits per month.

The app uses your phones GPS to establish your location and suggests restaurants nearest to you. But, you can also search according to any other criteria, such as type of food (Indian, Chinese, Moroccan, etc.), type of meal (lunch, dinner, quick bite, take-away, etc.)

Included in results you will find the restaurant’s menu, photos of food and the venue, reviews and ratings. Most importantly it shows you the location on Google maps, as well as contact details. The phone app additionally has a call function built in, so you can just tap the button to make your booking.

The average price for a meal is also included – a handy criteria to ensure you don’t get a surprise when you arrive at the restaurant. Keep in mind that establishments on Zomato include anything from Steers to Overture – from take-away shops to seriously upmarket restaurants. There’s something for everyone, which makes it all the more fun.

Zomato is working on even more functionality, which will include online bookings and payment, as well as collaborating with Uber.

If you have a competitive streak, you can even become an expert in your own neighbourhood by reviewing at least 10 restaurants and posting 50 photos. There are various levels ruled by a point system, such as foodie, big foodie, super foodie and connoisseur.

THE VERDICT

We used Zomato over the weekend to plan our eat-out expeditions and it worked quite well. All the information was accurate, maps were quite handy as we tried out a new restaurant in Bellville. Even ratings and reviews are easy to do and existing reviews give you a good idea of what to expect. I’m not an app-junkie, but Zomato is simple, yet effective, so I can recommend it.

Download Zomato for Android
Download Zomato for iOS 
Download Zomato for Windows