Experiences are the beating heart of Nacre. These are the articles you’ll find titled with “Review,” but in truth, they are much more than recaps or verdicts. We use the word review rather loosely and mainly for search visibility because it is what readers look for when they type “restaurant X review” or “hotel Y review.”
Each Nacre Experience is written from a first-hand visit and captures both tangible and intangible moments. It’s how we connect readers to a place and its people, rather than simply summarising what’s on offer.
What exactly is a “Nacre Experience”?
A Nacre Experience is our signature form of a “review”: a hybrid between narrative storytelling and critical observation. These are a carefully crafted stories that captures the emotion, texture, and detail of being present.
For dining, it is a sensory journey that extends beyond taste. It reflects the feeling of “Aha!” or “That really took me back.” For hotels, it’s the spatial atmosphere, the nuances of design, the small gestures of hospitality that make a stay worth sharing with readers. Whether it’s a restaurant, resort, or experience in motion, a Nacre story transcribes what it felt like to be there.
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How do you choose your Experiences?
In a thriving hospitality landscape, there’s always something new around the corner: an opening, a refreshed menu, or a reimagined hotel. While we would love to cover it all, both sensory fatigue and editorial burnout are real. Selectivity is essential, and it applies not only to invitations we receive but also to the restaurants and hotels we actively seek out ourselves.
The decision to attend or write about a place is seldom spontaneous. Before committing to any visit, we spend time researching, reading, observing, and planning menus to have the best—well—Experience. When deciding what to feature, we also consider several factors:
- Cultural or creative significance — does it shape the local dining scene or express something meaningful?
- Reputation and research — what are trusted friends, partners, and regular diners saying?
- Personal connection — would this genuinely excite us as guests? Because if the experience doesn’t move us, we can’t expect it to move our readers.
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Why are all your Experiences positive?
It’s a fair question, and one we get often. Why do our reviews always sound kind? Are we biased because a meal or stay might be hosted? Or are we just easily impressed?
The truth is simple: we’re just genuinely nice people. Between careful selection, prior research, and knowing what resonates with our palate and purpose, we rarely walk into a disappointing experience.
We don’t believe in tearing down good work. Hospitality is a demanding craft built on people’s effort and vulnerability, and no one deserves to have that ridiculed in public. When something doesn’t quite work, we see it as a learning moment for the team, and if its not one we’d recommend, you’d simply not know.
Do you pay for all your Experiences?
As much as we’d love to, the honest answer is no. It isn’t feasible to dine or stay at top establishments year-round purely out-of-pocket. Some Experiences are self-funded; others are hosted invitations extended to media or press. Regardless of circumstance, our integrity remains unchanged. We only accept invitations we genuinely want to attend and only publish stories we feel proud of. A hosted meal or stay never guarantees coverage, and if something doesn’t align editorially, it simply won’t be written.
What’s the writing process like afterwards?
It varies. Sometimes the words flow easily; sometimes they don’t.
It’s no different from when you had an incredible meal or an exciting itinerary and then enthusiastically showing friends and family your camera roll. The truest part of a review is actually re-viewing the experience.
Once an experience is over, we take time to process it, taking days or even weeks. Writing often begins with looking at the photos we took personally and translating the memories into words. After the initial stream of thoughts (read: word vomit) has been poured out into a draft, each sentence is edited for accuracy and sensuality to create an immersive story.
A visit—hosted or not—does not always result in an Experience article being published. Only the stories that we feel proud of and happy to share with readers will make it on the publishing calendar, and sometimes we struggle because it doesn’t convey what we felt in the moment, so an Experience may come a little later, but never disingenously
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Why don’t you use ratings or scores?
Because experiences aren’t numbers. Food, service, and atmosphere are too subjective and interwoven to be reduced to stars or points. A Nacre Experience is a deeply personal one, and your mileage may vary.
Do establishments get to see the Experience before publication?
No. Establishments do not receive editorial control or prior review of our articles. We may verify factual details such as names, menu items, or prices to ensure accuracy (at the time), but the editorial voice and opinions remain fully ours. Comments on shortcomings will be conveyed professionally and privately.
We also sometimes collaborate with hospitality partners for campaigns or special features and the coverage follows a separate editorial format rather than being labelled as an Experience. Regardless of partnership, a Nacre Experience remains editorially independent and written only when there is a genuine story to tell.
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Do you ever revisit establishments?
Yes. Nacre will occasionally publish Revisiting Experiences when a restaurant evolves, a menu changes, or another writer steps in. Because a Nacre Experience is built on emotion and momentary context, a second visit can yield a completely different story.
Service teams grow, menus shift, and even our own perspectives as diners change with time. And no two experiences are ever identical, because what one writer feels in March might differ from what another senses in October—both equally true.
What’s the goal of a Nacre Experience?
Our goal is not to offer definitive judgments, but to reflect what a real, discerning guest might feel in that moment. Relatability matters because we don’t write as critics behind a curtain. We write as people who also love food, travel, and discovery, who notice the same small things our readers do. When we say an experience moved us, it’s because it genuinely did.
Find every Nacre Experience here on nacre.asia
From the table to the world beyond, Nacre brings you dining, travel, and lifestyle experiences worth savouring. Explore more with us on Instagram (@nacre.asia).
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