Joy English
Joy English

B1 Writing

B1Reviews25 min

A review of a place

Write a balanced review of a café, museum or park: describe it, give good and bad points and make a recommendation.

A review gives your opinion of a place so that other people can decide whether to visit it. Reviews often appear on websites or in local magazines. A good review has an interesting title, a short introduction saying what the place is and why you went, a description of the good and bad points with examples, and a clear recommendation at the end.

Model text

The Lantern Café: small but special

Last Saturday I finally visited the Lantern Café, a tiny place in the old part of town that my friends have been talking about for months. It's open every day from eight until six.

The best thing about it is definitely the food. I had a warm vegetable pie with salad, which was absolutely delicious, and the homemade lemon cake was even better. The staff were friendly and helpful, and the prices were surprisingly reasonable.

However, the café is quite small, so it gets crowded at lunchtime and we had to wait twenty minutes for a table. It can also be rather noisy when it's full.

Overall, I'd highly recommend the Lantern Café, especially for a quiet breakfast. Just try to avoid the lunchtime rush!

Useful language

PurposeUseful language
Introduce the placeI recently visited ... / ... is a small café / museum in ...
Positive pointsThe best thing about it is ... / What I liked most was ...
Strong adjectivesabsolutely delicious / amazing / spotless / stunning
Negative pointsThe only problem was ... / It's a bit / rather / quite ...
ContrastHowever, ... / Although ..., ... / ..., but ...
RecommendationI'd highly recommend it to ... / It's worth a visit if ... / I wouldn't recommend it for ...
SummaryOverall, ... / All in all, ... / On the whole, ...

Exercise 1 of 2

Opinion and linking language

Choose the best word, phrase or sentence.

  1. The museum is fascinating. _____, the café inside is very expensive.

  2. _____ the park was crowded, we found a quiet place by the lake.

  3. The view from the top was _____ amazing.

  4. _____, I'd recommend this gallery to anyone who loves modern art.

  5. The only _____ was the long queue for tickets.

  6. It's _____ a visit if you're in the area.

  7. Which is the best title for a review?

0 of 7 answered

Exercise 2 of 2

Where does it go?

Read each sentence from a review of a science museum. Choose the part of the review where it belongs.

  1. Last month I spent an afternoon at the new science museum in the city centre.

  2. Unfortunately, the signs are confusing and we got lost twice.

  3. The interactive rooms are brilliant, and children can touch almost everything.

  4. All in all, it's a great day out for families, but go early to avoid the crowds.

  5. What I liked most was the planetarium show, which was absolutely amazing.

  6. The only downside was the gift shop, where everything was far too expensive.

0 of 6 answered

Your turn

Writing task

A local website is asking readers to review a place in their town, for example a café, a museum, a park or a sports centre. Write a review. Give it a title, say what the place is and when you went, describe the good and bad points with examples, and say who you would recommend it to.

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Sample answer

Hillside Climbing Centre: a great way to spend a rainy day

My cousin and I tried the Hillside Climbing Centre for the first time last month. It's an indoor climbing centre near the train station, and you don't need any experience to go.

What I liked most was the variety of walls. There are easy ones for beginners and some absolutely terrifying ones for experts. The instructors were patient and explained everything clearly, so we felt safe the whole time. There's also a small café with excellent smoothies.

However, it's not cheap. A two-hour session costs quite a lot, and you have to pay extra for shoes. The changing rooms were also a bit dirty when we were there.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting activity with friends, especially on a rainy weekend.

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Source

Original lesson by Joy English.

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