You recently enjoyed a meal at a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion, and you were very pleased with the food and service. Write a letter to the restaurant manager. In your letter: - give details of your visit to the restaurant - mention the reason for the celebration - say what was good about the food and the service
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to express my appreciation for the meal and service that your restaurant provided us last Sunday on the occasion of my 21st birthday. Your restaurant is located near my office, and I took a few friends and colleagues to celebrate my birthday based on a recommendation from one of my colleagues. We had lunch at your establishment and it was fabulous. The experience made my birthday even special, and I am quite thankful for an auspicious service and delicious menu. We were greeted properly just when we entered the restaurant, and surprisingly, the manager himself came down to us and arranged an excellent sitting place for us from where we enjoyed a great view. A waiter came to tantalize our taste buds explaining the details of the menu. We had the "Thai soup" to start with. It was served just perfectly, and it smelled great. Then we opted for mackerel and fried rice which were well flavoured and had a decent portion of 4 fillets with each serving. For the main course, we had the lamb cutlets which melted in our mouths tenderly and came with a delightfully spiced harissa sauce. I must say that your food made our day! We absolutely took away something truly special from this visit. Thank you once again for a fantastic experience at your establishment. We can not wait until our next visit! Yours faithfully, Tom Chatfield
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Complete the verb pattern Original: provided us last Sunday Suggested revision: provided for us last Sunday Why it matters: “Provided” needs “for” here because the meal and service were supplied for the guests.
- 2. Clarify the reference Original: it was fabulous Suggested revision: the meal was fabulous Why it matters: Naming the meal removes ambiguity about what “it” refers to.
- 3. Use the comparative Original: even special Suggested revision: even more special Why it matters: “Even” intensifies the comparative form “more special” in this context.
- 4. Choose the right adjective Original: an auspicious service Suggested revision: excellent service Why it matters: “Auspicious” describes a favourable sign or beginning and does not naturally describe restaurant service.
- 5. Correct the collocation Original: menu Suggested revision: food Why it matters: Food can be delicious, while a menu is the list of available dishes.
- 6. Use precise wording Original: properly Suggested revision: warmly Why it matters: “Warmly” describes the positive quality of the welcome more precisely than “properly”.
- 7. Improve the time link Original: just when Suggested revision: as soon as Why it matters: “As soon as” expresses the immediate sequence of entering and being greeted more naturally.
- 8. Correct the phrasal verb Original: down Suggested revision: over Why it matters: “Came over to us” correctly describes the manager approaching the group.
- 9. Use the restaurant term Original: sitting place Suggested revision: table Why it matters: “Table” is the natural term for the place arranged for restaurant guests.
- 10. Use a relative pronoun Original: where Suggested revision: which Why it matters: “From which” correctly introduces a relative clause referring to the table.
- 11. Use concise wording Original: served just perfectly Suggested revision: served perfectly Why it matters: Removing “just” makes the praise more direct without changing its meaning.
- 12. Correct the modification Original: melted in our mouths tenderly Suggested revision: were so tender that they melted in our mouths Why it matters: The original adverb incorrectly suggests that the melting itself happened in a tender manner.
Suggested Rewrites
- provided us last Sunday provided for us last Sunday
- it was fabulous the meal was fabulous
- even special even more special
- an auspicious service excellent service
- menu food
- properly warmly
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter's strongest feature is its vivid, specific coverage of the birthday visit, with detailed praise for both the food and the service and an enthusiastic, appropriate tone. Its main limitation is that all ideas appear in one long paragraph, while several ambitious expressions sound forced. The highest-priority improvement is to create clear paragraph groups and choose more natural collocations for the service, seating, and dishes.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully developed with specific visit details, a clear celebration reason, and extensive praise for the food and service.
Keep the appreciation focused by trimming a little repetition near the conclusion while retaining the specific examples.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information follows a sensible chronological sequence, but the single extended paragraph weakens the clarity of the letter's organisation.
Separate the opening and visit context, service details, food details, and closing appreciation into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The response shows broad vocabulary and vivid description, although several word combinations are inaccurate or over-elaborate.
Replace forced phrases such as 'auspicious service' and 'excellent sitting place' with natural alternatives such as 'excellent service' and 'comfortable table'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentence forms is used with generally clear meaning, despite several local errors in modification, punctuation, and phrasing.
Revise structures such as 'made my birthday even special' and the dangling modifier in 'tantalize our taste buds explaining' for cleaner accuracy.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently enjoyed a meal at a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion, and you were very pleased with the food and service. Write a letter to the restaurant manager. In your letter:
- give details of your visit to the restaurant
- mention the reason for the celebration
- say what was good about the food and the service
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.