u/Deeamon128

I have hearing loss and eating out in London has honestly been something I find really stressful. I spend entire dinners nodding along pretending I caught what someone said, and even when I do catch what someone said I leave exhausted from the noise. I started avoiding suggesting restaurants altogether because I knew it would be draining.

I couldn't find anything that told me how loud a place actually was before I booked. TripAdvisor tells you the pasta is good. It doesn't tell you whether you'll be able to have a conversation. So a few months ago I started building a quiet restaurant directory for London where every place gets rated by noise level, music volume and table spacing.

The idea is that it's community driven so anyone can submit a rating or suggest a restaurant they've found quiet. The more people contribute the more useful it becomes for everyone, so in a way this post is also a shameless attempt to find my first contributors!

It just went live at dinesotto.com and I have absolutely no idea if this resonates with anyone else or if noise just bothers me more than most people. Does restaurant noise actually put other Londoners off? Would something like this be genuinely useful to you or the people in your life?

Honest opinions only, even if it's just "this already exists" or "nobody cares about this"... I can take it!

(I know this might border on self promotion so I messaged the mods first and they kindly gave me the green light!)

EDIT: Approved by the mods, thank you for bearing with me.

A couple of things to be transparent about:

Geography: London UK only for now. Other cities are on the radar if this takes off, but I want to build this properly here first.

AI: My background is frontend development. The backend side, mainly Supabase and the rating complex logic, was new territory for me and I used Claude to get there faster. The rest I built on my own.

This is a genuine project, not a commercial one. It is free, has no ads, and I am very open to feedback on what would make it more useful for this community specifically.

https://www.dinesotto.com/

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I know self promotion isn't allowed here so I won't be sharing any links, but I wanted to ask for honest opinions from users from London because I genuinely don't know if what I built is useful or just a very personal project.

I have hearing loss and eating out in London has honestly been something I find really stressful. I spend entire dinners nodding along pretending I caught what someone said, and even when I do catch what someone said I leave exhausted from the noise and loud music. I started avoiding suggesting restaurants altogether because I knew it would be draining.

I couldn't find anything that told me how loud a place actually was before I booked. TripAdvisor tells you mostly if the food is good. It doesn't tell you whether you'll be able to have a conversation. So a few months ago I started building a quiet restaurant directory for London where every place gets rated by noise level, music volume and table spacing.

It just went live and I have absolutely no idea if this resonates with anyone else or if noise just bothers me more than most people. Does restaurant noise actually put other Londoners off? Would something like this be genuinely useful to you or someone you know? And if you're curious about the site I'm happy to share it in the comments, just didn't want to drop a link unprompted.

Honest opinions only, even if it's just "this already exists" or "nobody cares about this"... I can take it! :)

Happy to share the link in the comments if the mods are okay with.

I've been living in a house in London since summer 2025.

I signed a lodger agreement but I don't believe I'm legally a lodger because my landlord doesn't live at the property. He lives elsewhere and has to be called to come over whenever something needs fixing. I have WhatsApp messages proving this including one where he refers to it as "your kitchen."

The property has more occupants. The other occupants have self-contained studios with their own kitchen and bathroom on a separate floor. I have a lockable room with my own ensuite and a shared kitchen on another floor.

Yesterday he handed me a written notice citing Section 3A of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, claiming I'm a lodger and asking me to leave by 1 June. His reason is a relative is moving in.

My deposit was never protected in a government scheme.

I've spoken to Shelter who described it as a likely sham agreement and confirmed I probably have an assured tenancy. They also confirmed that this type of relative doesn't qualify under Ground 1 of the Renters Rights Act.

My only issue is that he has some empty rooms on ground floor and he gets bills on this address but I never shared the kitchen or toilet with him. He keeps insisting I am a lodger and he dismissed my concerns when I raised my rights. I still want to leave as I don't like to live where I am not wanted but I just want to make sure I have proper notice not how he put the situation that because of his good will I have one month notice.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice welcome.