Noise level influences perception of food?

"The evidence points to this effect being down to where your attention lies - if the background noise is loud it might draw your attention to that, away from the food," Dr Woods said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11525897

It's an interesting study but I'm not sure of its validity. If you look at some of the higher rated restaurants in town they are all over the map for noise level. Some are very loud (Jack Fry's for example) and some are very quite (Le Relais for example). It may be a generality but some other factors must come into play.