Many food bloggers often see themselves to have a better palette than everyone else. That’s why people look up to them when it comes to choosing a reputable and tasty restaurant, like your resident social media food critic.

Social media is quite reliable and efficient when you want to find a great place to eat from either when you travel or just find a new spot in your local area and want to try something new. Instagram or TikTok are often the first places people opt for rather than the outdated TripAdvisor.

However, restaurant food is slowly becoming bland as the main focus has been unoriginal towards the artistic appeal rather than the physical taste of the food.

Is Instagram to blame?

‘Instagram eats first.'

Is often said when you go to a restaurant with someone who’s about to dive into their meal before a photo has been taken of the food and the ambiance. Often times if the restraint has a flower wall, the food is most definitely bland.

There have been a few occasions over the past few weeks where I’ve opted to eat out at highly rated restaurants and been left unsatisfied- having to always leave a note for the waiter to pass on to the chef explaining the food was bland and not well seasoned… not even salt. Now I’d rather use a cookbook than go to a restaurant or order takeout as it feels as though restaurant chefs focus more on the aesthetic appeal rather than the taste as a whole dining experience when one goes to eat out.

Are food bloggers lying in their reviews?

There’s no doubt most food bloggers don’t get paid to do they make, however, them rating a particular place highly or not might have an influence on whether they get special deals or not when they visit these places again. If an influencer food blogger has a high number of followers, whatever they say may have an influence of how people view the place or how the turnover gets affected in the future as people may start to have second thoughts upon reading the review of what may or may not have been lacking and possibly agree with that justification as an individual and possibility influence their behaviour towards visiting the establishment in the near future.

It simply appears that most food bloggers are dishonest with there reviews in hopes of gaining more followers because of how aesthetic their photos look or in hopes of getting personalised invitations to dine at these establishments in the hopes of bagging a free meal and calling themselves a ‘food connoisseur’.

From my experience, I’ve stopped believing most food blogger reviews are some of them are so far off from what they claim to be, however, everyone is justified to they’re own opinion; in this case…lack thereof a refined palate. That being said, if the ratings are high, they aren’t always right in regards to the taste of the food and if the ratings are low, just save yourself the time and don’t bother going there as that restaurant with 1.9 stars might have a rat problem.