The previous big case happened in Singapore... and a more recent case happened to a fish head curry place in East Malaysia. =P
A good friend sent me a link + translations (thank you so much!) on this awesomely scandalous news article that was published on Guang Ming Daily on Thursday. It was regarding the works of some 'unprofessional food bloggers' who... lets just stick to unprofessional. =) Anyways, the translation is below - I havent managed to verify it yet - verify who's the blogger involved, or whether the translation is correct or not.
I went over to an Italian Restaurant (meaning Bravo Italia as we know for sure now) one fine day and found the humble and yet good chef cum boss, who have been producing great dishes and desserts, to be fumed over his bad encounter with a bunch of food bloggers. "I have been slogging for ten over years and I dare not say that I'm the best, although my skills were acquired from Italy. Each dish was from my heart and soul, using ingredients which were mostly imports. These bunch of bloggers who came for the review were not only greedy but like a troop going against the taste of my food. What a big bully!"
These ten over food bloggers, mostly in their 20s and some elderly who looked like they can eat a lot, booked the whole restaurant for that day. Standing up one by one, question by question, they shot him as if they were from the interrogation team. Someone asked, "Why you did not use imported vinegrette? One taste and I know yours from local." "Your beef gravy is wrongly prepared, the real method should be... blah blah..."
The worst was one of these bloggers posted up in his blog, giving him just a borderline pass. Moreover, after posting that up, he persistently approach him to get them be their food consultant in order to upgrade their food quality. This got the boss who has been in food business for ten over years to be in anger and shouted, "Enough! Enough!"
If you asked, "Are food bloggers the food experts?" "Can you trust their contents?" The answer is "No! No! No!" Those photos and words contents are only for sharing and not be be taken seriously as your food guide, although some may claimed themselves as knowledgeable but still they do not know how to describe the taste of good food.
Compared to other general blogs, the food blog can easily attract more attention. With this reasoning, all you need is to own a camera of any kind, love eating, blog about all your daily food intake experiences, you can anytime set up a food blog.
Of course, there are good and evil food bloggers. Mostly would write on the restaurant's recommended dishes. The good ones will not only touch on those recommended dishes but the rest of the dishes available. Not only do they love to cook, they also do share out their own creations. They have their unique way to look at food with a better attitude.
Don't get any misunderstanding here. Not every food bloggers are like those experienced by the Italian Restaurant boss, pretending to be knowledgeable but with a motive. The are many modest and interesting food bloggers out there who blog in their own expenses. They work hard to share the origin of food and ingredients. Great attitude! Knowledgeable!
