A woman recently voiced her frustrations with Malaysian food reviewers, claiming they now lack “effort”.
With the rise of food reviewers—particularly on social media—people have a wide array of voices to turn to when seeking opinions on how a particular dish or drink tastes.
However, in recent years, netizens have expressed growing dissatisfaction, not only over dishonest reviews but also vague and unhelpful descriptions of food and beverages.
The young woman’s opinion, posted on Threads, echoed these sentiments, highlighting certain phrases she claims are commonly (and lazily) used in modern reviews.
Some of the examples include:
“The curry is not so spicy”
“The dessert (is) not so sweet”
“This fried chicken is crispy”
“Surprisingly good”
Her post struck a chord with many, who agreed that food descriptions have become increasingly superficial, often reduced to generic responses like “tasty” or “not bad”.
One commenter highlighted overused terms such as “viral”, “best”, “juicy”, and “solid”—all frequently found in popular food reviews. The young woman agreed, adding that the positive reception of such content “fuels” the continued use of these scripted phrases.
“The statement I hate most—and which discredits any Malaysian food ‘reviewer’—is ‘sedap gila’ (crazy delicious). What does that even mean? Say more! Describe it! Even an eight-year-old could say ‘wow, it’s delicious’ if you paid her a ringgit to do it,” one user commented.
“I’m sure 99% of food video reviews are undisclosed ads, so you won’t find any neutral or subjective opinions,” another user pointed out.
“Food reviews today compared to 20 years ago are a major letdown. I understand it’s difficult to describe flavours without knowledge of cooking methods, but at the very least, reviewers should do some reading or research into the cuisine before sharing their thoughts,” another remarked.
“Sometimes, they don’t even review it. They just take a bite, pause dramatically, act shocked by the flavours, and tell you to ‘try’ it. Where’s the review? I don’t care about your expressions—tell me how it tastes,” one commenter quipped.
