Good discussion…and timely – the food ‘blogosphere’ has reached a critical mass. The audience is an intelligent one and will easily see through the hype…and those who do will likely give those who accept a freebie a hearty thumbs-up. They will say: “Why not? I would.”

But seriously, I agree with what’s been said. Bloggers can do whatever they want. They aren’t held to the same standards that pro journalist are held to (unless they want to be). However, for the respect of your readers, I think bloggers should present all of the important facts objectively (e.g. a disclaimer that a meal was free) and let their readers form their own opinion on a restaurant.

PS: in the end, it’s just food

From your response, I take it that you feel like I was referring to you in my post. I wasn’t. I enjoy your blog and I didn’t know you use an SLR.

I’m merely trying to point out the following:

It’s about the food.

Jonek, there is no such thing as a “lowly blog reader”. If it wasn’t because of readers, blogs like this will not exist, specially after the initial enthusiasm of starting the blog. Again, it is thanks to feedbacks (again, positive and negative) that give us that will to continue and improve.

Michael, actually, I take my pictures with a dSLR as well (as mentioned in my gear link); however, I do it for documentation purposes. Would a post be as interesting if there was no pictures of the food that could make readers drool? ^o^ I do not try to fish any freebies or comps – if they give me something on the house, I will include it in the post but will make emphasis it was something I did not order. Of course, complimentary items (like bread) does not fall into this category as every customer gets them. Huge dSLRs? Well, my camera is larger than any point and shoot in the market; however, it is relatively small when I compare it to the dSLRs used by other bloggers I know (specially when I use the 35mm lens). And that brings a really interesting thought: What if everybody buys a dSLR (since they are now as low as CDN$400) and take it to the restaurants/eateries to take pictures?

Michael, you got it right. I think even if a restaurant tries really hard to please, it will never mask the fact if the food sucks or not. The food will eventually speak for itself.

some people choose to blog anonymously, which i agree gives you a more unbiased and realistic review

some people choose to blog for the recognition, and will gladly accept any freebie and special treatment that is given. and they make it an obvious point to pull out their huge dslr during dinner

i’ll continue to read both types of food blogs, because at the end of the day, they both provide you with good information about the restaurant’s food, which is what i mostly care about. if the food sucks, in my opinion it will probably still suck even if they know you’re a food blogger.

@ Kevin : food bloggers meet up? sounds good! count me in hehe =)