Food critics war: TikToker under fire from rivals for 'exposing' Michelin-rated hawkers

Two food influencers took exception to @lucasneoca's series "exposing" Michelin-rated hawkers.

A food vlogger has come under fire from two of his rivals over a series called "Exposing Michelin Hawkers" on his TikTok channel.

TikToker @lucasneoca, the self-styled "Lucas the Boss", started the series in September, which aims to review all 148 hawker outlets listed in the Michelin Guide. He has so far posted 52 reviews.

"I'm not a food critic, I'm not an expert, it's just my opinion," the executive director of a financial agency says in a video explaining his rating system, which he also admits may be affected by his mood on the day.

The minute-long reviews are straightforward and unsophisticated - he says what he likes or doesn't like about a dish, often adding that it is just his opinion.

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But the series has drawn flak from fellow food influencers who say that the reviews amount to public shaming.

On Oct 13, food critic @zentayyj made a post ending with a reference believed to be directed at @lucasneoca. The subtitles read: "Recently I saw this video going around reviewing people's food. If it's nice food, you post about it, that's very nice of you. Introduce it to people. If it's not nice then don't feature. Why must you try to affect people's business? What benefit is there for you? I don't understand.

"Not every F&B business that pays me means I will promote the shop. I'll take in a deposit first. After I try the food, if it's not nice, I'll refund them the deposit. Not every shop gets to be featured on my page. If it's not nice, don't feature it. Don't affect other people's business. Who do you think you are?"

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The next day, lucasneoca posted a video response.

"I don't want any drama, I don't want any conflict, I just want to clarify," he says, explaining that he is not paid to do the reviews, does not mean any harm to any hawker and is proud of Singapore's hawker culture.

Nevertheless, he says he will continue posting reviews because he wants to stay true to his brand, adding: "Zen Tay asks, who are you to, don't know what, lah. I'm Lucas the Boss, lah. if you want, you can just tag me, if you want to befriend me, you can just DM me, I know I'm handsome."

He adds that it is fake to post only positive ones, and he believes his criticism will help hawkers improve.

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Shortly after, TikTok user @keatmentaiya, who describes his channel as, "Food Truths that matter", went on a rant against lucasneoca in a video captioned: "Hey Lucas the Boss: WHO ARE YOU to 'expose' Michelin hawkers? These uncles and aunties cook not for fame, but for survival. and for Singapore. Their $4.50 plates feed the nation, not content views. We're already losing enough hawkers…don't make it harder for those still standing."

He also tells lucasneoca to review "boss level food" instead, pointing out that there are thousands of restaurants for him to review. He urges him to leave hawkers alone and go back to the insurance industry and "do your own kind of content".

While lucasneoca has yet to respond to this video, it was shared on Reddit by a user who took his side: "Consumers need to be protected too - I feel that there are not many honest reviewers like Lucas. In short, good food no matter what people say will sure survive, bad food no matter how many paid reviews will sure die imo."

"I rather listen to unbiased food reviews compared to paid food reviews," another Redditor commented.

But not all comments were supportive. "This Lucas review people food aka their rice bowl, how about people review his insurance policies and service?" asked a Redditor.

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