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What Hanoi TikToker Eats: "If you only know how to praise as a reviewer, you lack skills"

(Dan Tri) - Not just going to a restaurant to record, eat, praise the food and post it on social media channels, the food review profession is more difficult than many people think.

Báo Dân tríBáo Dân trí21/10/2025

In recent years, the trend of many people becoming content creators, giving reviews and telling stories about their experiences in a specific field has exploded on social networking platforms.

Especially in the culinary industry, the number of reviewers is overwhelming, but many of them have a very short "career" and are even remembered by the audience for their bad impressions, controversial content creation, and personal identity.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 1

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Than - owner of TikTok channel What to eat in Hanoi (Photo: Doan Thuy).

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Than (born in 1996) or known by many people as Hanoi What to Eat has emerged in the culinary review industry early. After more than 6 years in the profession, drawing on a lot of experience from himself and his colleagues, Than smiled and shook his head: "Many people think this job is easy, just eat and praise. But looking at the people I know in the profession, after a while everyone 'passed away' in sorrow."

Invested 200 million, first 6 months still no views

Reviewer was originally just a stepping stone for Than to manage a restaurant.

“In the first 6 months, I invested 200 million: hiring people to film, edit, cut and paste videos , buying equipment, even running ads, but the most viewed clip only got... 1000 views,” he recounted, “At that time, this profession was not popular, no one guided me, I was just doing it as an amateur, wasting money without any results.”

Six years ago, the main video viewing platform was still YouTube, and experience-sharing videos were still no less than 10 minutes long. Every afternoon, he had to go out to eat, continuously for half a year, but the low number of views gradually discouraged Than.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 2

At first, Than invested hundreds of millions but did not achieve the desired results (Photo: Doan Thuy).

After browsing TikTok - which was not yet a social network with as many users as it is now - he decided to build a review channel on this platform.

“At that time, I kept it simple, cut the previously recorded videos into small segments, dubbed my voice over them and uploaded them. The next morning, I was surprised that the video had 10,000 views. After 3 months, my channel had 200,000 followers. I quit YouTube and focused on building my TikTok channel.”

Catching the rising wave of TikTok and taking advantage of the initial heat of the review profession, every day Than releases videos recording his experiences and reviews of restaurants all over Hanoi.

At that time, the review profession was still new. Hanoi, with countless eateries from street corners to luxury restaurants, became an endless source of content for food reviewers.

The number of restaurants is too much and there is repetition on different channels, which gradually makes viewers lose interest. To retain viewers, content creators have to switch to strange restaurants that easily arouse viewers' curiosity.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 3

"It's easy to work in the review industry now, but it's hard to survive for long because it's too competitive and the elimination rate is fast," Than said (Photo: Doan Thuy).

“Now that there are more TikTokers, this industry has become more difficult. Viewers are also gradually losing faith in the words of reviewers,” Than said. “Now the audience has their own stance, unless the reviewer is extremely meticulous and creative to attract attention.”

“Only professionals can do this job now”

Making money based on personal experience and posting on social networks inevitably causes "nine out of ten different opinions".

Based on his observations, each review style has its own advantages and disadvantages. The mindset of building a channel will determine whether reviewers in general can "survive" in the industry or not.

In the beginning, the review profession was still “purely” about telling stories of experiences and commenting on dishes based on personal taste. Many channels were built towards honest reviews, even frank ones, but it was still normal for the audience to turn their backs on them.

“In the culinary industry, what you find delicious may not be to everyone’s taste. And if they don’t share your feelings, you’re seen as being dishonest. Being straightforward means nothing,” Than shared.

The question is, if you don’t praise or speak well of the restaurant, who will want to go to that restaurant? If the praise is “exaggerated”, the customers will not get the food they expected, they will lose faith in the reviewer, and the restaurant will lose its reputation. This is the “disaster”, the setback for many food reviewers.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 4

According to Than, if reviewers want to maintain their reputation, they must ensure the interests of all three parties: restaurant - diner - reviewer (Photo: Doan Thuy).

“After all, whether I review myself or am hired to review and experience, I have to ensure economic benefits for all parties: the restaurant owner - the person who hires me, the viewer - the customer who comes to eat, me - the person doing the job. Therefore, giving compliments is difficult, compliments are also an art,” he said.

Many young TikTokers who build controversial review styles by criticizing badly cannot survive for long. According to the male reviewer, there will come a time when viewers are "overfed" by such content, restaurants will not want to book (order KOLs, KOCs to produce advertising products) such characters, they will automatically be eliminated from this increasingly fierce market.

“I myself have no qualifications or expertise to criticize a dish that people have spent a lot of time researching and testing. Criticizing and creating controversy helps young people become famous quickly, but makes viewers gradually lose sympathy for me,” he said.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 5

For reviewers, praise, criticism, and comments all require careful calculation (Photo: Doan Thuy).

Drawing on his own experience and that of his colleagues in the profession, he affirmed that his comments greatly affect his personal reputation. Therefore, not praising or criticizing too much, commenting in a civilized manner, and giving the right to choose to the viewers is the solution chosen by many reviewers in the culinary industry.

“Nowadays, viewers don’t just choose restaurants because of the delicious taste, they also choose them because of the visual impression. There are videos that don’t need any compliments but are beautifully filmed and photographed, viewers will go eat there because of the delicious taste,” the owner of the channel Hanoi Eats What shares.

To make an attractive video, you need beautiful images, a good voice, an attractive script, a professional crew, and even a sense of style to express the personality of each review channel. Not to mention, each reviewer must also understand the operation and viewership of each platform so that the product can optimize views and interactions.

“Many talented young people want to pursue this career but cannot last long. The market is competitive, customers are increasingly demanding, only truly professional people can pursue this career for a long time,” he learned from experience.

The way out for a job that pays well but has a short career

“Many people who have built a foothold in this profession have quit. I also have a roadmap to quit this job,” he said.

For him, the passion for food is no longer what it used to be when eating out has now become a daily chore.

“It’s natural that your health will decline in this profession, because you have to eat and drink constantly. Filming sessions will last for hours: filming the preparation steps, setting up the dishes for hours, until the food is cold and no longer delicious. Not to mention editing, recording, returning the product to the partner… Anyone who can balance time for home and practice is very admirable,” Than said with a smile.

TikToker Hà Nội ăn gì: Nghề review nếu chỉ biết khen là thiếu kỹ năng - 6

Than shared that if they quit their reviewing jobs, reviewers can still do many jobs based on their existing experience (Photo: Doan Thuy).

At the time when the profession was at its peak on all platforms, reviewers in general and food reviewers in particular were the professions that brought good income to many people. As long as social networks existed, the review profession still maintained its appeal to those who wanted to try it.

“Many people take advantage of the experience and skills they gain after working as a reviewer to do well in other jobs: affiliate marketing, editor, channel building consultant... and maybe in the future, I will choose other directions,” Than said.

Photo: Doan Thuy

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/tiktoker-ha-noi-an-gi-nghe-review-neu-chi-biet-khen-la-thieu-ky-nang-20251020192526013.htm


Tag: TikTok

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