Bui Tuyet Mai, 26, in Hanoi, has been working as a food reviewer for four years. She said she had never thought of becoming a food reviewer, but was fated for the job. 

Mai likes eating out with friends and has good photography skills. After trying a delicacy and finding a good eatery, she comments about the dishes on her personal page to introduce specialties to her friends. Her hobby turned out to be her major job.

As her posts attract a lot of viewers, she receives many likes and keeps regular interactions with those who like her posts. They include her friends, relatives and diners. Later, owners of restaurants or street eateries also contact her, and ask her to try their food and write comments on her page. 

At first, Mai did not think of getting money from the eateries. But later, when she became confident about her writing and photography skills and realized that her posts help eateries attract more diners, she began receiving money from the eateries.

Mai is an office worker now but she still works as a food reviewer in her free time. Viewers of her personal page ask her to review certain dishes and make comments about the food before they decide whether to visit the eateries. 

Orders for reviews come regularly. Mai arranges her time to make comments about  dishes at 5-7 eateries a week, from main courses to snacks to drinks.

Nguyen Tran Phong Vu, 30, seems to be a ‘rookie’ in the field as he has been working as a food reviewer for only one year, but he has received millions of likes for his videos reviewing dishes posted on TikTok. 

A Hanoi native, Vu loves every street and corner of the city and traditional dishes favored by Hanoians.

Vu now works as a shipper, delivering food to clients. The job offers him opportunities to go to all corners of the city and see many food shops every day. This has prompted him to produce videos about different dishes and post them on TikTok to entertain his followers.

Those who are loyal viewers of his channel realize that the dishes are mostly specialties of Hanoi available at street shops, rather than luxury dishes at high-end restaurants.

Vu said he posts videos and comments about three eateries a week as requested, and one or two other eateries chosen by himself.

In general, food reviewers are paid well for their posts. However, the pay varies, depending on the platforms where their comments are posted, the fame of eateries, and the "brand" of the reviewers. 

On average, one post, including content and photos, posted on Facebook groups costs VND1 million. If it is a video posted on TikTok, it can receive VND2-3 million, while restaurant owners pay VND10-15 million for each video.

Well-known restaurants with marketing staff usually set higher requirements on the quality of posts, including requirements on photos and content. Small street shops just want their shops better known to ordinary people.

Mai said the pay she receives from eateries is at a medium level in the food reviewers’ community.

“I know that some viewers can earn tens of million or VND100 million a month from this occupation,” she said.

Vu and Mai both have two jobs. However, the income from food reviewing, which is considered a secondary job, is even higher than the main one.

Mai thinks that in order to become a good food reviewer, one needs to have the "mouth of a gourmet". Food reviewers need to know about cooking so they can discern whether dishes are good or bad, what the problems are, and guess if diners will like the food,” she said.

“The other two important skills are photography and writing skills. To some extent, good photos are more useful than compliments. Good photos prompt viewers to read the content. Good photos also help catch the eyes of diners,” Mai explained.

Linh Giao