🇬🇧 Dining Scene Has Us All Suffering From Stockholm Syndrome

Let's talk about the harsh reality of London's restaurant culture—where hype often outweighs substance, and we keep returning like abused lovers to overpriced, underwhelming experiences. 📍 The Overrated & The Overpriced • OMA: Touted as "the next big thing," but honestly? It's mid-tier at best—the kind of place that would barely make waves in Asia's vibrant food scene. And at 10x the price? Please. • Cornus: Same story. In a pre-inflation world, this wouldn’t even sniff a Michelin star. London’s dining scene feels like a rusty Rolls-Royce Silver Spur—shiny on the surface, but beneath? A broken engine of inflated egos and diminishing returns. 🍜 Where Real Food Lives After 6 months eating my way across China, I’ve been brutally disillusioned with European cuisine. The meals that actually moved me lately? • A simple charity lunchbox from a Fuzhou hospital, packed with soul. • Shanxi oat noodles —peasant food elevated by centuries of craft. • Yongzhou blood duck—more complex than French Canard à la Presse, but zero pretentious theatrics. • A friend’s honest-to-God spaghetti Bolognese, cooked with care, not clout. These are dishes that carry the weight of life and history—not some gimmicky "art on a plate" designed for Instagram. 🍽️ London’s Food Wasteland • Random street eats? Still a danger zone. • Chinese takeouts? Many are barely edible, opened by anyone with "two hands and a wok." • The "good" places? Stratified by Michelin and media hype, forcing us to beg for reservations (and now, some even charge rescheduling fees?!). At this point, chasing starred restaurants is no different from posing at Sexy Fish—both are just performances for external validation. 🎨 Food ≠ Art (And That’s Okay) I used to think culinary greatness = artistry. Now? I see how "food as art" often sacrifices sincerity for spectacle. Real nourishment comes from truth, not tricks. Anyone else feeling this? Or am I just hungry and bitter? 😂 #LondonDining #MichelinOverrated #FoodTruths #HospitalityOrHostage