Ever read raving reviews of a restaurant only to find it a complete disappointment once you've dined there? Something similar happened to an American comedian who travelled to London for a gig. However, his experience was slightly different because he later found out the reviews were fake - and he had fallen prey to a form of prank being played on tourists. The comedian, Liam Nelson, shared a video about the same on social media, and it has gone viral.
His Instagram post begins with him declaring, "London Reddit just tricked me into having one of the worst steaks of my life." He explains that he's staying in Covent Garden, which he describes as a very "tourist-y area" in London. He says that he wanted to find "hidden gems" for food in the locality and that he's generally very good at discovering these spots. He adds that he has intentionally not been consulting Google or Reddit to find these restaurants. He made this decision after watching a video by another comic (Adam Conover), who talks about how we as a society are relying more on algorithms for our food discoveries rather than going out and making those discoveries ourselves.
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He reveals that he stuck to his mission for three days and went out by himself. However, after that, he didn't find any more appealing places. He thus decided to finally go on Reddit to search for restaurant recommendations. When he did so, he came across many users suggesting Angus Steakhouse in Leicester Square. He clarifies that what he was really seeking was "an incredible steak", no matter where it was from. Thus, despite learning that it's a chain restaurant, he went to Angus Steakhouse. He narrates, "I walk over there. I got a reservation immediately, which should have been a red flag. It's Saturday night." But he ignored this possible bad sign because he believed those (numerous) Reddit users who suggested the place. He says, "I've never seen Reddit all agree on a restaurant before. And I walked into a place with a giant neon sign and I was sat right next to the kitchen. And I proceeded to order a steak, thinking, 'Sure, it kinda sucks to be in here. It's very loud and chaotic. But this steak is probably going to slap, right'?"
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As he waited for his food to arrive, he continued surfing the internet for Angus Steakhouse reviews. That's when he came across an article about a sort of conspiracy among London Reddit users to send tourists to Angus Steakhouse in order "to preserve the good steakhouses for themselves." He calls the move genius despite the fact that he ended up being a victim of the prank. He admitted, "I thought I was immune to online scams, but they got me. They got me like a Nigerian Prince gets your grandma." Finally, he describes the steak that came to his table, noting that it was "fully grey," and that "It was bad in every way a steak could be bad."
In the past, Angus Steakhouse has made headlines multiple times because of the viral Reddit prank the comedian refers to. As per reports, food enthusiasts in London were fed up with tourists and influencers taking over their favourite restaurants. Therefore, in order to protect the genuinely good food spots, Reddit users in London started sharing fake reviews for other places like Angus Steakhouse.