Two popular food influencers were ‘shocked’ when they are were asked to take down a 4/10 review by a trendy taco stand in East London.
The Edible Twins, 26-year-old brothers from London, posted to social media after eating at The Taco Collective, located at the Lalaland food market in Shoreditch.
But after spotting their mediocre review of an ‘oily’ taco with ‘muted’ flavours and ‘dry’ meat, they were wasked to ‘take it down’ because the food outlet doesn’t ‘approve ratings from unverified bloggers’.
The Edible Twins, who paid for their own meal and were providing a completely indepedendent review, received an outpouring of support on social media.
The Twins told Femail ‘This has been one of the most shocking, unusual and rude experiences we have had in the six years that we have been food blogging!
‘It has certainly caused an outrage on Instagram and has made its way to Twitter too.’
‘Given the attention and outrage in our comments, Taco Collective have since deleted their DM to us and have responded on our post with an apology.’
The Edible Twins, 26-year-old brothers from London, posted to social media after eating at The Taco Collective, located at the Lalaland food market in Shoreditch. They were not impressed by their meal (pictured) but were even less happy when they were asked to take the review down
The taco place in Shoreditch said they would only accept reviews from ‘verified accounts’ and asked the twins to take the post down
The brothers posted on their Instagram feed last week after eating at the Taco Collective, saying: ‘We went for the California Beefin’ birria taco at the taco collective.
‘The filling has overnight brined, slow-braised beef shin and is flavored with their secret spice mix. We had this with a side of smokey chipotle crema (sadly sauce isn’t included).
‘The taco itself was not bad but a little on the oily side so get your tissues ready. The outer part was indeed super crispy which we loved but there was no real kick of flavor.
‘We thought the chipotle sauce would help but that was just as mellow with no spice but it did add a nice refreshing element.
The review, posted by the Edible Twins on July 12, which was asked to be taken down by the eatery
‘The meat itself was on the dry side and the overall flavor was very muted which was disappointing. The only real tang we got was from the lime we squeezed on top so probably will pass on this next time.
‘We would suggest checking out the other stalls there and that’s exactly what we will do when we’re there next!’
They were soon sent a direct message by the London eatery saying ‘Hi Twins, whilst we appreciate the review we would like to ask you to remove this from your account.
‘fellow foodies is this even allowed?’ The Instagram story is labelled ‘Drama’ and the twins want to raise awareness of censorship in the food blogging community, as they feel their reviews are ‘constructive’
‘We do not accept reviews from unverified accounts especially if our team has not been contacted prior.
‘Please let us know once this has been removed.’
The Edible Twins posted the DM to their story and were met with a flurry of online support, with many people labelling the taco house as ‘rude’, while another user claimed they had been ‘blocked by taco collective for speaking out’.
The post was shared across Twitter and Instagram, with many people calling for the Edible Twins’ account to ‘be verified just for the sake of it’
The eatery apologized for overacting and unsent their DM but people claim they had then been ‘blocked’ online for speaking out
The Edible Twins said ‘We pride ourselves on providing honest, constructive and detailed feedback and descriptions on the places we try. We maintain this approach regardless of location whether we are eating in London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong or anywhere in the world.’
‘We maintain this standard because we want our followers to be able to come to us for reliable recommendations and to hear about even the bad experiences.’
‘The message left us speechless to be honest. We were shocked at their requirements to ‘pre-approve’ reviews.
Despite not being verified, the twins, who are a lawyer and dentist – have quite a large, loyal following online
‘It baffles us as we are still not quite sure what they are even referring to when they say ‘verified’.
‘Do we need to be approved by them only? We had a quick look on their account and they repost only good reviews on their stories from unverified accounts.
‘We actually felt pretty bad after their message but now we feel like there’s nothing wrong with it.
‘It is clear their page filters only positive reviews and shuts down negative comments.
‘Instead of taking on constructive feedback (of which our review was) they have used this as an opportunity to bully a food blogging account to remove their post.
‘We are just concerned we are not the only food bloggers who they have contacted to remove their posts! We were just brave enough to call out this behaviour.’
After receiving an outpouring of support from their followers, the pair said: ‘We want to give a special thank you to the foodie community and to those who have shown us so much love.’
Whilst running the food blog, the brothers have made a conscious effort to remain anonymous and have not published photos of themselves because they say they ‘want the food to be the main focus.’
The pair say they grew up in a family background and culture centered around food.
They said ‘We love travelling and eating like locals wherever we go in the world.
‘Being based in London, we are spoilt for choice with every cuisine you can think of being on offer.’
When we are not food blogging, the brothers have totally different day jobs to keep them busy as a lawyer and dentist respectively.
Taco Collective declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
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