Meals on Reels
As the ‘rude-food’ trend continues, food content creators and chefs speak of their experiences and insights on the culture of ‘snap meals’ and ‘click plates’
It is a common sight at friendly luncheons and sit-down dinners. The plate arrives, but not a hand moves towards the food. Instead, people reach out for their phones to ‘click plate’, ‘snap meals’ or make compelling ‘meal reels’ for social media. One can often hear someone say, “Wait, nobody touch it.” Food, it seems, is no longer merely relished. It is carefully curated, staged and broadcast to the World Wide Web for instant validation and digital archiving. Across restaurants and cafés in urban India, the camera now often gets the first bite!
Rude Food Culture
The reason restaurants continue feeding into the “rude food” culture is hardly surprising. In today’s attention economy, one viral reel can pack out a café overnight, while a photogenic dessert or dramatic tableside presentation can trigger endless queues and waiting lists. Influencers and content creators now wield extraordinary power over visibility, forcing restaurants to increasingly prioritise what looks good on a screen over what works on a plate. “Previously, we always ate with our eyes first. Now it's eyes + camera,” says Sahil Makhija, a Food Content Creator, Headbanger Eats. He adds, “Some cafés may look like a million bucks online, but the dining experience itself is barely worth a fraction of that.”
Conspicuous Consumption
From carefully plated brunches and towering desserts to dramatic smoke domes and neon cocktails, restaurants are no longer designing food solely for flavour. They are designing for virality. A dish must now survive two tests — how it tastes and how it photographs.
Sahil says that people today arrive at the table hungry for content as much as for the food. Whether it is capturing the dish, the moment, the drama of tableside service, or simply creating material for work and social media. A decade ago, dining was far less performative because the creator economy, TikTok culture and Instagram reel trends had not yet turned every meal into a potential photoshoot. Social media has fundamentally changed the way people experience meals.
Business Of Virality
Restaurants, however, are not resisting the trend. Many are actively leaning into the attention economy. “Several mandates come to us at our hospitality company, where we’re clearly told that the interiors, cocktails, or even dishes should be Instagrammable,” says Nikhil Merchant, Food & Lifestyle Journalist, Co-Founder, Elevenses Hospitality. Nikhil opines that while food and drinks should certainly look visually appealing, aesthetics cannot come at the cost of texture, flavour, taste or the overall dining experience.
He says, “Ingredients and craftsmanship should never be compromised purely for the sake of photography or social media appeal.”
Sahil opines that the trend is evident in the explosion of Benne Dosa copycats and the rise of “Instagram-worthy” cafés, particularly in areas like Bandra (in Mumbai), where many spaces may look extravagant online but often fail to deliver a dining experience that matches the hype.
More Screens, No Conversation
“The camera-first dining has changed table dynamics. Earlier, people leaned into conversations; now, many lean into their screens first,” says Vicky Ratnani, Chef Entrepreneur, Author and Founder of Gourmet Gyan.
There is often an awkward pause before anyone begins eating because photos and videos need to be captured first. While this has undeniably made dining more performative, Ratnani believes it has also made people more visually conscious and appreciative of presentation. However, the real challenge lies in finding a balance between documenting the experience and genuinely being present in it.
Snapdeal Woes
Vicky also points out that camera-first dining can often become disruptive not just for restaurant staff, but for fellow diners as well. He says, “Prolonged filming, repeated retakes, elaborate lighting setups and requests to constantly reposition dishes can slow down service and create unnecessary pressure on hospitality teams during busy hours.”
Sahil shares that, for him, food photography does not necessarily detract from human connection when approached with balance and basic etiquette. He cites his food community, The Serial Eaters, as an example, where members bond over shared meals, click photographs and remain deeply engaged in conversations and the overall experience. He quips, “When I am out with my partner Deepti, I may want to photograph the food, but it's a quick shot, and the phone is put at the side, and that’s okay.”
Food (Photo) For Thought
Photographing food is not the issue. The trouble starts when documenting the meal becomes more important than experiencing it. Today, many diners instinctively reach for their phones before their forks. Conversation pauses. Moments are staged. Presence becomes secondary to performance. Nikhil says, “As a rule, I am usually only there for photography when it's work-related. I choose to read the room, or rather, the table and decide whether it’s appropriate to take photographs.”
Nikhil opines that taking food photos is perfectly normal, but it can become a hindrance when overdone. Basic social etiquette must be maintained. A quick photo is fine, but constant flashing lights and multiple retakes can take away from the experience and disturb other diners. People should remember to enjoy the meal and company. Vicky says, “The idea of ‘rude food’ reflects the times people live in today, where social media rewards visibility, trends and instant reactions.”
There is a growing shift towards mindful and meaningful dining experiences. The centre of attraction is not the ‘snap meal’ but the palate pleasures of a good meal in the company of friends and family.