Food reviewer's 'hidden gems' gain 22 million likes

Alex Green has been posting videos on TikTok for more than two months and has more than 920,000 followers and more than 22 million likes

A TikToker who hopes to promote and shoutout "hidden gems" of hospitality has found an appetite for food reviewing with his almost one million followers.

Alex Green, 26 from Norwich, has merged his full-time job with his passion in posting food reviews.

Since he started posting videos about eateries in Norfolk and Suffolk more than two months ago he has amassed more than 920,000 followers and more than 22 million likes.

He said: "[I'm] just going around to local gems looking at the restaurants I think are worthy of a shoutout and trying to help promote as much as I can. It's a very difficult industry."

From food trucks to cafes and restaurants, the TikToker aims to find eateries to review and recommend.

Speaking to Chris Goreham on the BBC Radio Norfolk Breakfast show, he said: "Nowadays more than ever, costs are going up, prices are going up, labour costs, everything from where you source your produce, so really the restaurants are battling that everyday - anything we can do to support them."

While he says he keeps his reviews fair, he wants to promote as many eateries to recommend to his followers as possible.

He said: "There is so much that goes into the food industry that you don't see that just affects these costs and it's only gradually getting worse."

'It's a luxury for people to go out'

Alex Green says while he gets to eat out a lot of the time, he still appreciates a home-cooked meal

However, he said there was sometimes a lot of pressure on making recommendations to his audience on the best places to eat.

Mr Green, who works sampling food for a chilled and frozen food supplier in Norfolk, said: "A lot of the time it's just having a look online and seeing what's in the area.

"It's those little gems you just stumble across that produce the best food and really deserve some credit."

While he eats out a lot of the time reviewing places from fish and chip shops to pubs, pies and the best place to get a roast dinner, he says he still appreciates a home-cooked meal.

"It's a very expensive hobby but it's paying off, it's grown quite quickly," he said.

"It's a luxury now for a lot of people to go out, so giving people advice on where they should go and what kind of thing they should order, it helps them with picking where they should put their money."