The ‘real’ food critics? Australian chefs on the toughest restaurant reviewers of all

Chef Neville Dsouza at his home in Marrickville, Sydney. He says cooking the food from his culture – and family in India – has a special meaning. Photograph: Isabella Moore/The Guardian

My mother, in all the decades we’ve dined out, has never liked a single restaurant I’ve taken her – even though I’ve written about food for nearly 20 years. Then we went to Yan, an Asian smokehouse in Sydney. Instead of dropping typical complaints about price (too expensive) or the cooking quality (inferior), she gave something rare and unexpected: hard-won Asian-parent praise. For this alone, I consider it an award-winning restaurant.

In Australia, dining guides and restaurant awards have become more culturally diverse over time, after criticism in recent years that Euro-style, fine-dining establishments with designer fit-outs, postcard views and internationally recognised chefs receive the highest accolades, while non-western cuisines are relegated to the “cheap eats” sections.