Viral US TikToker’s mission to prove British food isn’t bland after all
Kalani Smith
A TikTok star from a small city in Tennessee has made it his mission to show the world British food is not all that bad.
Food reviewer Kalani Smith, who goes by Kalani Ghost Hunter (KGH) online, racks up millions of views posting his reviews on social media – from Welsh cakes to Greggs.
After initially building up a following investigating the paranormal, a pivot to reviewing British culinary staples has seen Mr Smith’s follower count balloon to more than three million on TikTok alone.
Having recently toured south Wales, Mr Smith boldly declared Cardiff Market’s food beats London’s Camden Market’s “10 times out of 10”.
“The most interesting thing about this journey… is that the perception around the world, especially in the US, is that the food in the UK is bland, it’s bad,” said Mr Smith.
“I think my whole objective up until this point has been is to document that this is not the case.
“There’s obviously things that are not good in every country, but there’s also some things that are absolutely incredible.”
“A lot of people come to the UK and they visit London, and that’s their extent of visiting the UK,” said Mr Smith, who hails from Mount Juliet in Tennessee.
“Whereas I’ve been to so many cities in the UK that I’ve got a pretty good perception and understanding of the majority of food… I’ve had so many of the regional dishes.”
Mr Smith’s social media career as a ghost hunter took an unexpected turn when, on a trip to the UK earlier this year, he decided to review arguably the most British meal of them all – a roast dinner.
“Things really took a change for me after that point,” said Mr Smith, who has been a food reviewer ever since.
Throughout his travels in the UK, the almost-exclusive setting for his reviews, he found one cuisine particularly stood out.
“The UK’s curry scene is untouchable,” he said.
“You can go to so many different parts of the UK and get a really good curry.”
Kalani Smith
However, Mr Smith does not have such kind words for all of the UK’s traditional dishes, saying pie, mash and liquor was the worst thing he had.
“That’s a London thing… but that liquor sauce is just not something that I would ever want to eat again.”
On a recent whistle-stop tour of south Wales, Mr Smith visited Newport, Cardiff, Port Talbot and Swansea.
“One of the highlights of the trip definitely had to be the Welsh cake… absolutely incredible,” said Mr Smith, after visiting Cardiff Bakestones in the city’s market.
“My first trip here, I had a horrible Welsh cake from Morrisons out of a package, and everyone told me, you have to get a fresh one.
“We went to the Cardiff market and had some incredible food, Welsh cake being one of those.”
Kalani Smith
Another highlight of Welsh cuisine was our famed traditional Welsh… tacos?
“Some of the best tacos I’ve had in the UK can be found in Cardiff Market,” he said of the market’s The Bearded Taco.
In Swansea, he said he had a “really good experience” with cockles and laverbread and Welsh rarebit.
“I had to get laverbread from Wales. I had this cockles and laverbread concoction that actually was really good.
“Laverbread by itself, without cooking. It was not a good idea.”
He did, however, tempt the wrath of Swansea natives with a less than perfect, but still positive, review of Joe’s Ice Cream.
“Joe’s Ice Cream in Swansea is one that I’ve had commented hundreds and hundreds of times, and everyone from Swansea talks about Joe’s Ice Cream.
“Joe’s Ice Cream is good, but it doesn’t rank in the top 10 for best ice cream I’ve ever had.
“It’s not something that I would drive or stand in line for.”
Mr Smith said balancing the skill of balancing locals’ passion for their signature dishes with giving an honest review was an important part of the job.
“The key is – you have to be respectful, right? – If you watch any video that I do, even if it is negative, most of the time, I try my best to be respectful.
“Each city in each region has a dish that they kind of cling to and and they’re proud of this dish.
“If I don’t think something tastes good, I’m not going to say [it does] to, you know, save someone’s feelings.
“Just because it’s not my taste and it’s not something I enjoy doesn’t mean that someone else out there doesn’t… I will always be honest with people.”
