When you read an online restaurant review, do you expect it to be the writer's genuine reaction to the meal they have eaten? If so, you might be surprised to find that some bloggers are asking for free meals in exchange for good reviews.

Controversy has blown up because one blogger allegedly contacted the Gauthier Soho with just such an offer. The £150 a head restaurant didn't just say 'no', their head of marketing publicised the offer on Twitter as part of a general rant against 'food blaggers'.

Professional restaurant critic Jay Rayner has also joined this food fight by slamming a different 'effing blogger who doesn't think that taking a freebie in any way degrades the validity of their opinion.'

It came as a surprise to me that legitimate restaurant reviewers always pay for their meals because in my three decades of marketing theatre, I never expected critics to pay for their tickets and equally I never thought that giving them a freebie would in any way influence their review.

Speaking from the receiving end, my view about critics is that there's no such thing as bad publicity. At least it's coverage and to my mind, it's better to be criticised than ignored. A reader will soon stop respecting a critic who praises everything or for that matter is never happy. If the review is bad, you can usually fillet out some positive remark for use in promoting a show. if it's good, you can repeat it from the rooftops. That includes extensive use of quotes in adverts and a link to their website from yours.

In the past there has been the occasional attempt to silence the more vitupertive or even vindictive critics by denying them free seats and it has always backfired because, frankly, theatres need the media more than the media needs theatre, even if no-one ever erected a statue to a critic.

I think the restaurants might benefit from following the example of theatres and giving genuine food critics free meals with no strings attached (cue joke 'Waiter, there's a string in my soup'). 

This blog was written by Paul Lewis, owner of the marketing consultancy The Lewis Experience and online retailer Your Life Your Style, and former Head of Marketing and Operations at The Mayflower Theatre. You can connect with him on Google+ and LinkedIn.