A new mobile app for iPhone and Android hopes to make it easy for people to share what they are eating, while rating what food is good — and what dishes to avoid.
Nosh.me bills itself as a cross between Foursquare and Yelp. The idea behind the app is to allow people to share “what’s good here” at a restaurant they’re visiting. Users can take photos, rate items or dishes, leave additional tips or comments and share their experience with their friends on Facebook or Twitter.
Visually, the app, which is available for Android and iPhone [iTunes link], is similar to Instagram or Path.
You can see a feed of what your friends have shared to the service, including a picture of the dish, its name, a star rating and the name of the restaurant. Tapping on an entry opens up a place to read a caption or review and to see any comments or likes associated with a post.
To share what you are eating, there is a Nosh location button on the app, similar to Foursquare, where users can add in a menu item, photo and review. Nosh already has 150,000 menus, 475,000 restaurants and 10 million menu items in its database.
Nosh.me is the first app from the Google Ventures-backed Firespotter Labs. Led by Craig Walker (former co-founder of GrandCentral, which went on to become Google Voice), Firespotter’s goal is to tackle big industry segments (like the restaurant industry) that have been resistant to modernization. “The restaurant dining experience today is essentially the same as it was 50 years ago,” Walker told me.
Recognizing the power of friend recommendations and reviews, as well as our collective love of food photography, Nosh.me was born.
The idea, while compelling, isn’t unique. Forkly has a similar aim. However, despite some early buzz, that product has failed to launch. Moreover, existing startups like Foodspotting are focused on creating visual experiences for food lovers. In an ironic twist of fate, I actually attempted to purchase the Nosh.me domain name in February, for a food app idea that I had.
Still, there is something compelling about not just looking at photos of food, but commenting on and sharing those photos and the quality of the dish itself. As a way to streamline the discovery process, we think Nosh.me has real potential.
More About: Android apps, Food, food photography, foodspotting, iphone apps, nosh.me, yelp
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