By WILIAM HUNTER, SENIOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Published: 11:58 BST, 30 August 2026 | Updated: 12:26 BST, 30 August 2026
If you're fond of a cheeky takeaway, you might have noticed something strange happening on your favourite delivery app.
Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Just Eat are being flooded with seemingly delicious dishes that are really nothing more than AI–generated fakes.
Unnaturally perfect burgers, strangely spherical rice, and physics–defying snacks are popping up on restaurant menus all over the country.
But what do these artificial fakes really look and taste like?
The Daily Mail's reporters put their stomachs on the line to order food from some of the worst offenders.
And some of the dishes that arrived were barely recognisable compared to the glossy images that looked so enticing on the menu.
Although a disappointing lunch break might not be the end of the world, experts say that this growing trend threatens to undermine trust in the entire restaurant industry.
Some food photographers have even called the practice 'dishonest' and accused the restaurants involved of 'false advertising'.
This AI–generated image of pancakes was so far from the actual product that it was genuinely laughable. Left: AI–generated menu. Right: The food as delivered
The Daily Mail's reporters put their stomachs on the line to order food from some of the worst offenders
What is striking about some of the AI–generated images clogging up our favourite delivery apps is just how obviously fake they are.
Although I assessed each image with an array of 'AI checker' tools to be sure, it didn't take an expert eye to spot that these couldn't be real food.
Scrolling through a selection of food apps, the first pictures that caught my eye were the mozzarella sticks from a restaurant called Pasta Bowl and Feast.
