Boyfriend 'Won't Stop Scoring' Girlfriend's Cooking — Says It Will 'Help [Her] Improve'

Oct 26, 2021 by apost team

Being in a relationship comes with plenty of perks and plenty of moments filled with joy and happiness. Some of the most common dates to go on include the classic dinner and a movie, ordering take-out for a nice night in, or maybe even having a picnic in a nearby park. Food is something that truly brings people together, which is why so many couples go on dates that involve it. 

While going out to eat can be extremely fun, it can be a really great bonding experience to learn how to cook together. Most of the time, this is a pretty good experience for couples, although one woman has shared a story of how frustrating it was to cook around her boyfriend.

The woman is 25 years old, and her boyfriend is 31 years old. Jerry, her boyfriend, has a culinary arts degree and has two jobs in the food industry — one at a restaurant and the other as a cooking instructor. It’s safe to say that he’s pretty well versed in cooking and most likely knows what he’s talking about when it comes to critiquing how food tastes.

Much to her dislike, Jerry also critiques his girlfriend’s cooking. Everything came to a head one night when the couple had dinner with the woman’s parents, and Jerry ranked every food item his girlfriend prepared. It led to an extreme fallout with both of them criticizing each other, so the woman went to Reddit on Oct. 23, 2021, to ask Redditors for advice on what to do next.

At the beginning of her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) said that she and her boyfriend Jerry had been together for just over two years. Jerry works in a restaurant and also as a cooking instructor. OP explained, “I had no real experience in cooking but he encouraged me to learn and helped my skills improve so much even though he has a habit of rating every meal I cook which I find a bit rude.”

No matter what she cooks, Jerry will always give OP a rating and advice on how to make the food better. “I didn’t feel great with him rating my food no matter the score but he says he’s helping me improve,” OP said.

When OP’s family came over to visit, she decided to cook them their favorite foods. Throughout the dinner, Jerry kept making comments about all of the food. OP continued, “Once he put his fork down he cleared his throat and literally started rating every dish I made.” Her family was confused, and OP was shocked as Jerry continued to give her advice on how to improve her “score” for the next time.

OP was incredibly embarrassed, and she and her boyfriend had a huge argument after dinner. “I said to him that I won’t have him eat what I cook anymore,” she said. “He said I was overreacting and claimed what he was doing is just constructive criticism and I shouldn’t take it personal since he’s just used to rating his students’ work.”

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Even if her boyfriend’s intentions behind scoring her cooking skills had good intentions, it was clear that this woman had had enough of the constant criticism. OP continued, “I said I wasn’t his dang student and he wasn’t Gordon Ramsey.” This hurt Jerry’s feelings as he claimed he was just trying to help, and her comment was a “low blow to his abilities.” Jerry was so upset that he even decided to stay at a friend’s house for the night, leaving OP to wonder if she handled the situation poorly.

Reddit users were on OP’s side, though, and told her that her boyfriend was completely out of line for constantly commenting on her cooking abilities and tearing her down. One user said, “This is the real world not Yelp. If you’re both working on improving your cooking then constructive criticism is generally fine, not when it’s not asked for though. It doesn’t need to be every meal and definitely not in front of guests.” The user continued, “He may think he’s helping but this has turned into belittling and looks to be a power trip. Your Gordon Ramsey comment was right on the money. 10/10.”

Another user commented, “I don’t feel like the BF is actually giving constructive criticism. He really is only giving criticism.” A third user agreed, explaining, “Simply rating food isn’t constructive criticism. And then saying ‘your comment was uncalled for and a low blow’ but his wasn’t? You have nothing to apologize for. Let him make his own food.”

What do you think about this boyfriend constantly scoring his girlfriend’s cooking? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family members and friends to find out what they think, too.