Get started with NaijaTaste

Use the web app to get your first restaurant recommendation or Pidgin review, then make your first API call to POST /simulate-review in minutes.

You can start using NaijaTaste in two ways: through the web app at naijataste.onrender.com, or by calling the REST API directly. This guide walks you through both. No account or API key is required to get started.

Use the web app

1. Open the app

   Go to https://naijataste.onrender.com in your browser. The app loads immediately — no sign-in required.

2. Choose a taste persona

   Select the persona that best matches how you eat:

   • Lagos Professional — values ambience, speed, and consistent quality; moderate price sensitivity
   • Street Food Enthusiast — prioritises bold flavour and generous portions over presentation; low price sensitivity
   • The Aunty — high standards for homestyle cooking, portion size, and value; vocal when disappointed

   Your persona shapes both the restaurant recommendations you receive and the tone of any reviews generated.

3. Get recommendations or simulate a review

   Choose which feature to use:

   • Recommendation Engine — enter a location or allow the app to use your GPS. The engine returns ranked restaurants within 5km, filtered by your persona’s preferences.
   • Review Simulator — enter a restaurant name, location, and a few features (ambience, food quality, service). The engine generates a Pidgin English review with a star rating and tone label.

   You can interact with either feature through the chat interface or the structured form, depending on your preference.

4. Save your reviews (optional)

   Sign in with your account to save simulated reviews and revisit your favourite spots. Without signing in, results are not persisted between sessions.

Allow the app to access your location for the most accurate hyper-local recommendations. The Recommendation Engine searches within a 5km radius of your position.

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First API call

The NaijaTaste REST API base URL is:

https://naijataste-api-vcp4.onrender.com

No API key is required for public endpoints. Send requests with a Content-Type: application/json header.

The example below calls POST /simulate-review to generate a Pidgin English review for Yellow Chilli Victoria Island from a balanced persona.

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url https://naijataste-api-vcp4.onrender.com/simulate-review \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "persona": {
      "user_id": "demo_user",
      "avg_rating": 3.5,
      "rating_tendency": "balanced",
      "price_sensitivity": "medium",
      "tone_keywords": ["jollof", "service", "price", "portion"],
      "total_reviews": 30,
      "sample_reviews": ["Good food and reasonable prices"]
    },
    "item_name": "Yellow Chilli Victoria Island",
    "item_type": "restaurant",
    "location": "Lagos",
    "features": ["nice ambience", "average food", "fast service"]
  }'

The API returns a rating, a Pidgin English review, and a tone label:

Expected response

{
  "rating": 3,
  "review_text": "The ambience dey correct sha, food reach expectation but nothing wey wow me. Service fast at least.",
  "tone_label": "mixed"
}

No API key or Authorization header is needed for POST /simulate-review or POST /recommend. These are public endpoints.

Next steps

• Read the Review Simulator docs to understand persona fields and how rating tendency affects output
• Explore the Recommendation Engine to learn how GPS and persona profiles combine to rank results
• Browse the full API Reference for all available endpoints