It's time for another edition of Adventures in Shilling, in which we fight shilling the best way we can, by shaming tasteless, unscrupulous shills into submission. Well, that's the plan, at least. Fight shills yourself by dropping offensive links to tips@eater.com.

This week we had some more interactive shills, where the Eater commenters and suspected shillers duked it out over suspiciously positive comments on places like Klee Brasserie and Rayuela. And of course we have the usual inbox and Chowhound shill to mix things up. We'll begin with the most innocuous shill for the little known cupcakes at Pinisi Cafe:

We've noticed some suspicious activity in the past week regarding the cupcakes at Pinisi Cafe. The following is from the inbox, but there's a strikingly similar review on Chowhound and then again on Yelp: "Just wanted to share my new discovery: ghost chili cupcakes at pinisi cafe (on 4th street just west of 1st ave). these chocolate cupcakes are spicy (very, very spicy) and juicy. the spice can be overwhelming for those who aren't used to spicy foods but my taste buds, normally accustomed to Korean food, were happy campers after this unusual combination of taste. The frosting is just as good-fluffy without overpowering the cupcakes. hope you'll share this with your readers. i am visiting this tiny but friendly cafe regularly now to try their other treats." Shill Probability: 79%

And in response to our hinting that Rayuela could be Deathwatch material, we had a comment/possible shill that provoked quite a debate in the comment thread. You decide: "Is Eater going crazy? Who the hell thinks Rayuela is deathwatch material? The place is constantly buzzing with cool people, excellent drinks and attentive service! It is my favorite pan-latin place in the city, not only because of the food, but also because they have two of my favorite spirits: Zacapa Rum (aged 23 years, that's right, 23 years!) and Zaya, another golden spirit made by the same people who make Zacapa." Shill Probability: 85%

The thread following the Klee Brasserie Leap Day crap fest was an interesting one. Many spoke out for, many against, and we even had the owners check in afterwards to tell us the place was packed on the night in question. That said, these two comments were a tad shilly: "You guys are no fun! This sounds like such a cool idea. From what I heard, they're just going to switch for a few silly minutes and that's it. It's all just for the new menu, which is kicking off tonight. I think you all need to lighten up and learn how to have a little fun sometimes." And: "I just looked on the website and the menu looks great!! The night sounds like fun. I'm going to go :).."
Shill Probability: 93%

And out from left field we have an olive oil shill. NYCNosh emails to tell us this was in their comment thread and also published verbatum on the I Love Olive Oil Blog: "Lambda is the best olive oil I've ever tasted - and that's saying something because I've tasted a whole lot. This oil is green, spicy, pungent and invigorating. Try it straight, on its own, before you decide what else you might do with it. The bottle is so tragically hip, it reminds me of Voss Water. Worth every cent of the $50 price tag."
Shill Probability: 100%

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Filed under , Adventures In Shilling, Klee Brasserie, Pinisi Cafe, Rayuela

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