Comparison

Culinary Backstreets vs King Arthur Baking

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Culinary Backstreets

Discover authentic local eateries in major food cities worldwide. This app provides curated reviews and integrated maps to help you find hidden culinary gems beyond typical tourist spots. Explore unique regional cuisines and enjoy offline access to content.

Highlights
  • Curated local food reviews
  • Integrated maps for easy navigation
  • Offline content access
  • Vivid food and people photography
  • Content from global food correspondents
Features
Read full description

Download the application for free and purchase each city volume of reviews for only $3.99 each, with a lifetime of free updates! The definitive guide to eating locally and authentically in several of the world’s greatest food cities, including Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City – with more to come! Each city volume within the application is purchased separately for $3.99 with free updates to the database forever. Beyond the kebab, souvlaki, tapas, soup dumpling, feijoada or taco – and what you will find listed in most guidebooks for these cities – lies a wide range of unique regional cuisines and restaurants with hints of cooking from all around. Most of these spots, though, are found far off the eaten track. With Culinary Backstreets as your trusty guide, you will know what to eat and where to eat it. 

   Application features: 
-Content provided by Culinarybackstreets.com, the online global guide to local eats. -The absolute best of Culinary Backstreets’ local correspondents’  eating experiences: hundreds of opinionated reviews of local and authentic restaurants, street food carts, bakeries, dessert shops and more.
 -Search functions and integrated maps that make finding the perfect meal easy. 
 -Vivid photos of food and the people who make it.  
-Content always available in off-line mode. 


   About Culinary Backstreets:

 Partnering up with some of the most knowledgeable and passionate food writers and bloggers across the globe, Culinarybackstreets.com is a hotline for the hungry traveler, bedside reading for the foodie voyeur, and a heavily bookmarked index for those who live among the culinary backstreets featured in our pages. Dispatching from Istanbul, Athens, Shanghai, Barcelona, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Tbilisi (with more cities on the way), Culinarybackstreets.com is a community of readers and writers who follow their stomachs to the next destination.   Praise for Culinary Backstreets’ Istanbul app:

   “Finally, a guide that truly shows you how to eat like a local in Istanbul!”
-Anya Von Bremzen, contributing editor at Travel+Leisure, author of “The New Spanish Table”

   “…. The insiders guide to the back streets, hidden gems and tasty bites in the glorious old city on the Bosphorus. I love it.”
 Richard Engel, Chief Foreign Correspondent, NBC NEWS

   “Affectionate, funny and delicious. A must-have road map to the tastiest secrets in this beautiful city. I never leave home without it.” 
-Ivan Watson, International Foreign Correspondent, CNN   

“The brains (and stomachs) ….you want guiding you through the vast culinary treasures of one of the world's most interesting eating cities.”
-Seth Kugel, Frugal Traveler, New York Times   

“Brilliant insider guide to the best eats in Istanbul.” 
-The Guardian

About

King Arthur Baking

Discover over 2,000 tested baking recipes, from breads to cakes. Features built-in timers for recipe steps and allows you to save favorites to a personal collection. Create an account for cross-device access.

Highlights
  • Browse 2,000+ tested recipes
  • Custom timers from recipe steps
  • Save favorite recipes
  • Cross-device account access
  • Variety of baking categories
Features
Read full description

Explore over 2,000 meticulously tested recipes from King Arthur Baking, designed for bakers of all levels. From crusty artisan breads and soft dinner rolls to decadent cakes and irresistible sweet treats, there’s something for every craving. With built-in timers based on recipe steps, you’ll never miss a beat. Create an account to save your favorite recipes to your personal recipe box to access them anytime and track your bakes. Features: - Search and browse 2,000+ tested recipes - Set custom timers directly from recipe steps - Save favorites to your private recipe box - Create an account for easy access across devices - Discover a wide variety of recipes: breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, and more

Screenshots

Culinary Backstreets4 screens
King Arthur Baking4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: King Arthur Baking at 4.5 against Culinary Backstreets's 2.6. King Arthur Baking also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and ratings volume (245 vs 12). Culinary Backstreets's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Culinary Backstreets sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. King Arthur Baking asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

King Arthur Baking holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: King Arthur Baking has 245 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Culinary Backstreets's written reviews are positive against 75% of King Arthur Baking's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Culinary Backstreets ships an update every 2 months, King Arthur Baking every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Culinary Backstreets versus King Arthur Baking: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCulinary BackstreetsKing Arthur Baking
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (12 ratings)4.5 (245 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.7% of reviews74.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12245 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCulinary BackstreetsKing Arthur Baking Company, Inc.

Customer experience

Culinary Backstreets

All ratings12 ratings
Positive41.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative58.3%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive67.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative29.0%

King Arthur Baking

All ratings44 ratings
Positive61.4%
Neutral13.6%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews110 reviews
Positive74.5%
Neutral13.6%
Negative11.8%

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Culinary Backstreets

One-time7
  • IstanbulFree
  • RioFree
  • Istanbul$3.99
Show 4 more
  • Athens$3.99
  • Barcelona$3.99
  • Shanghai$3.99
  • Mexico$3.99
None

King Arthur Baking

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Culinary Backstreets free?
Culinary Backstreets is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is King Arthur Baking free?
King Arthur Baking is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Culinary Backstreets or King Arthur Baking?
King Arthur Baking is rated higher. Culinary Backstreets averages 2.6 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while King Arthur Baking averages 4.5 from 245 ratings.
Do Culinary Backstreets or King Arthur Baking have ads?
King Arthur Baking shows ads; Culinary Backstreets does not.
Which is updated more often, Culinary Backstreets or King Arthur Baking?
Culinary Backstreets ships an update every 2 months, and King Arthur Baking every 3 weeks. Most recently, Culinary Backstreets was updated on October 14, 2026 and King Arthur Baking on October 17, 2026.

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