Now, almost anything goes.

Diners are standing on chairs, arranging plates on the floor and taking snaps through a two-hour meal, just to post sexy images of their food on social media. And no one bats an eyelid.

Now chefs are zhushing up their dishes with smoke, edible flowers and jellied fruit for marketing purposes.

Food reviewing website Yelp will host the inaugural Food Porn Festival in which 40 of the best drool-worthy snaps from the public will be selected for an exhibition on May 18 at the SmartArtz Gallery in South Melbourne. An RSVP to attend the event is required.

An organiser, Yelp community manager Jackie Doran, said entries so far could be viewed here. 

The photos must have been taken in the past year in a Melbourne eatery. First prize includes a stay at the Adelphi hotel for two, with dinner and breakfast; a degustation for two at Taxi Kitchen restaurant; a coffee masterclass with St Ali's Ben Morrow and brunch at Kitty Burns eatery.

The judges are Ms Doran, Taxi Kitchen executive chef Tony Twitchett​ and food stylist Shellie Froidevaux.

Ms Doran said judges were looking for creativity, quality ("something that's in focus"), and "the ability to create a foodgasm​ 'oh my god' kind of reaction".

"If I look at something, I want to feel desire for it. I want to go, 'oooh, yeah'."

As a food reviewer, she dines out once or twice a day, and photographs everything, which drives her partner crazy.

"If we go out for dinner, I'm like, 'don't touch it, I need to take a photo first'. Sometimes, things get a bit cold as I perfectly line everything up to take the ultimate photo. But it's worth it."

Josephine Pulitano​, manager of Kitty Burns eatery in Abbotsford, said instead of reading the menu, some diners showed staff a photo from Instagram and stated "I want this dish".

"Some customers spend an hour and a half putting their plates on the floor because they like the colour of the floor more than the colour of the table."

Among Kitty Burns' more visually sumptuous fare is French toast (actually a thick brioche), with coffee ganache, compressed peaches, and whipped maple syrup; and a pea and mint panna cotta served with smoked salmon, bacon crumbs, 63/63 egg (egg cooked for 63 minutes at 63 degrees) with smoke that emerges as you open the glass bowl lid.

Staff at Naughty Boy cafe in Princes Hill offer InstaShakes:​ huge milkshakes more like desserts, with ingredients like meringues, fairy floss and chocolate brownies on top.

A spokeswoman said the cafe's Instagram account had 12,000 followers, which created "word of mouth that brings people back".

Nathan Toleman,, co-owner of upmarket cafes The Kettle Black and Top Paddock, said several years ago, a hotcake​ would have been served on a plain plate with a scoop of cream.

Now it was garnished with seeds, nuts and edible flowers such as violas, violet sugar, and served in designer bowls, to allow diners to photograph it from all angles and Instagram the image to online friends.

He said chefs "used to get a little bit annoyed about it when they'd see people taking photographs of their food, and the flash and disruption it may cause".

"But we have regular customers who we've got to know over the time that stand on their chairs to take photos of dishes looking down on the table, and it's completely acceptable now."