17 hours Ago By [email protected] (Michael Moran)
Rick Stein's Fish & Chips in is one of the best-known fish and chip shops in the UK. The celebrity chef, who has established a mini-empire of restaurants, shops and hotels in and around the Cornish town, attracts thousands of people every year to his premium chippy – many of them returning time and time again. But there has always been a degree of local cynicism about his 'takeover' of the town - often referred to as 'Padstein'.
And now one punter who won't be coming back to is Gary Hanna. Gary, who reviews restaurants all over the UK on his channel, claims he was left fuming by the five elements of his dish he ordered. Gary had previously reviewed Padstow chippy and given it a scathing review, saying: "I had his fish and chips and I've got to say they were disappointing.
In fact, actually called it out and said it was a tourist trap." In the interest of fairness, Gary decided to give the award-winning chef's seaside chippy a second chance. He went to the restaurant incognito and ordered Haddock and chips, a portion of scampi, some mushy peas, a dollop of curry sauce, and a small pot of tartare sauce.
In total Gary's order set him back just under £34. Prices at the restaurant have been called into question before, but Rick Stein has defended his prices, blaming the rising costs of fuel and produce. Gary waited around 20 minutes for his order, but accepted that as par for course for food that's cooked to order.
The piece of haddock he was given looked "really sorry for itself," Gary said, and was a little too greasy. Once he cut into it, he claimed that the fish was dry. "That's not good," he said.
"That's not good piece of fish at all." The chips were also "a bit dry," Gary says, with some of them being rather undercooked. The scampi, too, came in for a scathing review, with Gary pronouncing it "mass-produced mush".
The mushy peas, he added, were "rubbish" and the condiments – which are charged separately – also fell short of expectations. After some deliberation, he decided to ask for a refund. He explained: "It's not right because this is food that's going to get wasted and thrown away.
If it was cooked properly in the beginning it would be wasted – I hate wasting food." There was some good news, though, with the response of the restaurant staff. Gary continued: "I brought it back and I can tell you that it was handled by the manager in there perfectly .
.. she refunded me straight away.
" Gary turned down the offer of a replacement on the house, saying he'd prefer not to see food wasted. He closed out his review with a personal message for the man himself. He continued: "I appreciate that [Rick Stein's] not here running it himself personally but his family, or whoever's running his organisation is running it guys sort it out – because you're ripping people off this is a tourist trap and it's not acceptable.
" reached out to Rick Stein's organisation for comment, but has yet to receive a reply..
