- Cattlemans Steakhouse in Paignton refused Dan’s attempt at Mega Mixed Grill
- Challenge includes steak, gammon, sausages, chicken wings, breast and burger
A man who finished a stunning 4,500 calorie mixed grill in a restaurant challenge was made to pay the £50 price tag – because he didn’t eat the salad.
Cattlemans Steakhouse in Paignton, Devon, has been wrapped in controversy after posting about customer Dan’s impressive attempt to devour the monster meal in under an hour.
Their belly-busting 3.2kg Mega Mixed Grill includes a 20oz rump steak, 12oz of gammon, four sausages, three chicken wings, a chicken breast and a 6oz cheeseburger.
The steakhouse claims the mixed grill’s success rate is just 10 per cent despite around 80 people attempting it since it debuted on his menu 10 months ago.
The steakhouse’s post shows a snap of Dan facing a packed silver platter followed by a second with only the side salad and mushrooms remaining uneaten on Saturday November 25.
Dan can be seen frowning with his thumb down as the caption reads ‘so close…he didn’t tell us he didn’t like salad’ – while the venue claims he’d announced he hates salad.
Annoyed TikTok users were quick to hail Dan as a winner, with some claiming the steakhouse was ‘taking the p**s’ and the salad ‘shouldn’t be there’.
However some users questioned why Dan couldn’t ‘grow up’ and stomach the salad to pocket the £50 prize and avoid paying the hefty sum for failing.
Owner Gary King, who opened the steakhouse seven years ago, has defended his team’s decision to deny Dan his prize and charge him by simply declaring ‘the challenge is to eat everything’.
However the restaurant’s own most recent breakdown of what the challenge includes fails to mention any salad.
He admits he did feel sorry for the stuffed customer but claims he should have asked to swap the salad for more chips or onion rings before the challenge began, but he didn’t.
Gary said: ‘It’s simple. It’s a challenge and the challenge is to eat and clear everything, otherwise it wouldn’t be a challenge.
‘Had he said to us that he didn’t want any salad then we’d have put a few more chips or onion rings on. He didn’t say anything at the start or while he was eating it.
‘His exact words were ‘I know it’s stupid but I’m not going to eat that salad. Not even for £50 because I don’t eat salad’.
‘I felt sorry when I saw the pictures because if I’d have spoken to him beforehand then he may well have said he didn’t want salad.
‘Once it’s on that table, that’s it. there’s no point in telling us afterwards because we’re not going to strip the salad off and give him a bowl of chips and a bowl of onion rings, are we?
‘We got a hammering for putting a baguette on our 5kg roast dinner but I did it because it’s a challenge.
‘A lot of people think that we don’t want to complete it, but what we find is that for every person that does complete it ten mates are going to come and try it because they think they can do it.’
Gary says the record time for completing the mega mixed grill challenge is 15 minutes and 42 seconds and hopefuls from Asia and America have travelled to attempt it.
The owner believes his steakhouse’s hardest challenge is the 5kg roast dinner while the ‘easiest’, with around one in 15 hopefuls completing it, is the burger challenge with two 24oz patties.
His tips for completing food challenges include regularly drinking water, taking breaks around every ten minutes to stretch out, not leaving the chips until last and not rushing.
The steakhouse’s post has been viewed more than half a million times.
One commented: ‘He won for me. Salad is taking the p**s.’
Another said: ‘Salad should not be there. Dan is my GOAT [greatest of all time].’
A third added: ‘Naaa he finished that.’
Others agreed and said, ‘he won it’ and ‘I think he won to be honest’.
However some users lacked sympathy for Dan and believed he should have eaten the salad to win £50.
One said: ‘What? So you’re telling me he munched all of that but when it got the salad he tapped out. Yeah, get a grip.’
Another added: ‘For the sake of 50 quid you should have just grown up, Dan, and ate it.’
A third suggested: ‘Should of just wrapped the salad round the meat would have made it easier to eat.’
A fourth added: ‘Could have swapped the salad for something else.’
Some simply mocked Dan’s failure.
One joked: ‘Bros holding back the tears.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
