THE management at an Aberdeen restaurant has come up with a novel wheeze. If you can scoff four 16oz steaks, plus a side of onion rings, chips or a baked potato in one hour, you will get the £59.99 meal for free. Otherwise, you pay.
Since the challenge was launched by the Apache Spur in October, 20 meat-lovers have attempted it, but only two have completed it.
It was too much of a challenge to resist for Stuart Patterson, bureau chief of Aberdeen-based North Scot Press Agency, and his battle with the beef was splashed in Saturday’s Scottish Sun – complete with four photographs of the daunting deed.
He wrote: “I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. As diners at Aberdeen’s Apache Spur restaurant tucked into their normal-sized lunches, I was confronted by a plate piled high with four rump steaks.
“Manager Clifford Nicholson, 32, used sports clichés like ‘hitting the wall’ and ‘conquering my fear’ to inspire me and I felt a bit like Rocky Balboa.”
He continued: “Despite the initial shock of seeing the steaks, I quickly tucked in. Steak one and steak two didn’t pose much of a problem and I had them demolished within half an hour. Clifford reckoned I’d made the right choice by getting them cooked medium. He said: ‘That’s the best way because the steak is still juicy. If you get them well done they’re too dry.’
“But by the time I got halfway through my third steak I started to struggle. I was taking longer and longer to finish my mouthfuls and I was beginning to get a bit delirious from all that meat. I downed a glass of water and two glasses of Coke but I refused to give up and managed to finish the third steak. However, I eventually did hit Clifford’s wall.
“I got the fourth steak cooked as I finished the third, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to take much more. My tie had to come off completely to give me a bit more room to breathe. But I was sick of the sight and taste of steak by then and had to throw in the towel as the minutes ticked down.”
He later added: “Becoming a vegetarian is looking pretty good at the moment.“
