Man v Food pub's 6,000-calorie Christmas dinner in Guinness Book of Records
The Duck Inn, in Redditch, is in the 2015 edition of the Guinness Book of Records for its £35 dinner, which it first offered to customers last Christmas.
The dinner is made up of a whole turkey, plus 25 items each of roast potatoes, parsnips, stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, carrots, sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower.
It also includes a pint of gravy and cranberry sauce, and is free to any customer who can finish it within 45 minutes. No one has managed it so far.
Lengthy process
Licensee Ashley Gargan, who runs the Star Pubs & Inns tenancy with wife Louise, told Pub Food that it was the Guinness Book of Records that made the initial contact, and a lengthy verification process with lots of “weights and measures” was involved.
He added that the Christmas dinner was a continuation of the pub’s successful £60 steak challenge.
The steak challenge offers a free meal to customers who are able to finish a choice of 80oz, 100oz, 120oz and 150oz steaks.
The pub also runs a burger challenge, which includes six beef burgers and 6oz of beef chilli – and a sausage and mash challenge, with six foot-long pork sausages and 6lbs of potato mash. Both challenges cost £19.50, and are free if completed within 20 minutes.
Food donation
Gargan said that for every time someone tried the Christmas dinner, which is available now, the pub would donate the equivalent amount of food to a food bank.
He explained: “The whole idea of challenges came about because some our customers thought they might be fun.
“We started with 80 to 150oz steaks, and because they were so popular we carried on selling them.
“Some people have come close to completing the Christmas dinner, but not one has achieved it yet. Hopefully that might change this year.
Good pubilcity
Gargan said that being a family business, any publicity is good for the pub.
“We took on the business three years ago, and we’ve worked very hard to bring it up to a great standard.
“We spend more than £100,000 on refurbishing the site, and we’ve built up a reputation as a place to enjoy both good quality food and beer.”
