Two of London's top culinary talents have conducted a fascinating experiment to answer a question many shoppers ponder: does a higher price tag guarantee a better steak from the supermarket? The results left them genuinely surprised.
The Chef Challenge: A £100 Budget Battle
Jack Croft and Will Murray, the co-owners and chefs behind the acclaimed London restaurants Fallow, Roe, and FOWL, set up a head-to-head cook-off. Each had £100 to spend, but with a crucial difference in their shopping destinations.
Will was tasked with sourcing ingredients from what they described as the UK's most expensive supermarket, the iconic Fortnum & Mason in London. Jack, meanwhile, headed to the discount retailer Lidl to prove the power of a budget strategy.
The challenge was to create the ultimate version of steak and frites, with the freedom to interpret the brief. The video of their experiment was shared on their popular YouTube channel, also named Fallow.
Shopping Spree: Luxury Splurge vs Budget Haul
At Fortnum & Mason, Will immersed himself in the luxurious food hall. His centrepiece was a £45 Tomahawk steak, a impressive bone-in ribeye. With his remaining budget, he selected Maris Piper potatoes, shallots, mushrooms, red wine, beef stock, and beef fat to create a wild mushroom sauce and perfect chips.
Jack's trip to Lidl yielded a remarkably different haul. He discovered the supermarket's Deluxe range and picked up four different steaks – a rump, a fillet, a sirloin, and a ribeye, each dry-aged for 30-36 days. The total cost for all four was just £29.
"We're gonna do a platter of all the steaks, delicious," he announced. With plenty of money left, he filled his basket with mushrooms, parsley, garlic, tomatoes, butter, seasonings, onion rings, gravy, chips, and even managed to include an air fryer within his £100 limit.
The Cook-Off and The Verdict
Back in their restaurant kitchen, both chefs set to work. Will focused on perfecting his sauce and double-cooking his chips in beef fat. Jack navigated initial issues with the air fryer before roasting mushrooms and cooking his array of steaks to allow ample resting time.
To ensure a fair judgement, two women were invited to blind taste both meals. Their consensus was clear: the Fortnum & Mason steak was deemed the best in terms of overall quality. However, they praised the Lidl steaks for being "really nicely cooked."
When the chefs sampled each other's creations, they reached a nuanced conclusion. They agreed that the premium Tomahawk was superior in quality. But Jack's Lidl platter, offering variety and quantity for the price, was declared the winner when value was factored in.
The experiment demonstrated that while high-end retailers offer exceptional quality cuts, strategic shopping at budget supermarkets can deliver impressive and varied results, challenging the simple assumption that cost alone dictates culinary success.
