Food YouTuber Pete Green has reviewed Rick Stein's Fish and Chips in Padstow, Cornwall, on three separate occasions and his verdict has evolved with each individual visit.
Rick Stein's Padstow Empire
Celebrity chef Rick Stein is so closely associated with Padstow that the Cornish town has earned the nickname 'Padstein'. The 79 year old has an impressive six restaurants in the seaside destination. He first relocated there in the early 1970s, when he and his then-wife Jill opened a nightclub in 1974. Following the club losing its licence, the upper floor was converted into a dining space, giving birth to The Seafood Restaurant in 1975.
Rick's culinary portfolio includes a village pub, a bistro and his flagship restaurant. He also operates Stein's Fish and Chips, though one YouTube content creator was far from bowled over during his initial visit.
Initial Disappointment
Food reviewer Pete Green likened Rick's establishment to a standard local chippy, finding precious little to distinguish the two. When Pete, who fronts the Greeno Eats YouTube channel, returned a couple of years on, he was pleasantly taken aback by the improvements that had been made.
Third Visit Verdict
He subsequently made a third trip to Padstow to assess whether those standards had been upheld. Pete put in a sizeable order to share with his companion - fish and chips, battered sausages, curry sauce, mushy peas, tartare sauce and gravy. The total came to £30, and Pete confessed he had lofty expectations given the price tag.
Reflecting on the experience after finishing his meal, the YouTuber described the food as "decent", awarding it 7.5/8 out of 10. Pete said: "So overall £30 spent. Have we been well fed? I think we have. There was enough chips there to share between the two of us. We both had some fish, we both had some sausage. I think that's fine."
"£15 per head. It's not bad is it? Not too bad. What are we going to score it though? One or two things were a little but punchy price wise but the fish and chips were great value. Maybe about a 7.5 pushing 8. I don't think that's a bad score. I think they'd like a higher score but there are things they can tweak to get that?"
Highlights and Criticisms
The food vlogger was particularly full of praise for the sauces, describing the mushy peas as "delicious". However, it was the gravy that stole the show, which he declared was "spectacularly good". While the chips were deemed "decent", Pete admitted he had encountered superior ones elsewhere, and described the £9 price tag for two jumbo sausages as "a bit strong".
On the whole, though, he believes Stein's Fish and Chips has sustained its improved standards, apart from "one or two little nitpicky things". Nevertheless, he stops short of ranking it alongside some of the finest chippies in Yorkshire or Scotland.
He rounded off his review by saying: "Would I come here again? Yeah I would? Does it get Greeno's green light? Yeah it does. Pretty good. That's it to me today. Rick, I hope I'm still on your Christmas card list."
