Celebrity chef slammed for ‘minuscule’ £15.95 portion of fish and chips
Guests aren't impressed.
Rick Stein’s fish and chips have been slammed for tiny portions despite costing £15.95 at his Cornish restaurant.
Food critic Gary Hanna, known as Gary Eats on YouTube, recently visited Stein’s takeaway venue in Padstow but was left unimpressed.
Despite paying almost £16 (plus extras) for his meal, the critic was met with greasy, soggy chips and a small, dry, portion of haddock.
He had previously visited Stein’s Fish & Chips, which opened in 2004, but wanted to ‘give it another go’ only to get a ‘worse’ dinner than before.
The 78-year-old celebrity chef owns a large number of businesses in the Padstow area, often dubbed ‘Padstein’, with his chippy a huge tourist attraction.
The £15.95 takeaway serving of haddock and chips rises to £19.95 for diners in his cafe, with added costs like £2.25 for a pot of mayonnaise.
The celebrity chef owns multiple restaurants in Padstow (Picture: Mike Flokis/Getty Images)Gary branded his haddock portion a ‘little sprat’ which was ‘full of grease’ and declared: ‘It’s one of the smallest portions I’ve ever seen.’
He’s not alone in his assessment either as visitors have repeatedly shared complaints on sites like TripAdvisor, warning others of the ‘child size’ meals.
‘Very frustrating, Haddock and chips small portion very overcooked, oily batter, fed the seagulls, never ever again, go somewhere else,’ said John B.
Stephen L complained: ‘The fish was about 2.5, inches square nothing like the size on the picture it wasn’t big enough for a kiddies meal.
Absolute rip off.’
‘It was the most smallest portions you could imagine and the quality was a total rip off,’ said Charlie Mac. ‘Shame on you and those thats serving this rubbish.’
Richard C, who visited in March 2025, wrote: ‘Well Mr Stein hang your head in shame the Haddock was doubled cooked absolutely disgusting and the Scampi was mass produced, rather go to Iceland shop and buy there’s for £12 how many can l get and the Mushy Peas were like wall paper paste.
‘Next time l need decorating l will get some mushy peas from Rick Stein. This was a waste off money. Shame on you Mr Rick Stein my marks 0/10 just dreadful. All you care is it a tourist trap and we fell for it. SHAME on you.’
Guests have taken to TripAdvisor to slam the venue (Picture: Stein’s Fish & Chips)However, on the flip side, Pasi H praised the venue for ‘excellent Fish & chips!’ with ‘lots to eat’ in the same month.
There are positive reviews his other restaurants in the area but Stein’s Fish & Chips is the lowest rated with 3.4 on TripAdvisor.
In Padstow alone, Stein owns The Seafood Restaurant, St Petroc’s Bistro, Rick Stein’s Cafe, Stein’s Fish & Chips, the Seafood Bar and Fishmongers and Ruby’s Bar.
As well as the eateries, he runs The Cornish Arms, Stein’s Gift Shop, and a culinary school.
Metro has reached out to Stein for comment.
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