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Chronicle Live
Entertainment
Ian Johnson

Newcastle burger restaurant names meal after Rishi Sunak - and it is a WHOPPER

A burger restaurant has cheekily named a meal after Rishi Sunak - after it was created to benefit from the Chancellor's dining out drive.

During August, the Government will cover up to 50% - or £10 - of people' restaurant bills to help kickstart the economy.

The scheme - which runs between Monday and Wednesday - has been called 'Eat Out to Help Out'.

But with meals from Meat:Stack already on the cheap side, the Newcastle restaurant chain has created a "monster" meal to maximise the amount of money customers can save.

The 'Sunak Tray Challenge includes a huge burger, fries and fried chicken strips - and a soft serve ice cream for dessert.

"We found that the scheme wasn't really aimed at us, as we on;y charge about a tenner for meals anyway, so if people came in for their usually they wouldn't really benefit from it that much," said co-director Allan Hyslop.

"So we thought we should max out the offer and put on a challenge tray."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak delivers a summer economic update in a statement to the House of Commons (PA)

The calorific fried feast is, in the firm's own words, a "daunting" amount of food to eat.

And while it is named after the Chancellor, you cant imagine it fits in that well with another current Government drive - to tackle the nation's obesity problem.

Meat: Stack's named a 'daunting' new challenge tray after Chancellor Rishi Sunak, in honour of his drive to get people back into restaurants (ChronicleLive)

But as a one-off treat, Allan cant find enough superlatives to sum up just how good it tastes.

"Unreal", "amazing" and "incredible" are all thrown around by the businessman, whose firm has become a tasty Tyneside success story since its humble origins.

Launched on the Quayside Market just four years ago, it then moved into a Grainger Market unit.

The team eventually started flipping burgers inside the Dog and Parrot before finally opening a permanent restaurant recently.

Business at the Bigg Market site has been booming since it reopened after lockdown, a "worrying" period in which the firm was forced to pivot into takeaways to make end's meat.

"The restaurant was delayed due to the coronavirus, and because of that we didn't qualify for any Government grants because we were not technically open," added Allan, adding it meant the firm lost out on £25,000 in aid.

"That whole period was an adventure.

"But since lockdown has king of eased, we have opened the restaurant and although we are only operating at 50% capacity, the feedback from customers has been amazing."

The scheme officially starts today, Monday August 3.

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