Lew ‘Big Lew’ Richards is a certified foodie and YouTuber who has made it his mission to take on the spiciest dishes coming from the US, Vietnam, China, and India with a grand finale involving the World’s Hottest Curry.
Watch him fearlessly take on those fiery treats here:
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Video credit: Rumble
Lew’s first stop was Viet Grill, a long-time favorite of his. He ate a spicy beef Pho soup, a dish that is usually eaten for breakfast in Vietnam.
Hieu Bui, the restaurant’s owner, says the dish is made with over 50 ingredients and was faithful to authentic Vietnamese cuisine.
Lew said the spiciness was “perfect” although eating the dried chili made things a little “pokey.”
The next stop was Red Dog Saloon on Hoxton Square to try out the “Doomsday Burger” that the owner Tom Brooke cooked up.
The burger has a blend of serranos, jalapenos, Thai birds eye chilies, ghost chilies, habaneros, and chili extract for the special tear-inducing flavor.
Although he was able to finish the meal, Lew said the Doomsday Burger lived up to its name as he felt like a “nuclear device.”
With three more restaurants to go, Lew said: “I feel like the body clock could be a ticking time bomb right now, that burger was a lot. It was a lot more than I expected it to be.
“I thought Tom wouldn’t do me dirty like that, but he most definitely did me dirty.”
Next on the list was Orange Buffalo on Brick Lane for their specialty, “Viper Wings.”
The meal is so spicy that one needs to sign a disclaimer before eating.
Mike So, the co-owner of Orange Buffalo, says that he has never seen even one person finish the whole portion in the six years he’s been serving them. Others were so overwhelmed by the heat that they fainted, vomited, or even urinated on themselves.
The wings’ special sauce made of naga chilies, Scotch bonnets and a touch of chili extract adds up to over 4.6 million Scoville units.
The Scoville scale is used to determine the ‘spiciness’ of chilies or food by measuring the concentration of capsaicin, the compound responsible for the heat sensation when we eat it.
After two of Orange Buffalo’s Viper Wings, Lew said: “It was one of the single worst experiences of my life.
“I am just very, very glad that the whole ordeal was over. That was awful, brutal.”
Next up was KAKI, a Sichuan restaurant on Caledonian Road. There, he partook of sea bass and frog legs in sizzling chili oil, said to be some of the hottest Sichuan dishes in London.
However, Lew found the meal a bit short on spiciness.
He said: “Flavor-wise, stand out dish of the day. Spice wise, not even on the level of what we have been on today but I don’t want to take away from the fact that these were some serious culinary delights taking place down at Caledonian Road.”
The final spot saw Lew at the Cinnamon Bazaar in Covent Garden for their “Bombay Burner,” notorious for being the World’s Hottest Curry.
Up to 12 Scotch bonnet chilies in lamb mince, habanero chilies, jalapeno, bird’s eye, Thai green, and Dorset nagas are enough to make sure this will be an eye-watering experience.
Lew had to sign a disclaimer just as he did at Orange Buffalo.
But despite the intimidating name, Lew managed to finish the ‘World’s Hottest Curry’ in no time.
Whether his taste buds were already dead from the previous dishes or the Bombay Burner was just hype will never be known.
After the challenge, he said: “I feel like I have conquered the world. I am feeling powerful and charged up off the chili concoction that is running through my veins.
“My plans for the next few days consist of a tub of Aloe Vera, a whole load of Andrex, locking the doors and fixing my life.”
Replaced!