YouTuber raves about Knaresborough and Harrogate takeaways

A YouTube star with nearly 500,000 subscribers has given glowing verdicts to two takeaways in the Harrogate district.

Danny Malin, the man behind Rate My Takeaway, visited the The Roast Inn, which is a roast dinner food truck at Knaresborough’s St James retail park and Starling Independent Bar Cafe Kitchen in Harrogate last week.

Mr Malin’s reviews can have a significant impact on trade, as occurred when he recently visited Harrogate’s Thug Sandwich.

His video review of The Roast Inn went live on Friday and already has 124,000 views. He gave it a glowing endorsement, describing the food as “a solid 10 … heavenly”.

The food truck, which has been based on the retail park for 17 years, sells roast sandwiches and roast dinners. Mr Malin opted for a turkey and stuffing sandwich and a roast pork loin dinner with a side of pigs in blankets for £14.

Sitting on his signature camping chair, he said:

“If you’re like me and you like a roast dinner, this is spot on. The gravy is beautiful, nice and thick, the pork is cooked to perfection and absolutely gorgeous. The whole dinner is smothered in gravy with bit of apple sauce, just delicious!”

“To me it’s just like eating heaven, my kind of meal.”

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Moving onto the sandwich, he said the proportion of turkey to sauce and stuffing was “spot on”:

“That’s the one, you know what the thickness of the turkey is bang on, it’s not dry with all those sauces. Oh wow that is spot on, just amazing.”

Giving his final verdict on the Roast Inn, Mr Malin said:

“For me it’s probably one of my favourite takeaways for a while, a solid 10. I’m going to be coming back next time I’m here.”

Rate My Takeaway reviews Starling

On Saturday, his review of Starling went live and by today had 118,000 views. Mr Malin ordered a meat sweats pizza, Philly fries and a Mars bar slice for £22.50.

Mr Malin tucks in at Starling Bar and Kitchen last week.

Starting with the pizza, he said:

“That meatball topping is absolutely quality and the sauce is spot on. I’m getting a proper Italian vibe from those meatballs.

“The only thing is because the base is so thin the toppings can slide off but the flavour, oh my god. I’d describe it as a messy one.”

Whilst sat outside Mr Malin was approached by lots of local fans all keen to know where he’d been to review locally.

The Philly fries, which are skin-on fries topped with pulled pork, gherkins, barbecue sauce and cheese, also won praise:

“Ooh they’re nice them, the chips have got a bit of a crispiness and with the sweet barbecue sauce and the pulled pork its a beautiful flavour buzzing around my mouth.”

Describing the whole meal as “delicious “he gave Starling a 9.5 rating and said it only missed out on the 10 because the toppings fell off.

Rate My Takeaway YouTube star back in Harrogate

A YouTuber with nearly 500,000 subscribers returned to Harrogate yesterday to give his verdict on another of the town’s takeaways.

Danny Malin, the man behind Rate My Takeaway, caused a stir when he visited Thug Sandwich Co last month and rated it his “number one takeaway”.

Mr Malin dropped in on Starling Independent Bar Cafe and Kitchen yesterday and, and in his usual style, set up his camping chair and folding table outside on the street to give his review.

The restaurant and bar on Oxford Street serves craft beer, hot drinks and pizza, as well as a brunch menu.

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Staff at Starling said Mr Malin rang in the morning to say he’d be coming and when he arrived ordered a meat sweats pizza and Philly fries. His video verdict is expected to be uploaded on Saturday.

Mr Malin’s reviews can have a significant impact on trade. Thug Sandwich’s glowing rating led to a surge in business and staff at Starling said they were preparing for an influx of customers over the weekend and next week.

James Smith, who works at the Oxfam Bookshop over the road from Starling, took the photo of Mr Malin digging into his food outside the JoJo Maman Bébé shop.

The Rate My Takeaway channel has 498,000 Youtube subscribers and each video attracts from 100,000 to 350,000 views.

Harrogate’s Thug Sandwich rated ‘number one takeaway’ by YouTuber with 470,000 followers

A YouTuber with 472,000 subscribers has described Harrogate’s Thug Sandwich as “the biggest 10 I’ve given so far, just outstanding”.

Danny Malin, the man behind Rate My Takeaway, visited Harrogate on Wednesday.

Mr Malin has reviewed over 200 takeaways and isn’t afraid of giving an honest opinion but he raved about Thug, rating it the “number one takeaway”. He said:

“It’s slipped into number one for me. I don’t think I’ve tried something so tasty in a while. It’s the biggest 10 I’ve given so far because I can’t stress to you how gorgeous these flavours are.”

Thug Sandwich, on Albert Street, is a popular lunch spot in Harrogate. After calls from his followers to visit, Mr Malin decided to find out what the fuss was about.

He ordered an onion bhaji scotch egg, a pig in duvet, lamb belly fingers and the Reuben and KFCaesar sandwiches.

The much-loved KFCaesar sandwich is the shop’s best seller. After just one bite, Mr Malin said:

“This sandwich is what dreams are made of, I can see why it’s the most popular. It’s so tasty. That is how fried chicken should be.”

The KFCaesar sandwich. Photograph: @thugsandwichco, Instagram

Describing Albert Street as having a “New York feel”, he said the small, independent takeaway was leaps ahead of its big brand neighbours, including Yo! Sushi and Pizza Express.

In just 16 hours the video has had over 67,000 views and in usual Danny Malin style the majority of it is shot with him sitting outside the takeaway at a folding table and chairs.

After finishing his £23 haul, he said:

“If I’m honest, dare I say it, that homemade scotch egg is absolutely outstanding. The sauces are gorgeous and the lamb belly fingers are a dream. I’m dribbling — it’s that good. I must have the best job in the world sampling this food.

“The pastrami in the Reuben has better flavour than the pastrami bagel places in London. It just hits you. Do not let the name deceive you. I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed this.

“Get down here and try it out.”

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Daniel Bell, owner of Thug Sandwich, said:

“I thought that Danny and the Rate My Takeaway team might pay me a visit at some point with him only being from Leeds. But that still didn’t stop me from being a little starstruck when he walked in after regularly watching his videos for several months.

“To my surprise he said we were the best takeaway he’d ever visited.

“It makes it worth it to hear from someone who has ‘eaten it all’ that we’re doing it right.”