Star YouTuber praises ‘world’s only’ fish and chip buffet in Arbroath in viral review
A YouTuber has praised the quality of food, hard-working staff and the price of a fish and chip buffet in Arbroath.
Robbie Thompson’s channel, Street Food Analysis, has over 81,000 subscribers on YouTube and 89,000 followers on TikTok.
In his recent video, Robbie travelled to Angus to visit The Bellrock Restaurant on Arbroath’s Ladyloan.
Undergoing a “never-ending” hunt for the best local gems, Robbie was surprised by Bellrock offering “the only fish and chip buffet in the UK, and quite possibly the world”. He dubbed Bellrock’s 12pm-2pm dining experience a “new level of peak Scottish culture”.
Making his way towards the restaurant, Robbie was impressed by the “cold, but beautiful” harbour. He said:
“What a position for a fish and chip shop. You can’t get much closer to the sea than that.”
Entering the restaurant just after 12pm, Robbie was surprised by how many people had already taken to the buffet.
He started his meal with a bowl of tomato soup. Commenting on its heat, Robbie said:
“That’s nice you know, that’s actually really nice. You can tell straight away this is homemade. It’s actually really nice soup.”
As he takes to his starter the restaurant’s owner, Adil Naseem, stops for a chat. He tells Robbie that the majority of items on the buffet are made fresh, with some frozen products included. Adil shared his disappointment on the size of fish on offer, which is smaller than usual due to the boats refusing to go out owing to rising fuel costs.
For his second plate, Robbie grabbed two portions of fish, spicy fish, chips, salad, and mushy peas, topped with curry sauce and vinegar. He liked the fish’s crispy batter and felt the spicy fish had a nice flavour. Robbie said:
“Straight away I can see the staff are just replenishing and replacing that food so quickly. They’re working so hard, up and down like lightning from the kitchen.”
His meal did have some hiccups, however. He was not a fan of the king rib and felt his chips were “a little bit soft”, possibly due to them being the last ones in the tray.
Robbie said:
“(This) is not somewhere that is getting in loads of frozen rubbish and frozen products. It’s actual fresh haddock from out there and they’re making, evidentially, a lot of this fresh.”
Later, Adil brought out a plate of masala fish, which does not feature on the buffet. Robbie said:
“That is phenomenal, that is so nice. A beautiful spice profile to that. I would order that if I came to the restaurant in the evening.”
After leaving the restaurant, Robbie said:
“They’re doing something very, very clever. They’re saying: ‘Right, how do we get people in during these quiet hours?’ They’re doing something completely unique, completely different. It was absolutely fantastic, I’m so glad I came up here to try it.”
The cost of the buffet was £16.99 as Robbie visited during the holidays. He said:
“That’s incredible value. Fish is so expensive, they’re using haddock, it’s a proper fish and chip shop, so the fish is really nice. There’s more than enough food, more than enough choice.”
Calling the Bellrock a “great spot”, Robbie gave the restaurant a score of 9/10.
Since posting on Tuesday, Robbie’s video has been watched over 151,000 times. A TikTok of his trip has received over 845,000 views. You can watch Robbie’s trip to the Bellrock on YouTube.