Scottish chippy goes viral after offering monster 'crunchy box' for a tenner
East West Spice Greenock posted a picture of the box, which includes four different battered suppers, chips, onion rings, fritters and a two litre bottle of Irn-Bru, on its Facebook page.
Scotsman journalist Ross McCafferty then tweeted the picture before jokingly adding: "If you don't think it looks like the most appetizing thing ever then there's no hope for you."
https://twitter.com/RossMcCaff/status/1031260028412542976
The Greenock resident said that he was entirely unprepared for the storm it caused on the website after over 1,200 people retweeted it and nearly 900 others offered their opinion on the deal.
Ross, who didn't actually order the meal himself, said: "I saw the original post shared on Facebook, and as I was slightly hungover and thought it looked good I jokingly Tweeted about it.
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"I can't believe the response the post has had, seems to have started a debate about what things it's acceptable to deep fry."
Several of those responding called the meal "vile" and a "heart attack in a box", while others, such as food writer Joanna Blythman, were enraged about the "promotion" of such an unhealthy meal.
https://twitter.com/JoannaBlythman/status/1031263199033786370
User @Minijaffa13 replied: "Not personal @RossMcCaff As a nation, we have a diet that’s too high in calories, fats, sugar and salt, and too low in fibre, fruit and veg, and other healthy foods like oil-rich fish (not including farmed salmon)."
The post was even retweeted by Tory MP Robert Halfron with the #ThisGreatBritain.
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Other users posed questions about what some of the items in the picture actually were - leading to an explainer on what fritters are for the non-Scots involved in the discussion.
One poster quipped: "Do you pour the iron bru on it? Cos that’s drier than the back of me kneecap."
Ross added that he posted the picture as a joke and was completely flabbergasted when it lead to arguments about "independence and Scotland's national diet".
He said: "I thought I might get people complaining there was no salt and sauce but what I didn't expect was a debate about Scotland's diet.
"The amount of tweets about how awful and unhealthy it is have surprised me. I wasn't recommending at as one of your five a day!"
Bahadur Singh, manager of the shop in Greenock, says he has had a positive response about the high-calorie meal - which he says is designed for more than one person.
He said: "I just thought it would be nice to combine the ideas and bring something which would appeal to everyone.
"We put the deal on and people seem to love it. Everything is cooked in fat but the dish is big enough for three or four people to share.
"It's definitely for the family to eat. People think it's a great deal."