Keith Lee has visited major cities to try popular dishes from top restaurants and small mom-and-pop businesses. His recent trip to the United Kingdom sparked controversy, as some Brits heavily criticized his unsparing review of a traditional English breakfast.
Lee tries the traditional English breakfast for the first time
As he does in every city, Lee turned to his fans for suggestions on what to try, and several said the popular breakfast meal was a must-have.
On Saturday, he shared a TikTok of himself trying the dish his hotel provided, which consisted of hash browns, eggs, bacon, toast, tomatoes, baked beans, a cooked mushroom, black pudding and sausage.
The first few items are considered breakfast staples, but it wasn’t until Lee tried the famous toast and baked beans that he said things “started to get different.” He put the beans atop the toast and took a bite, and appeared to have a delayed reaction after biting into it.
@keith_lee125 Full English Breakfast taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic
‘It’s an acquired taste’
“The bread is definitely stale,” Lee said in the nearly 4-minute clip. “The tomatoes kind of taste like they were baked in ketchup, and very sweet ketchup too. It’s very mushy in my opinion, and there is no flavor other than the sweet ketchup, no salt no seasoning. In my opinion, this is extremely low, 1 out of 10.”
Lee tried the cooked mushroom and pork sausage before trying black pudding, often called blood sausage. According to Britannica, the food is usually made with pig’s blood, bonded with oatmeal and barley and stuffed into tripe skins.
Lee said he wanted to remain “open-minded” before biting into the black pudding. “It immediately tastes like blood,” he said. He continued to share his stance before saying that he understood if people enjoyed it but “it’s an acquired taste,” and he compared it to chitlins.
Fans sound off in the comments section
Americans and Brits shared their reactions in the comments section, calling out Lee for trying the English breakfast for the first time at his hotel, not a restaurant or cafe preparing it authentically.
“That bite into the bread I thought my phone froze 😂,” one TikTok user wrote.
“You do England like that?! That’s like going to America as a food reviewer and ordering burger and fries from a hotel room 😒,” another wrote.
“That’s not a proper English breakfast, go to the local cafe and you’ll see the real thing,” a third user wrote.
Meanwhile, on X, formerly known as Twitter, a Brit, who is Black, quoted a post from another user who wondered why Black Brits were offended by those criticizing the foods for having limited seasoning.
“The disrespect for British food needs to stop. Food isn’t bad just because it doesn’t come with a side of ranch, covered in hot honey and infused with Hennessy,” the user said.
The disrespect for British food needs to stop. Food isn’t bad just because it doesn’t come with a side of ranch, covered in hot honey and infused with Hennessy https://t.co/OKynxfgisO
— John Dutton (@mindofprospect) February 18, 2025
In a subsequent post, Lee had officially started his food tour, took a few of his fans’ suggestions and went to a cafe called Terry’s Cafe London. He tried the traditional English breakfast, which he had a better experience with than at his hotel. He also tried a few Caribbean and Indian restaurants in London too.
@keith_lee125 Terry’s Cafe London taste test 💕 would you try it ? 💕 #foodcritic @terryscafelondon @Hungry Belly
