Still no winner in burger challenge

Mpho Tlale | Monday September 15, 2014 11:45

 

Men and women have tried their luck at downing the 1kg burger, served with fries and a side salad, but none have managed to beat the time set to finish it.

Despite the no win situation, the interest is still high from those who want to see if they can finish the giant burger. 

Last Wednesday proved this, as Espretto was filled with well-wishers who cheered on a number of takers trying their luck.

The last five contestants of the day each showed signs of nervousness before the challenge began. 

While one contestant was busy pulling his shirtsleeve the other one was pacing around, and another one was pre-occupied with tearing down the burger into smaller pieces.

These were scenes that were part of the build up before the contestants were given the go ahead to eat the burger in 30 minutes.

Although the 30 minutes elapsed with no winner, a certain Lawrence Ndlovu pretty much came close to beating the clock.

Ndlovu told The Monitor that he got interested in the challenge after his cousin told him about it. He said that though he saw the burger in the picture he never figured it would be bigger seeing it live.

“When I came here I really had no strategy, but decided on the spot that I will start with the meat then the bread and fries later. 

This has been intriguing and there is a possibility that I might come back the next time because I always finish what I start. 

I took a risk and don’t regret that I did that,” Ndlovu said, downing a glass of water after swallowing bits of the burger.

Restaurant manager, Keneilwe Ntwaamang, said that the burger challenge has attracted a lot of interest.

She said when they started the competition the prize money was P1,000, but it has now gone up to P4,000 because there has not been a winner.

She highlighted that next week the prize money will increase to P5,000, explaining that if there is still no winner, the challenge will go back to the initial prize money of P1,000.

“Today we had 19 people who participated in the challenge. The numbers differ on a weekly basis, but so far it’s been always somewhere around 15 or so.  We have people book in advance because we serve everything fresh and don’t want to make burgers that people will not eat,” she said.

She added that participants pay P250 advance for the burger, which is refundable should one win, but non-refundable when contestants fail to finish the burger.

Ntwaamang said that there is no criteria set on how one should eat the burger.

She said how one eats the burger is up to them.

The manager added that since the competition started there has been more men participating compared to the number of women.

She stated that although people fail to finish eating the burger, they have not put anything in it that could be the cause.

“There are no secrets to the burger.  It is just a normal burger that has things like tomatoes and pineapple inside. Nothing more, nothing less,” she said.

In addition, Ntwaamang said the competition would run for as long as the interest is still there from the public.  She said that they too will modify and change if they feel there is a need to do so.

She revealed to The Monitor that there have been incidents of people throwing up.  She explained that they now put plastic bags next to the contestants so that if they feel the need to puke up the meal they have something close to use.