Tuesday, March 19, 2024
EntertainmentFood and DrinkWetherspoons customer brings "home lab" to pub for testing food

Wetherspoons customer brings “home lab” to pub for testing food

A HARDCORE Wetherspoons customer brought a home laboratory to the pub so he could test out the quality of his meal.

Jay Lakhani took the DIY lab to The Rodboro Buildings in Guildford on Sunday to carry out thorough tests on chips, as well as taking an obligatory chip count. 

The 24-year-old, from Epsom, Surrey, said he used a friend’s equipment that he sneaked out from work to conduct the review.


Jay was photographed wearing a white lab coat and safety glasses to carry out “iodine tests” on the chips to look for any presence of starch in the chips.

He also put chips in a test tube filled with sulphuric acid, which appeared to destroy the chips and create a lot of potato-based bubbles in the test tubes. 

A crowd, including two Wetherspoons staff who looked amused by what was going on in their pub, gathered round Jay and his friend during the bizarre visit.

Jay in the lab coat.
Jay in the lab coat.

Jay posted about his wacky Wetherspoons trip on Facebook on Sunday, writing: “My friends and I were able to perform a variety of intriguing experiments to test the quality of their chips.

“We attracted quite a crowd who marvelled at such extraordinary chips. 

“We can confirm the presence of starch through an iodine test.

“One of the chips put up a brave fight against a concentrated solution of sulphuric acid but was unfortunately no match for the liquid…

“The staff were friendly and welcoming.”

The post has received over 2,200 likes and over 300 comments from impressed fellow Wetherspoons fans.

Sulphuric acid test
Jay uses sulphuric acid on a chip.

One social media user said: “A great step forward in the Wetherspoons chip science world.”

Another wrote: “I used to be an industrial chemistry student, so this kills me, please call me for next chip experiments.”

One member of the group commented: “Nah, man did not take a f*****g micrometer into spoons.”

Another user added: “You over tightened the micrometer in exhibit F, test is null and void, if sloppy usage of equipment is going to be observed.

“But fair play to you, doing the cause proud.”

Speaking today, Jay said: “I have always had an interest in science, particularly experiments, with reactions from both chemicals and people.

“We wanted to test the structural integrity of the chips and see if we could disintegrate the chips using sulphuric acid, think Breaking Bad, and see how far we could go.

“When we started, we got all the test tubes and chemicals out before the chips arrived.

“This was a bad idea, people looked very anxious and we were questioned by the staff, as concerns had been raised by other customers.

Iodine test on chip
Iodine test on a chip.

“We assured them it was all in the name of fun and the staff not only allowed us to continue but wanted to be in the photos.

“Our most interesting find was that after about 30 mins, the chip submerged in the sulphuric acid had begun falling apart and fragmenting into small potato strands.”

This is the latest in a long line of punters attending various Wetherspoons pubs to provide chip reviews online.

One customer took a thermometer into one of the pubs and took temperatures for every single chip in the portion.

They went on to work out an average core temperature, as well as an average length.

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