Has Gordon Ramsay Ever Liked the Food on Kitchen Nightmares? Every Time He Did

If you’re a fan of Kitchen Nightmares, you know that Gordon Ramsay does not like most of the food that he has a chance to taste. He’s described dishes as dishwater, cough medicine, and more.

So, with all those bad experiences, you’re not the only person asking this question – has Gordon Ramsay ever liked the food on Kitchen Nightmares?

Well, the answer is yes, but the good dishes are few and far between.

To help you out, we’ve collected every time Gordon Ramsay liked the food, along with YouTube videos of him tasting the dish that he liked.

Let’s dig in!

Here’s Every Episode Where Gordon Ramsay Liked the Food on Kitchen Nightmares

Here’s every episode of Kitchen Nightmares US where Gordon Ramsay liked the food.

We’ve put these in the order in which they’ve appeared on Kitchen Nightmares – starting with the restaurants from season 1 and going all the way up to season 7.

The Mixing Bowl – Liked the Crab Cakes

The Mixing Bowl was featured all the way back on season 1 of Kitchen Nightmares, which makes it the first restaurant where Gordon Ramsay liked the food on Kitchen Nightmares.

While he didn’t like most of the restaurant’s food, he did like the crab cakes.

However, he was still a bit put off by the manager staring at him and the restaurant’s ambience.

He said he “wouldn’t expect to find something so fresh in such a dreary, dreadful dining area”.

While he said it wouldn’t win any awards, he overall found the dish to be acceptable.

You can check out the whole interaction in the YouTube video – it starts around the five-minute mark:

Unfortunately, The Mixing Bowl is closed, so Gordon won’t have another chance to try the crab cakes and you can’t order them for yourself.

👉 Full update for The Mixing Bowl

Handlebar – Liked the Clam Chowder

In Season 2 of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsay visited the Handlebar restaurant in Mount Sinai, New York.

He generally had a bad experience, but he surprisingly did enjoy the clam chowder that he got at Handlebar.

He called it “nicely seasoned, very tasty, and perfect for a winter’s day”.

If you want to see Gordon eating the chowder and complementing the owner of the restaurant, it starts at around 2:30 in this video:

Unfortunately, Handlebar is permanently closed as of 2024, so Gordon won’t get to enjoy the chowder again.

👉 Full update for Handlebar

Bazzini – liked the Carrot cake dessert

Bazzini was featured on season 3 of Kitchen Nightmares.

Here’s a video where Gordon complements the dessert at Bazzini before going on to destroy the actual food:

Since then, Bazzini has officially closed. However, Sharyn, the woman who made the desserts, has since moved on to start her own dessert business called The Cake Lady.

You can connect with her on Facebook or Instagram to see more of the desserts that Gordon Ramsay liked.

👉 Full update for Bazzini

Zeke’s restaurant – liked the bread pudding

Zeke’s Restaurant was a New Orleans restaurant featured on season 4 of Kitchen Nightmares.

Gordon did not have a good time with his main courses at Zeke’s – he hated the frozen shrimp and found the oysters and fried chicken to be totally tasteless.

However, when it came time for dessert, Gordon actually did like the bread pudding.

While he said it didn’t look good visually, he said that it tasted delicious.

If you want to see Gordon Ramsay enjoying the bread putting, it starts at 3:52 in this video:

Emil, the chef, said that he had full responsibility for the bread pudding without interference from the owner, which is why he was able to make it goo.

👉 Full update for Zeke’s Restaurant

Blackberry’s – liked the red velvet cake

Blackberry’s was a restaurant featured on season 5 of Kitchen Nightmares.

As you’ve seen a few times now, Gordon Ramsay did not like the food that Blackberry’s served.

He was actually worried that the chitlin’s would poison him.

However, he was a fan of the dessert. More specifically, the red velvet cake.

You can see his experience and reaction around the 11:00 minute mark in this video:

Unfortunately, Blackberry’s is closed for good, so you won’t get a chance to try the Blackberry’s red velvet cake for yourself.

👉 Full update for Blackberry’s

Burger Kitchen – liked the 2nd burger

Burger Kitchen was a Los Angeles restaurant from season 5 of the show. This episode generated a lot of buzz because of the weird dynamic between father and son Alan and Daniel Saffron.

As you’d expect from a restaurant called Burger Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay obviously ordered a burger to see how it tasted.

Well, he did not like the first burger that he received.

However, he decided to give David, the chef, a second shot later in the episode.

On the second attempt, David made Gordon Ramsay a burger using his own approach instead of the Saffron’s approach.

David called it the “Redemption Burger” and said it was the first time he was allowed to use his own recipe since starting at the restaurant.

This time, Gordon did like the burger. He said it looks night and day to the burger that he had earlier.

When he tasted it, he called it delicious, said the temperature was perfect, and the roll was crispy.

However, Daniel’s mother did not like the burger, going so far as to disagree with Gordon Ramsay.

You can see the second burger tasting around the 20:41 mark in this video:

Unfortunately, Burger Kitchen is officially closed, so you won’t be able to experience the burger for yourself and Gordon won’t have any more chances to give it a go.

👉 Full update for Burger Kitchen

What food did Gordon Ramsay like?

As you can see, it was pretty rare for Gordon Ramsay to like any of the main dishes, but there were several restaurants where he liked the dessert.

Additionally, he did like the actual food on two occasions – the clam chowder from Handlebar and the second burger that he got at Burger Kitchen.

But in general, most of the food from the restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares was pretty bad, which is why the current Kitchen Nightmares success rate is just 22% as of 2024.

Additionally, even though Gordon Ramsay did like the food at these restaurants, all of the restaurants where he liked the food ended up closing. So maybe the trick to surviving is to have Gordon Ramsay hate your food!

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