Ruby Tates Kitchen Nightmares Update (Love’s Fish Restaurant) – Still Open in 2023?

Episode Recap

Ruby Tates, later renamed Love’s Fish Restaurant, was a Brighton, England restaurant featured on Season 5 of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in the UK.

Though the Ruby Tates Kitchen Nightmares episode aired in October 2007, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place much earlier in 2007.

It was Episode 1 of Season 5 on the UK version.

In this episode, Gordon Ramsay visits Ruby Tates in Brighton, England.

Ruby Tates opened one year before the Ruby Tates Kitchen Nightmares visit occurred, so it’s a relatively young restaurant by the show’s standards.

Allan Love, a former actor, owns the restaurant.

Allan believes people come into Ruby Tates for the great food and dining experience.

Allan trusts his chefs to cook a great meal but does agree that they are lazy.

Jamie, a cook, is only there for the money, and Alex, a French cook, has a terrible temper.

Jamie even admits if he were Allan, he would have already fired everyone. 

Two people go undercover to do recon at the restaurant.

Gordon wants to eat what is served daily and doesn’t want any special treatment.

Fruit de mar is ordered, and Gordon comes to eat.

The dish is served warm instead of cold and on ice.

The oysters that Gordon ordered smell as if they had gone bad. 

The seabass is served frozen and shipped in from Greece.

Gordon tells Allan if the fish is not locally sourced, it should be taken off the menu.

He says the whole meal was disgusting.

Gordon meets with Allan and tells him the restaurant is failing because people don’t want to eat expensive and bad food.

I’d say Gordon is pretty accurate there – there’s nothing worse than paying a lot of money for food that sucks.

Allan breaks down in tears, saying the restaurant won’t make it to summer without Gordon’s help. 

Gordon meets with cook Jamie and tells him he has a bad attitude.

Jamie tells Gordon he is only working at Ruby Tates for a paycheck.

He wants to travel instead of running the kitchen at the restaurant.

Gordon says he needs to find some passion.

Gordon asks why they use frozen fish, and Alex informs him that it is hard to find fresh fish in Brighton. 

Most locals think the restaurant is a curry house.

They are confused about the concept of the restaurant.

Customers tell Gordon during the dinner service that the lobster is tasteless and cold.

Gordon finds out the lobsters have been pre-cooked.

The master chef then finds mussels that were supposed to be used that night that had gone bad.

Gordon throws them in the trash. 

Gordon talks to Allan and tells him he is in denial.

Allan tells Gordon he is not in denial; he just didn’t know the situation in the kitchen was that bad.

Allan takes Gordon to his home, and Gordon sees how bad things are for Allan.

He will lose everything if he can’t save the business. 

Gordon takes Allan to a local fish restaurant.

He tells Allan he must choose a head chef to ensure the kitchen will run smoothly.

Allan agrees to let Gordon change the décor.

In addition to changing the look, Gordon also reveals a name change – from Ruby Tates to Love’s Fish Restaurant. 

Local celebrity guests come into the restaurant for the relaunch, while Jamie struggles in the kitchen.

Eventually, Jamie gets it together and everything goes fairly well.

Everyone enjoyed the relaunch.

So – was the Love’s Fish Restaurant Kitchen Nightmares episode a long-term success?

Keep reading to learn what happened next and if this Brighton, UK restaurant is still open in 2024.