Food Challenges Beard Meats Food Star Adam Moran Failed

If you follow the world of competitive eating, you're probably aware of Adam Moran of Beard Meats Food. The big eater from Britain is known for his bushy beard and the ability to scarf down colossal amounts of food at a rapid pace. He started his YouTube channel in 2015 to document his challenges and it now has over 4 million subscribers. Among the hundreds of Beard Meats Food videos posted on the platform, most feature Moran coming out on top. However, there were a few challenges that even "The Beard" couldn't manage.

Moran may be ranked the number one eater in all of Europe and 17th in the world, but even the strongest contenders face defeat every once in a while. Some of the worst food challenges on Beard Meats Food involved too little time, extreme spice levels, or simply an inhuman amount of food. There was also one challenge where Moran was furious to learn the portion size didn't match what was previously advertised. So which foods put this epic eater in his place? Join us as we look back at Adam Moran's biggest food challenge fails on Beard Meats Food.

Shortly after Beard Meats Food debuted on YouTube in 2015, Moran attempted to tackle the previously undefeated Yorkshire Pudding Burger Challenge at the Smokehouse in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The barbecue joint created a mashup of U.K. and U.S. flavors with a massive 40-ounce burger topped with chicken, beef brisket, mozzarella, and gravy sandwiched between two giant Yorkshire puddings. Moran also had to down a pound of thick-cut fries and a pint of milkshake (half a quart).

Moran started what he called the "transatlantic train wreck" by tackling the meat, which in retrospect he said was probably a mistake because it was too hot. As the 30-minute timer ticked down, Moran began to lose speed. He finished the meat in about 15 minutes, but the dense Yorkshire puddings and starchy fries were the main roadblocks. With less than a minute and just a handful of food left, he had to concede defeat.

Just a month after Smokehouse's Yorkshire Pudding Burger Challenge took him down, Moran squared up against another daunting task. The 4-Foot Hot Dog Challenge at Huckleberry's American Diner in York featured two 4-foot rows of hot dogs smothered in chili, pulled pork, and cheese. There was only one problem — the chef used baguettes instead of hot dog buns. Moran started strong using his strategy of devouring protein before carbs. Unfortunately, the carbs did him in. After taking a break, he attempted to finish the challenge by stuffing the remaining food in his mouth, but the time expired before he could finish chewing.

Despite having failed the 4-Foot Hot Dog Challenge, Moran was appointed chief eating officer at Huckleberry's in 2016. It was a fitting role, considering the restaurant claims to be the first Man vs. Food diner in the U.K. His role involved testing new food challenges and taking on anyone who wanted to go head-to-head with him. The restaurant even insured Moran's stomach and tastebuds for about $1.2 million.

Moran usually does challenges solo, but every so often he teams up with other eaters. The first tag team challenge he ever did was with a rookie named Jonathon who won a contest at Huckleberry's American Diner to team up with Moran for the 10-Pound Cheesecake Challenge. The duo had one hour to take on a towering Oreo peanut butter cheesecake, but they weren't allowed to eat at the same time. Jonathon went first, but tapped out after about 12 minutes, leaving Moran to complete the monumental task.

"This one definitely hit me hard," said Moran. "I was super excited to begin with, but the thing with eating sweet stuff and something this dense ... I mean, I think Huckleberry's have pretty much discovered a new element here." Moran soldiered on valiantly, but he said the food just didn't want to go down. By the time the clock ran out, there was still a pretty substantial portion of the cheesecake left on the plate.

The next defeat Moran posted to his YouTube channel was one he had attempted and failed before. The Huge BBQ Platter Challenge, also known as the Breaking Badass Challenge, took place at Longhorns Barbecue Smokehouse and featured seven pounds of barbecued foods. The platter included chicken wings, a full rack of ribs, sausages, brisket, pork crackling, and pulled pork. And that was just the meat. Sides included fries, buns, beans, coleslaw, and jalapeños.

When Moran attempted the challenge the first time, he lost by a single pot of beans. This time around, he was convinced he would do better because of what he called his "increased eating capacity." He also stated he loves American barbecue, so the challenge should have been easy. Unfortunately, it was all too much for the bearded eater. He tapped out with seven minutes left, saying it wasn't because he was full, but because he just couldn't take any more. He finished off with a piece of Reese's Pieces Cheesecake.

Huckleberry's American Diner was the site of more than a few of Moran's crushing defeats. The 11-Pound Chicken N' Waffles Challenge was yet another he couldn't complete. Also called the No Clucking Chance Challenge, the trial featured an enormous platter of deep-fried Louisiana-style chicken, waffles, fries, corn on the cob, bacon, and pickles. Armed with maple syrup to cut through the dryness, Moran dug in.

Despite stating that the food tasted great, Moran just couldn't make a dent in the platter. To be fair, he might have had a handicap going in. The competitive eater stated he had been having acid reflux that week and was having a hard time swallowing. Then again, it may have just been the mammoth proportions of the dish and the short window of time to complete the challenge. As Moran said, "This is a 40-minute time limit, which damn near makes it impossible for all but maybe three people in the entire universe."

Just the name of the Undefeated Meat Mountain Challenge might make you break out in the meat sweats. Not Moran though. When he visited Tavassoli's Cafe & Grill in 2017, he was confronted with a gargantuan platter of chorizo, pulled pork, burger patties, and bacon accompanied by fries, mozzarella sticks, hash browns, sweet chili sauce, garlic mayo, and a Kinder Bueno milkshake. With just 20 minutes on the clock, he got to work.

After shouting his signature "Let's get it" catchphrase, Moran dug into the platter with a glass of water in hand. As the challenge progressed, he began using both hands to shovel the food into his mouth. Yet, despite the double-handed action and almost constant eating, Moran just couldn't pack it all away fast enough. He said, "I really hate losing food challenges in restaurants, especially when it's because of the time limit and 20 minutes was not a lot of time to eat that amount of food."

One challenge that Moran was particularly excited about was the Undefeated Bangers and Mash Challenge of 2019. He said, "Normally when a restaurant does a food challenge, it's like burgers, nachos, chicken wings. You very rarely get a good old British classic." He was, of course, talking about bangers and mash, or sausages and mashed potatoes. Little did he know that this classic comfort food would be the first in a long time to bring him down.

The Brown Cow in Ackworth pulled out all the stops, serving up 30 sausages, mashed potatoes, a whole cauliflower, carrots, and gravy. Moran mistakenly assumed he would have an hour to finish, but to his shock, he only had 20 minutes. His first hurdle was that the sausages and mashed potatoes were painfully hot. Despite that, he managed to devour them all in good time. However, the cauliflower proved just too much. "This is disgusting," said Moran. With only a minute left, he knew it was a bust.

In 2020, Moran faced a monstrous Mexican food challenge at Low Slow & Dough in Birkenhead. The Badass Burrito Challenge featured a foot-long burrito accompanied by a slew of sides including refried beans, coriander rice, pork belly al pastor, chili halloumi cheese cubes, buffalo blue cheese tater tots, and churros. All up, the platter weighed roughly 5 ½ pounds. Moran had 20 minutes to stuff it all down.

Moran's first plan of attack was the burrito, which was so wet it basically disintegrated into a pile of mush in his hands. As he attempted to plow through, he commented on the fact that the platter turned out to be much larger than what it looked like in pictures. He managed to crush the burrito, but the sides are what killed him. He commented that fried halloumi was particularly hard to swallow. In retrospect, Moran said, "I guess I just had a bad day at the office. I suppose it happens in all careers."

It was almost a year after the burrito defeat that Moran posted another food challenge fail. This time the competitive eater was in Hornsea to take on the Breakfast Club's 50 Item Fry Up Challenge. Scarfing down 50 items in 30 minutes may sound like a ridiculously impossible task to most, but not Adam Moran. He eagerly sat down to a feast of eggs, sausage, spam, blood pudding, hash browns, toast, and beans to name just a few of the dishes.

The eggs were the first to go, followed by the sausages, spam, and bacon. At about 13 minutes in, he knew he was in trouble. He tried to consolidate all the food onto one plate to give himself a psychological boost, but couldn't get past just how much food was left. As he stuffed French toast in his face, he began to sweat. He soldiered on, but with three minutes left on the clock and a full bowl of potatoes to tackle, he had to give up.

The summer of 2021 was not a great season for Moran. Just a month after the 50-Item Fry Up Challenge got the better of him, he got schooled yet again with Fletcher's Olympic Calzone Challenge in Liverpool. It was a rainy day when Moran and his partner "Mrs. Beard" pulled up to Fletcher's Sports Bar at the Allerton Manor golf course. The gloomy weather was a precursor of what was to come.

The challenge was to eat an enormous calzone with onion rings and barbecue chicken fries in just 30 minutes. Nobody had completed it to date, and Moran was determined to be the first. However, he said it was a calamity from the get-go. The calzone was piping hot, so Moran had to begin with the crust. That done, he moved on to the pepperoni and cheese, which is what did him in. "The pepperoni's just destroyed me," said Moran at about the 25-minute mark. "I just can't stand the taste of it anymore. I'll take the loss."

It's not too often that you see Adam Moran lose his temper, but the Hard Rock Hotel's Kitchen Sink Challenge got his hackles up. Things were rocky from the start. First, the timer started rolling as soon as the food hit the table, so Moran would have to waste precious time getting shots of the food. More importantly, though, the portions were far bigger than what was advertised. 

Moran spent the first six minutes of the challenge arguing with the staff about the colander of chips that should have been a single serving of fries. "What a bunch of con men," he said when he finally sat down to eat. Despite the discrepancy, he scarfed down the burger, fries, and deep-fried pickle in good time. He moved on to the cake and the eight scoops of ice cream that should have been one, but the dwindling time and bigger-than-usual portions brought him down. In the end, he called it, "A swindle of the most egregious order."

If a challenge has been failed more than 50 times, there's a pretty good chance it's not humanly possible. But that didn't stop Moran from trying Conner's Lozza Sandwich Challenge. The challenge featured a giant breakfast sandwich stuffed with meat, beans, mushrooms, and eggs, plus sides of toast and fries. If he won, Moran would receive a free t-shirt and tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. If he lost, he had to pay full price and make a donation to charity.

Moran used every tool in his arsenal: Knife, fork, hands, and the obligatory bottle of water. As the challenge progressed, he began to sweat. At about 20 minutes in, he said, "I think I might be going straight to the morgue after this." He tried to place some of the blame on the mushrooms, which he hates, but even he didn't seem to be fooled by that excuse. Despite having a full hour to complete the challenge, Moran tapped out after just 25 minutes.

They say everything is bigger in Texas and the Ol' South's 10-Pound Pancake Challenge certainly proved that. When Moran rocked up in 2022, the challenge had only been beaten three times in 14 years, so he knew he was in for a tough one. One of the servers told him right off the bat, "It's a lot of bread man. It just expands in there." Nobody in their right mind should want to shovel 10 pounds of pancakes into their body in one hour, but Adam Moran is not your average eater.

With a chance to earn a spot on the wall of fame, Moran got to it. He slathered the pancakes in butter and syrup and made quick work of the first few in the stack. After about five minutes he was already asking for a root beer. "It's a burly stack," Moran said. "You could insulate houses with these pancakes." Unlike other challenges, time was not the issue here. Those hefty pancakes took him down in under 25 minutes.

In most of the Beard Meats Food challenge failures, the sheer size of the food was the problem. That wasn't the case with the 4 Million Scoville Spicy Noodle Challenge. The now shuttered Shokku Ramen in Nashville offered up a bowl of ramen so spicy that more than 300 people had failed the challenge previously. Moran had to sign a liability waiver before he even began, but that didn't stop this determined food challenger from going all in.

The dish looked tasty enough with Japanese karaage (fried chicken), soy cured eggs, nori, and chashu pork atop noodles in broth. It was that broth though that was the silent killer. Clocking in at 4 million Scoville units of heat, the dish made Moran cough after just a few bites. "This was a terrible idea," he said. "I'm sure that chicken, the eggs, the pork all taste great when they're not swimming in what feels like pure sulfuric acid." When the clock ran out at eight minutes, Moran had been painfully beaten. "I don't know how that could be done," said The Beard as he wiped his eyes.

At the beginning of 2024, Moran teamed up with personal trainer James Smith to take on the undefeated Tap Haus Burger Challenge. The pair were presented with two towering burgers stacked high with burger patties, chicken schnitzel, sausages, bacon, halloumi, hash browns, onion rings, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg. The duo had 30 minutes to eat the entire burger, plus bowls of coleslaw and fries. If they finished the meals, they would get t-shirts and the meal for free. If they lost, they were on the hook for about $70.

Right off the bat, Moran gave Smith some tips, advising him to eat the heaviest items like meat first. Despite following Moran's advice, Smith still struggled. About halfway through, he said, "Every which road I look down now is just pure sadness." With about seven minutes left, Smith was pretty much done. Moran managed to pack away most of the burger, but the coleslaw and fries were what did him in. The duo conceded defeat, but both ordered dessert.

More than a few breakfasts have taken Moran down, and the Full English Breakfast Challenge at Ann's Kitchen in Colwyn Bay in June 2024 was the latest. Moran said it was one of the toughest challenges he'd done in years. The giant fry-up featured classic British breakfast dishes like bacon, eggs, black pudding, fried bread, potatoes, and tomatoes. What was not so classic about the breakfast was that the dishes came in portions of eight. Moran had 30 minutes to get it done.

The breakfast came out on what looked like a turkey platter, accompanied by a plate piled high with toast and two pots of beans. As onlookers watched on, Moran got to work at a fast clip. At five minutes in, he said, "It looks like I'm doing all right here, but the biggest problem really is the mountain of potatoes and what is basically a whole loaf of bread toasted over there." Moran ate to the very end, but once again, the time limit was just too tight. "I think I might have to retire," Moran said as he made the walk of shame out of the cafe.