Spud Brothers go head to head with American TikToker Keith Lee after he leaves controversial review - but Brits quickly come to beloved restaurant's defence

The UK's beloved Spud Brothers have encountered their first hitch in the road following a visit from a famous American food reviewer. Keith Lee, 28, an established Michigan-based food reviewer with more than 17 million TikTok followers, took to the Spud Brothers Express in London's West End last week.

However, Lee's 'honest' review of the loaded jacket potatoes, which racked up over 16 million views, was a far cry from the high praise that Spud Brothers Jacob, 28, and Harley Nelson, 21, are accustomed to. While Lee's wife and cousin enjoyed the dish, the food reviewer claimed his cheese, beans, and tuna spud suffered from flavour clashes.

Before Lee published the whole review, a member of his team accidentally leaked a snippet of the video, showing him making disapproving noises after his first bite. Spud Brothers quickly caught wind of the clip, and made a string of responses on their channel, including their plans to remove tuna off their menu because of the backlash.

While the drama was cleared up after Lee posted his full review and explained that he meant no disrespect by his opinions, the incident led to a transatlantic TikTok clash. Britons claimed that Lee had disrespected the Spud Brothers while Americans told Spud Brothers to 'give a rest' and stop insulting their 'treasure'.

An 'honest' review of Spud Brothers by American food reviewer Keith Lee (pictured) has caused a ruckus on TikTok. 'Me and my family are in Soho, London, and inside these containers are some of craziest foods I've ever tried in my entire life,' Lee said at the start of his review.

He continued: 'We spent £26... The name of this place is Spud Bros, and the concept of Spud Bros is very simple, they make loaded potatoes, but that's the only simple thing about it. 'We pulled up and the line is almost out of the door... Two owners walked up to us while we were stood in the middle of the line, and they said they were waiting for us to come.

'They tried to give us everything for free, but you know that's not how we roll, you know we pay for everything, and I told him straight to his face, ''I'm going to be honest''.'. The food reviewer ordered two potatoes, one with cheese, beans, tuna, and tram sauce, and another with chicken curry, tram sauce, crispy onions, garlic butter, and beans.

Lee said: 'Before I open this, I am not trolling, this is on the menu, what's in here is not specifically made just to plate,' adding: 'People seriously come and order this, this is not a joke.'. The 28-year-old from Michigan disapproved of the tuna, cheese, and beans spud, claiming that the flavours 'clashed'.

The Spud Brothers made multiple videos addressing the drama - and even considered removing tuna off the menu following Lee's disapproving remarks. Despite going into the review 'extremely open minded', Lee instantly made a disapproving noise after taking the first bite of his tuna spud.

He commented on the backlash, saying: 'I don't like the narrative that was spun that I was being disrespectful, when the owner was sitting right there when I was trying, and he saw my review and gave me a thumbs up about it. 'I was asked for my opinion; I gave my opinion. Personally, it didn't work for me, specifically because the number of textures and flavours... clashed.'.

He added at the end: 'At no point was I disrespectful... everybody's taste buds are different. However, his wife enjoyed the dish, ranking it an eight out of ten, adding: 'This is gas, I like it a lot,' she said. The chicken curry loaded jacket potato was more to Lee's taste buds, with him awarding the combination a seven out of ten.

'In my opinion, this one is better, it's a lot of flavour,' he said. Before Lee published the full review, the Spud Brothers made a series of videos addressing the clip. Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts on the drama - and opinions were conflicted.

Their first response saw them mocking the review and joking that they would remove Keith's order off the menu, with one brother saying: 'Why on earth would you give Keith Lee tuna, cheese, and beans, he's an American.'. They quickly changed their thoughts after Lee released the full review, saying: 'So, the Keith Lee full review is out, not the short clip where he spat the cheese, beans, and tuna out, that we all saw on the internet.

'We just tried to make a bad situation good... we just did a bit of lighthearted banter. 'Cheese, beans, and tuna is not to everybody's taste, we absolutely get that. 'There are absolutely no hard feelings, respect that he came... he's one of the biggest food reviewers out there.

'We completely get it now, big up to Keith and his family, thank you for coming down.'. Viewers took to the comment section to share their thoughts, with one saying: 'Very respectful response, Keith Lee and his family are American treasures.'. Another said: 'This entire thing has turned me off from you guys. I've loved watching y’all, but this dragged out way too much and over dramatized it.