Will the Tony's Bistro Challenge be beaten this week?

More than 500 people have tried it — but Randy Santel, currently on an Irish excursion, is one of only 15 people to complete the arduous eating task

American YouTuber Randy Santel: following a Bantry seafood onslaught with the Godfather Challenge at Tony's Bistro. Picture: Andy Gibson.

American competitive eater and YouTube personality Randy Santel has landed in Cork — and after clearing an eating challenge at Bantry's Brick Oven restaurant that saw him put away three kilogrammes of seafood boxty in just under 21 minutes last week, he's returning to the site of a previous triumph.

Tony's Bistro on North Main Street is known far and wide for dependable, simple, traditional fry-up fare — a celebrated place to end a long night-shift or nurse a hangover. It's also the home of the Godfather Challenge, a notorious competitive-eating task that strays from cosy, and into the 'danger zone'.

Tony's Bistro, North Main St., Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Added to the café's menu in 2011, anyone attempting the Godfather Challenge mustn't so much eat, as endure, the following — and must do so in less than 150 minutes (two-and-a-half hours):

• 8 Horgan’s Irish sausages 
• 6 smoked rashers
• 6oz sirloin steak
• 4 hash browns
• 4 slices of Clonakilty black and white pudding
• 2 fried eggs
• 2 scrambled eggs
• 2 bowls of chips
• 3 fried tomatoes
• 1 bowl of baked beans
• 1 bowl of sauteed mushrooms
• 1 bowl of fried onion rings
• 6 slices of toast
• 3 slices of soda bread
• A bucket of tea or coffee

Not a bother to Santel, who's been here before — and whose 2013 excursion to Cork included a comprehensive victory over the mountain of food, in a record time of 47 minutes.

The rematch occurs on Friday at 2.30pm, at Tony's Bistro on North Main Street, and Santel's partner, Katina Dejarnett, is also set to tackle the challenge.

If they can put the €30 ultra-meal away before the time limit, the food is on the house.

Randy Santel in Bantry: the challenge was to eat 3kg of seafood Boxty, consisting of Smoked Haddock, white cream sauce and tomatoes in 45 minutes. Randy finished the plate of food in 20 minutes and 32 seconds. Picture: Andy Gibson

Of course, Santel isn't the only one who's walked away from the Godfather Challenge with championship gold being strained by an expanding waist — one of the big meal's Hall of Fame contenders is life-support skills tutor, Eric Donovan, who beat the Godfather in 2012 while raising funds for COPE Foundation.

“Every mouthful was a struggle. Enjoying it went out the door,” he told the Irish Examiner's Eoin English at the time.

“I just wanted to get through it. There were several times when I felt like giving up, but it was definitely mind over matter at the end.”

“I have no intention of ever doing it again,” he added at the time.