Race Across the World winner Alfie Watts dubbed a ‘legend’ after travelling again to Japan to pay for the Kobe beef a kind-hearted waiter gave him without spending a dime
Race Across the World winner Alfie Watts has travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal a waiter gave him for free when he was worried about his budget on the award-winning BBC show.
The 21-year-old from St Albans was intent on remaining frugal after he and his pal Owen Wood were only given a budget of £1,100 each to make their way from northernmost Japan to the idyllic Indonesian island of Lombok.
In the second episode of the fourth season, Alfie and Owen, who have been best friends since year seven, reached the cosmopolitan port of Kobe – famous for its melt-in-the-mouth beef.
After an initial disappointment at the expensive price of the beef when they sat down to try it at a local restaurant, the Hertfordshire school mates were left ecstatic when they were offered to try it free of charge.
Now, a year on from filming, Alfie has travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal – with viewers branding it a ‘lovely gesture’.
Alfie Watts, 21, returned to Japan following his time on the fourth season of Race Across the World to pay back a kind waiter who offered him food for free
Sitting pretty with his newly-earned winnings, Alfie has been reminiscing about the people that helped him and Owen win the BBC travel show.
‘If you’ve watched Race Across the World, you’ll remember a certain scene where me and Owen got gifted some free Kobe beef,’ Alfie said to his nearly 50,000 followers on TikTok.
‘I am back in Kobe and I am on a mission to pay for the Kobe beef.’
With ‘the power of BBC iPlayer’, Alfie found the restaurant he ate at a year prior and showed staff the Kobe beef clip.
But the good-natured waiter who had offered him the dish free of charge was not there.
Alfie said: ‘The team basically told me that the original waiter wasn’t at the restaurant I was in so I followed them to their partner restaurant to thank and pay the guy in person.
At first, the waiter refused to take the money but Alfie insisted and bowed as a sign of his gratitude.
He said: ‘This is something I have wanted to do for so long and the fact that I’ve been able to do it was so exciting.’
Alfie went to the partner restaurant to find the waiter who had gifted him the free Kobe beef a year earlier (pictured: his reaction)
A year on from filming, kind-hearted Alfie has travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal – and documented it on his TikTok account
More than 220,000 people have seen the heartwarming video and taken to the comments to praise Alfie’s ‘lovely gesture’
‘Just remember always pay things forward,’ Alfie added. ‘I do believe in paying your way.’
More than 220,000 people have seen the heartwarming video and taken to the comments to praise Alfie’s ‘lovely gesture’.
‘Absolute legend. Give this man a tv show,’ one said.
Another added: ‘What a lovely gesture and fair play for not forgetting about the kindness given to you back then. Well done Alfie.’
Kobe beef is typically made from pure-breed Japanese black cows who are raised on a diet of beer and regular massages.
Sitting down at a local restaurant, trainee pilot Owen realised that Kobe beef cost 120,000 yen, or a whopping £1 for every five grams.
‘We’ve got about thirty seconds to decide if we’re running or buying something,’ Alfie said in the episode, which aired in April.
Football referee Alfie, who was visibly concerned about their budget, then attempted to negotiate a discount with the waiter before asking for ‘just one’ serving of the sought-after dish.
Alfie (left) and Owen Wood (right) were only given £1,100 each and challenged to make their way from northernmost Japan to the idyllic Indonesian island of Lombok
While in the city of Kobe in Japan, Alfie and Owen stopped to try the famous Kobe beef (pictured)
‘I’m not impressed with the budget situation,’ a sulking Alfie said, to which Owen replied: ‘We don’t want to go home with regrets.’
The pair tasted the dish and described the ‘tender’ beef as ‘the best we’ve ever had’ but Alfie still didn’t seem to think it was worth the hefty price tag.
In a kindhearted gesture, the waiter recognised their limited financial situation and offered them the Kobe beef free of charge.
An overjoyed Alfie jumped up from his seat and pulled the man in for a hug.
Later in the episode, Alfie said: ‘I’d like to apologise for any misery and discontent that I may have displayed during this moment. It is a moment of regret.
‘Look if this costs us later down the line, it is not value for money.’
But the beef-tasting pitstop did not hold back the childhood friends who eventually went on to win the show.
After racing nearly 9,000 miles over seven weeks and through seven countries, Alfie and Owen crossed the finish line in Lombok, with just one percent of their budget remaining.
The 21-year-old friends took home the £20,000 prize between them.
After racing nearly 14,000 kilometres over seven weeks and through seven countries, Alfie and Owen crossed the finish line in Lombok (pictured)
Since winning the latest season of Race Across The World, Alfie, who lost his mother Karen to breast cancer at just five years old, is working to release a charity single.
The 21-year-old, who was brought up by his grandmother, recorded ‘Hopeless Wings’ inspired by a letter his mum wrote before she passed away.
Alfie explained: ‘The letter was just giving some life advice and things like that and that’s what the chorus of the song is fundamentally about.’
‘The first lyrics of the chorus are “you gave me hopeless wings and left a letter where you tried to say goodbye” and that was what the whole song was kind of born out of.
‘Me and one of my best mates jam on guitar and sing. Three or four months later we realised we had a song and then we handed it over to some experts in the music world and we’ve managed to professionally produce a song!’
The single will be released on October 31 and all money raised will go to the Gloucester-based charity Winston’s Wish which helps grieving children and young people cope with the loss of a loved one.
