There’s nothing medium about how rare it is for Ziggy Murphy to eat meat.
Murphy, a lifelong vegetarian, tells People that he’s never consumed meat in his life. However, that changed during a recent birthday meal with friends when he made a bet he didn’t expect anyone to take him up on.
“I told the birthday boy that if he bought the most expensive item on the menu, I’d try meat for the first time,” Murphy says.
Said item turned out to be a $120 steak, and after some back-and-forth about whether Murphy was actually serious, the table all chipped in to purchase the cut.
“Even before he ate the steak, I knew this was a big deal for him,” says friend Ben Lazarus, who filmed the moment and posted it to TikTok.
A man of his word, Murphy went through with the bet, noting that he was told the animal providing the meat was given “ultra premium treatment,” which made him feel “a bit better morally.”
“The surprising part was the ultra chewy texture,” Murphy says, adding that the taste was “extremely similar to imitation meats.” While he didn’t get sick after his first bite of meat, he says he did feel “a little gross after.”
Murphy doesn’t plan on eating meat again except for maybe the rare circumstance, though we imagine he still got a hearty “well done” from his friends.