I'm ready to rock and roll! Take three restaurants...
Cheers! ..aiming for culinary excellence.
Ta-da! Here's one I prepared earlier.
They've got to be spot on.
Ask each to host a three-course meal...
I don't eat steak, I never eat steak.
..which will be scored in secret.
High five to that.
On today's show. Presentation put-downs...
We like to think of ourselves as a 2022 restaurant,
not the 1980s.
Tonight we did come in with a bit of attitude.
Salute!
..sickly spirits...
LAUGHTER It was disgusting, Lemsip.
..and lairy landladies...
Get out my pub!
I think you cross with her and you don't know where you'd turn up.
..as they compete for £1,000 in cold, hard cash.
Shall we go show the boys our crumpets? Yes.
Today's professional cooking competition comes from South Wales,
where the catch of the day on many menus doesn't have far to travel.
And trying their luck up the River Taff are this week's first hosts.
# Gone fishing... #
Andrea! Yeah?
How long are you going to be?
Until we don't catch the trout, we don't go home.
Angling for top spot are brothers Toni and Andrea,
proprietors of Prego in Cardiff city centre.
It's the fish. What have I got this thing for?
You can have it.
This place, the concept is a wine bar/restaurant.
It is proper Italian authentic food.
My brother Andrea is the head chef
and I do the rest that needs to be done, basically.
Toni said, he works all the time,
but I don't see him working, just see him enjoying himself.
Cheers!
So perfect combination.
Well, you would say that.
So what's the secret to success today then?
The important authentic Italian food is just using the right ingredient,
fresh ingredient.
We're going to blow them away.
Kicking off with the main, tagliatelle alla carbonara.
I knew it was going to be Italian.
Ohhhh...bum.
Meet owner Martine and assistant manager Lana
of the Lamb and Flag in Cowbridge.
We are a traditional country pub in a very, very small village.
Yeah, it's pub food but it's really good pub food. Yes.
Martine bought her boozer two and a half years ago
and enlisted Lana 18 months later.
Martine is the boss, her business, what she says goes.
Yeah, just tip it all in.
I look to Lana for, like, advice
and then I can blame her when it goes wrong. Yeah.
And while this dancing duo may pull plenty of pints,
they won't be pulling any punches when it comes to the competition.
I think critiquing other people will be OK for us.
I don't think we're going to be scared to do it.
And obviously we're going to win anyway
so they just need to chill out. So they need to be intimidated of us.
Yeah! Yeah!
Back at Prego,
Andrea's making his own pasta dough.
It's a lot of hard work, basically.
That's why he doesn't do the gym. That's my gym.
That's his gym, you know. He does the gym and I do the gin.
That's the spirit!
Andrea, how's it going?
Finished. Look, it doesn't break any more, see?
The dough will get a rest and a roll later.
Tagliatelle alla carbonara.
Looks like an Indian restaurant to me, what do you think?
These culinary clowns are owner Dan and head chef Rhys
from La Cocina Tapas in Bridgend
where the obvious question is...
Are we Spanish? No, no, probably not, no.
PROBABLY not?!
I'd sum up this restaurant as being somewhere that's fun, vibrant.
We source produce direct from Spain
and you wouldn't get better in this sort of area.
Looks really tidy, like.
And where did you pick up that shiner, Dan?
I've just got back from a weekend playing rugby.
It got a bit rough. I'm often turning up to work looking like
I've been in 12 rounds with Mike Tyson.
No scraps this week, please.
Back with today's hosts who are prepping their carbonara sauce.
OK, so you want me to do the cheese now? Do some work, go on. OK.
Half of it.
Half of it, OK. I'll get on with it.
While his brother chops cured pork cheek, Toni gets grating.
Hey, Toni, already I make, you just start,
not even 100 grams you've done, you've got to do half a kilo.
Hey, I've been working an hour.
I need a break, you know. Do you mind?
OK, go for a break.
Thank you, boss.
You can't get the staff these days.
What does that mean?
Alla? With, I think.
Well done, Martine.
Definitely not alla Toni,
Andrea rolls out and presses his pasta.
This is easy. This is Italian so...
This is easy. They could have gone for absolutely anything.
They've gone for carbonara.
There we are.
He puts the finishing touches to his tagliatelle...
Very nice. There you are, done.
..which will be cooked with the carbonara sauce tonight.
Onto the starter, Gamberoni.
Pan-fried king prawns in garlic and chilli.
Simple dish, isn't it? Chilli, garlic, prawns.
You can't really go wrong, I think.
This is where we're going to win the competition.
I'm gutted, I hate prawns.
Prawns are weird. Do you think they're going to have, like...
..eyes and stuff? That's not a prawn. Yeah, it is.
That's...
You have to like pick the stuff off. That's not a prawn.
Yes, it is.
Is it?
Don't know what you're eating! I don't eat them.
At least try them tonight.
The shells come off and are fried with garlic, dill and bay leaves.
Toni, can I have some...
What do you want, white wine? No, ice.
Ice in, it's brought to the boil
and the bisque will be served with the prawns tonight.
Time for dessert, tiramisu.
It's an Italian trifle. That's not...
That's a big statement to make.
It's not hard.
If it's executed well, it will be a winner for me.
The way, Andrea, he does it,
is the old traditional recipe.
I'm sure they will love it.
To start with, egg yolks are whisked with sugar.
Just you, Andrea?
Toni!
Any excuse.
Mascarpone goes into the mix
and egg whites also get a whizz with some sugar.
Then when it's ready, that's the check.
Done with confidence!
The two bowls are combined and orange zest added.
It's got to be really boozy, though.
I need to feel, like, "woof!", after eating a tiramisu.
What alcohol is in a tiramisu? Is it... What's in a tiramisu?
Marsala's in this one.
You can do the mixture.
I'll show you one and then you do the rest, OK?
Not too long, just like that, that's enough.
OK. OK?
Because otherwise it will be too soggy, and you do like that, OK?
As Tommy Cooper would say, just like that!
AS TOMMY COOPER: Savoiardi biscuits, espresso coffee and marsala, ha-ha!
Any good, Toni?
Lovely. Would you like to try some?
NORMAL VOICE: Not at the moment, thanks.
Biscuits in bowls,
Toni's got more jobs to do.
Here we are. You know, he makes me work like slave.
The egg mix made earlier is piped on.
Perfecto, well done!
Do you want a raspberry or strawberry?
I think he's earned more than that.
The tiramisus will be served tonight.
Andrea, you have done amazing. We have finished now. Well done.
Gently, Toni!
This is not the winning menu. This is not.
I don't believe this is the winning menu.
Big smash, this, but in the overall grand scheme of things,
I think there's nothing to worry too much about.
First to say ciao at Prego
are Martine and Lana from the Lamb and Flag.
Buona sera! Hello! Che belle ragazze.
Hello, how are you?
Good evening! Hello! Welcome to Prego.
Thank you very much.
Going to introduce yourselves, Toni?
There we are, cheers,
here's to a good evening and thank you for coming to Prego.
Toni, introduce yourselves!
Hello, I'm Toni, this is Andrea.
Hello. What's your name?
I'm Martine. Martine.
And this is Lana. I'm Lana.
Better late than never.
Next on the scene are Dan and Rhys from La Cocina.
You all right? How's it going? Good evening.
Buona sera, I'm Toni and that's my brother.
Andrea. You OK?
Welcome to Prego. Salute!
That's Lana.
Hello. And this is Martine.
You all right, Martine? Yeah, you OK, Dan?
They don't need an intro then.
We've met before. Oh, you have?
Dan and myself are from the same town.
I think we will both support each other and I wish him all the best.
Even this week?
Except this week. Yeah...
Cheers! ALL: Cheers!
Coming up, smashing serenades.
# Sweet Caroline... # GLASS SMASHES
Dan smashed a glass...
And blamed me.
100% Martine broke that glass.
And pudding palavers.
In UK, it's all about alcohol, cream and butter, OK?
Yes, yes!
That's what it is. CHEERING
When they come in here, they're in Italy.
It's night one in South Wales and at Prego,
the first pair of pros on show are Toni and Andrea,
who are dishing up an authentic Italian experience
for their diners.
Well, one of them is anyway.
Andrea, do you want me to do anything else
apart from what I done already all day?
Go for another break, that's what you've done all day.
Break, have another break, yeah.
Thank you, thank you. I'll see you later, good luck. Ciao.
Don't call me, I'll call you.
After getting shot of his sibling,
Andrea gets his prawns going with garlic and bay leaves
and, after a blaze in brandy, there's a splash of sauce.
We are ready.
Let's hope it tastes as it looks.
Hello, he's back!
What's going on here?
It's food preparation, Toni.
Andrea, that looks amazing, well done.
No thanks to you.
Here's the starter.
Gamberoni, pan-fried king prawns in garlic and chilli.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much, thank you.
Good luck, Martine and Lana.
Try, let me know what you think.
Here we go...
You don't like it?
No, it's tasty but I think this just looks a little scary. I don't...
Yeah, they look scary.
It's got legs.
Yeah, it's got legs.
They won't bite you, they won't bite you.
I never eat prawns.
That's the most prawn I've ever eaten in my life.
Oh, well done.
I think if we did like that type of food,
if we came here and ordered that, I wouldn't be disappointed.
I would. Yeah, but you don't like it.
I wouldn't order it.
No, but I'm saying if we did like it, and we did order it...
Well, I don't like it, and I wouldn't order it. OK.
Just using your imagination but... OK. Yeah.
All finished?
I thought the prawns were cooked well.
The flavour of the sauce is awesome.
So what are your roles here then?
Very simple. He does the work, and I just...
You know, every two hours he needs a break.
He's the chef, he pays the wages with my money
and he does the shopping with my money.
My role is to make sure that the customer is happy
and now and again, taste the wine.
Nice job!
Cheers to that. Salute!
I think Toni's obviously, he's been, he's been in the industry
a long time. You can see that, the way he talks.
Andrea, I think, is the passion
and he wants to deliver this,
you know, amazing sort of like culinary experience.
Where is your kitchen? It's me.
But where...where? Behind the bar.
Do you fall over each other back there?
Because that's not a lot of space?
No, I don't go there. It's just... You don't go behind there!
He doesn't, he never comes there.
In that little tiny kitchen, he's like a bit of a magician. Yeah.
I can't say it's a kitchen.
It's a bar with a hob.
With a few prawns not polished off,
Toni and Andrea move onto their main.
Are you ready to go? Yeah, I'm ready to go.
And I'm ready to rock and roll.
Music to my ears.
For his carbonara sauce,
Andrea combines pecorino and Parmesan cheese
with eggs and black pepper.
The more you put black pepper, the better taste it is.
After frying up some pork cheek, the cheesy sauce is heated through.
Toni, are you on a break?
He's not even listening, is he?
He's always on a break. He's always on a break!
Luckily Andrea isn't,
and pairs the sauce with pasta, ready to be plated up.
Some Parmesan cheese.
All right, there, Toni?
Jolly good.
On goes that crispy pork.
For me, it's fantastic. Fantastic.
That's Italian, proper Italian carbonara.
And here it is, served on a Parmesan nest.
Buon appetito. Buon appetito.
I think it's lovely.
It's really well executed, it's... Yeah, fair play.
This is perfect, it's lovely. Thank you very much. Really happy.
And I'm so glad you haven't put cream in.
I really enjoyed the carbonara but it could have done with
just slightly less pecorino, so it was slightly less salty.
It is tasty.
It is just more cheesy than I thought it would be.
Unfortunately that's the way we do,
only with the cheese and the yolk of egg.
Too much cheese, basically, and I love cheese.
I loved the presentation. The portion size was great.
I think so far the night has gone very well.
So you've been here a long time.
Do you have lots of celebrities on the high street?
Er, yes. Pop star, opera, boxing,
I think why they keep coming through my doors,
because I make them feel comfortable.
They just want normality. Yeah.
Toni's very...talkative, should we say.
He's got the gift of the gab really,
to kind of bring people through those doors.
You don't want to turn your back because Tom Jones is here.
Well, you know,
so I never done that and I think that...
It's not unusual for him to turn up either, is it?
Boom boom!
He owes me a big cigar,
big cigar and his manager never paid for it. Tom, you owe me a bill.
Whether Tom Jones or anyone actually owes him a cigar is...
is up for interpretation.
He does, actually.
I'm sure he's watching.
I hope so.
He's a massive fan.
And talking of people with big hits...
Dan, I seen the black eye there. Yeah. When you come in.
There's no big story to that.
It's... I actually play for the Maltese national rugby team.
So, yeah, we had a game out there against Cyprus on the weekend
and I got caught with an unfortunate elbow maybe.
Well, if you need a good scrum half, I'd be just ideal.
Yeah? Who do I need to speak to? Andrea or...
I didn't know Dan was an international rugby player.
Is he? Apparently he plays for Malta.
How does that work? I don't know.
Malta, as in the... This is going to make me sound really stupid
but Malta, the country?
I love you!
But he doesn't live in Malta.
No. And he's a bit old now.
Ouch!
I got a little surprise for you.
Let's go outside, let's have a look.
It's going to be Tom Jones!
# Where it began... #
Or maybe not.
# I can't begin to know it... #
I've got to be honest, entertainment in an evening, yeah, it was good.
I just couldn't believe Mick Hucknall had turned up
to do a set for us.
Whoever he is, he's got you dancing.
Come on, everyone!
# Sweet Caroline... # GLASS SMASHES
Who was that?!
Dan smashed a glass.
And blamed me.
Oh, it was definitely Martine.
100%, Martine broke that glass.
# Why, why, why, Delilah? #
Yes, safe to say we've strayed from the authentic Italian theme.
# Why, why, why, Delilah? #
Tom Jones is a living icon. Still living?
He's a living icon but I wouldn't have requested that song.
What's the song with the house on fire?
No-one knows.
I would have requested that one.
Bravo! CHEERING
Pudding, please.
Tiramisu, that means pull me up,
so that's where the dessert come from,
is a dessert that picks you up,
tiramisu, tiramisu...
Yeah, got it, thanks, Toni.
So what do you want me to do with it?
Just put it on the plate and we serve it.
What, serve it in the middle? In the middle.
OK I can do that. Can you? That's very nice.
And you want me to put this in the middle again? Yeah!
I know what I'm doing now. It's so easy.
I don't know what these chefs, they moan about.
You know, it's so bloody easy.
Toni! Here's dessert, Tiramisu.
Thank you very much. Go on, tell them what it means then.
That means... Thank you very much.
..pull me up or pick me up.
Is that what it means? Yes.
Oh!
You don't like, give it to me. Don't send it back, give it to me.
OK, OK.
I need loads of booze in a tiramisu. It's not boozy enough.
What I'm trying to do is just the original recipe.
I don't want to change the recipe.
I like it to be quite strong and it wasn't.
I personally think it was lovely.
Thank you very much.
But I would agree with Martine, a little bit more alcohol,
mainly because in a tiramisu, that's what I'm used to having.
Yeah. That's what you used to have.
Because it's not the original recipe. Correct. I agree.
You go to Italy, that's what you are going to have. I agree with that.
In UK it's all about alcohol, cream and butter, OK? Yeah, yeah.
CHEERING That's what it is.
When they come here, they are in Italy. Yeah, yeah, I know.
So if you go to Italy, that's what you get. But we're not in Italy.
I don't care what they like. It doesn't matter.
We're not in Italy, Andrea, we are in Cardiff.
When they step in the door, they are in Italy.
You know, you've got to pay the rent, pay the rates.
When they come inside here, they are in Italy.
Outside they are in the UK, inside here, in Prego,
in Prego, they are in Italy. I do agree with you but...
OK, we can argue all night, it doesn't matter. OK, OK.
Well, I'm glad we cleared that up.
Well, as we do in Italy,
we finish with a limoncello.
Salute.
It was disgusting, though.
It was. Lemsip.
That's gratitude for you.
I think we did enough to win it.
Yeah, I think so. You think so? Yeah. OK.
We've had a lovely authentic Italian evening.
Unfortunately the food wasn't to our liking
so we are giving Andrea and Toni...
For Toni and Andrea, they executed their menu really well.
It didn't blow our minds.
So on that basis we are going to score them a 16.
Meaning Prego starts the week with a solid 29.
It's day two of the competition
and stepping into the area,
owner Dan and head chef Rhys from tapas restaurant, La Cocina.
Excited. Yeah, if you mess up, you're gone tomorrow, anyway.
Very supportive.
I don't know what they do, I don't know their menu,
I've never been to their place
so it will be quite interesting to see what they can come up with.
The place we're going tonight is Dan and Rhys's place.
We know it very well. We think this is our competition.
Their food is lovely from what we know of it,
and I think they will do very well.
So what makes your tapas tidy, senors?
We source a lot of our produce directly from Spain.
The quality is there.
We bring our A-game, we'll nail this.
Yeah, I think so as well, ready for it.
Let's get cracking then. Let's go.
They kick things off with a tapas starter.
Pulled pork croquettes,
seared garrotxa and bellota iberico pan con tomate.
The starter is going to be fun to find out what it is. Yeah.
It's Spanish food, definitely.
I haven't got a clue what it is and how it will be look like.
Well, this is the current state of the croquettes.
We're using Spanish sweet sherry
so it's a dessert sherry made from Pedro Ximenez grapes.
That will really give the pork a nice coating,
sort of sweetness then to the... to the inside of the croquette.
Alongside the sherry, the pork will roast with
red onions, garlic, thyme and water.
Lovely jubbly. As they say on the Costa Del Sol.
Looking good.
Falling apart. Onto a winner with this, Dan.
The cooked pork gets pulled apart.
Lovely piquillo peppers going in there.
Breadcrumbs are added with an egg
and they'll be finished off tonight.
Along with all this.
Time for the main,
sea bass, presa iberica and Galician beef fillet.
I'm happy with the three different things.
I don't know what the main is but fish, ham, steak.
Pretty much. First up the beef fillet.
This is from the Galicia region in Spain.
I don't think you'd be able to get much better than this.
Let's hope your guests think so too. Onto the presa iberica.
So what's this? That's what I don't understand.
What's the presa iberica?
Presa? No idea.
Iberico, Iberica.
Oh, the Spanish different pronouns.
But Iberico is ham, it's like... A male pig and a female pig.
I don't know.
Yes...
We're just sourcing some, you know, incredible presa iberica
which is flat iron pork from the Iberian pig.
It's from the shoulder, served medium rare so that might get
a few eyebrows raised round the table tonight.
Hopefully you won't have to explain its gender.
I'm guessing that's not supermarket sea bass either.
It's wild caught, none of this farmed sea bass,
and you get a nice crispy skin from it.
But for now, it's in to chill with everything else.
Onto dessert, crema Catalana.
Catalan makes me think of Matalan, the shop.
I don't know why, I don't know why.
It's a cheap brulee.
Oh, is it like a cream caramel?
Cream caramel, yeah, creme caramel. Some kind of... Yeah, yeah.
It is a traditional Spanish dessert with a bit of cinnamon,
orange and lemon, and I think if anything is going to win it,
it's going to be that. Right then, Dan,
I need you to measure out 800 ml of cream. 800 ml? Yeah, 800 ml.
It only goes up to 400 ml. It only goes up to 600.
That's not helpful, is it? It's really not helpful.
I'm sure you can work it out.
Now another 200 ml.
There you go.
Orange and lemon zest are added along with cinnamon.
There we are, leave that to simmer away now and get the rest on.
Dan whisks egg yolks, sugar and cornflour.
That all ready now? Yeah, all good.
And it's added to the milky mix.
How does it taste? Nice, isn't it?
Winning dish, I reckon, that. Yeah, you could be right.
It'll firm up in the fridge ready for a blow torching later.
Good work. High five to that. Fist pump, same one.
Smooth.
I was expecting more of an English menu from them,
to be honest, not as Spanish. Yeah.
I'm really looking forward to this menu tonight.
Even though I don't really know what half of it is,
I know it's going to be done well.
First in are Toni and Andrea.
Nice to see you, Toni.
Nice to see you. Hello. Nice to see you again.
Looks nice, nice. Very trendy, innit?
Down with the kids, innit?
I'd say.
Completing the line-up are Martine and Lana.
Welcome, ladies. Hello!
How are you, all right? Yeah, how are you?
Yeah, not too bad. Welcome, guys, to La Cocina
and I hope you have a lovely evening. Cheers. Cheers!
Coming up, picky punters.
Appearance-wise, I'd be a bit put off.
It's the marbling through it.
I don't really think they're foodies.
And smoky stories.
The stove caught fire.
There was smoke bellowing out the kitchen door.
Ended up having to ring my mother who came down to give me a hand.
Mum! The kitchen's on fire!
It's night two in South Wales
where Dan and Rhys of La Cocina are hoping
their tantalising tapas takes them all the way to the £1,000 prize.
If we execute all our dishes well, I think, yeah, we'll do well.
With everyone sipping comfortably, the hosts get set for the starter.
It's a breeze for us, I think, the starter.
Nice few flavours in there.
And plenty of confidence.
Rhys gets going with the cheese and pork croquettes
while Dan's on hand to deliver the ham.
You're pretty much ready, aren't you?
Yeah, I'm good to go on these, we're happy, we are.
Yeah, it's looking, it's looking lovely. Banging, to be honest.
Here's the starter, a trio of tapas.
Pulled pork croquettes, seared garrotxa
and bellota iberico pan con tomate. Ole!
Thank you.
And hope you enjoy.
It's delicious, it's all lovely.
I like the croquette. It's light.
The croquette, it was very good but a bit too dry.
I just think the goat's cheese maybe needed to be on something,
maybe even have, like,
a bit of, like, mixed leaves or something with it.
Lana mentioned it should be on a bed of rocket
which was a bit bizarre, you know.
That's... Quite outdated sort of way of presenting food. Yeah.
What do you think about the iberico ham?
I don't think it went with this bread.
I think the goat's cheese would have been lovely on this bread.
You almost wanted the ham alone.
Yeah. Not the cheese.
The starter was very good,
but I didn't... I can't say, wow, amazing.
Really happy with how the starters went.
I think we start strong and stay strong now.
Yeah, a great start I think for us, yeah.
Have you ever been in Spain working in a tapas restaurant?
I have never been abroad in my life.
Wow. I don't even have a passport.
Wow!
Rhys, I think he has a passion for cooking
but I was very shocked when he said he never travelled anywhere.
I've got an idea. If you win the competition,
there is £1,000 there.
Invest on Rhys so you can take him
and have a look at the culture, the Spanish culture.
I like you, Toni.
I think it would be... No, seriously now, Dan,
it would be a great investment.
The comment about going to Spain,
I think it's one of those...
I've never needed to or wanted to
and I don't feel as if I have to, really.
Vamonos! There's no time for a Spanish sojourn now.
You've got mains to make.
I don't want these steaks overcooked, Dan, yeah?
They've got to be spot on.
Got VIPs in, have we?
Keep these guests happy, mate.
With the steak sizzling, the pork goes on.
To be served medium rare as well.
Medium rare pork. We'll see how that goes down.
Meanwhile the fish gets a fry.
I'm feeling confident on my main course.
I think everything's looking lovely and as it should at the minute.
And there's no time to wait, as it all hits the plates.
Sliced meat, we just want to get that out, medium rare.
I think raring to go now, raring to go.
Here's the main. Sea bass,
presa iberica and Galician beef fillet.
Thank you. It looks lovely.
So we've got the Galician fillet beef served medium rare.
Then we've got the pork also served medium rare.
Tuck in, guys.
The beef is nice.
The taste of it's really, really good
but just appearance-wise, I'd be a bit put off.
It's the marbling through it
because personally, I don't like that.
It's just a personal taste. I don't eat steak,
I never eat steak. I don't like it.
I think with Martine and Lana, I think there's a bit of a pattern
emerging here where I don't really think they're foodies.
If you're a restaurateur, then you've got to be open-minded.
Basically, I like it all.
The sea bass maybe is just slightly overcooked.
I don't think anyone's going to say that about the pork.
I like the flavour, but pork and chicken is the two things
I'm scared of to eat raw.
My culture, we think pork, it should be well done.
We took a bit of a risk with the menu in bringing...
we wanted to really showcase all the best produce from Spain
and it might be something which maybe you hadn't tried before.
They've gone out, got really expensive ingredients,
cooked them well and that's it.
I don't think anything kind of went together.
You still ate most of it though.
I think apart from a couple of little niggles,
I think overall the main course went really, really well.
We had a Tuesday night and I was on,
I was left to my own devices in the kitchen.
Regretfully.
Yeah. And around eight o'clock, sort of mid service,
the stove caught fire so I carried on cooking through it.
There was smoke bellowing out of the kitchen door which culminated in
the fire alarms going off in the building.
I ended up having to ring my mother who came down to give me a hand.
We ended up putting the fire out with about 25 tea towels.
I can imagine Dan setting the kitchen on fire.
I think the fact he rang his mum over the firefighters. I love that!
Is his mum a firefighter?
"Mum! The kitchen's on fire!" "Muuuum!"
Have any of you guys any sort of like funny stories or mishaps?
So I was a grill chef, T-bone steak, blah blah,
olive oil, bit of show
and suddenly the canopy went on fire.
We had about 40, 50 people there.
Next thing, the alarm go, everybody ran out.
Nobody paid the bills, basically. So, you know.
Happened to me 40 years ago. It happens, see, it does happen.
My fire was bigger than yours. My fire was bigger than yours!
If Dan's been to Tenerife, Toni's been to Elevenerife.
How about you, Martine?
I'm covered in burns. I did my finger this week,
my arm last week, shut the oven door on my arm.
So you cook very passionate with your body basically,
so you feel... Enjoy it!
Love to come in your kitchen tomorrow.
Don't, it's not safe. I know!
I won't come in your kitchen then.
I think Martine, she would be a nightmare in the kitchen.
Let's hope Martine doesn't set the kitchen on fire tomorrow.
Or herself. Or herself, yeah.
Ha, right!
Well, it's Rhys's turn to try not to bother the fire brigade tonight.
Dan is certainly not allowed to play with this blowtorch in the kitchen.
He may set the kitchen on fire again.
That's a nervous laugh.
Here's pud, crema Catalana.
Looks good.
Thank you.
So this is a traditional crema Catalana.
Enjoy, everyone. Thank you.
How's everyone enjoying their desserts?
I think Andrea's doing all right.
Almost finished.
Everything's spot on.
I'm happy with that.
I think it's really, really good. I am really enjoying this.
Only Lana left for a clean sweep.
The cream is really lovely. I can't stand cinnamon,
I'm really, really sorry.
Cinnamon, eh? What are the chances?
I'm not a dessert man but that was good.
The sugar, the set custard, the set cream,
perfect. It was lovely, it really was.
Obviously we serve dessert with a glass of PX sherry
which is traditional Spanish sort of sweet sherry.
Is this cinnamon?
Where did you find her?
I personally don't like cinnamon, surprise.
ALL: Cheers!
Strong finish from us, I think.
I think we made a good account of ourselves tonight
and hopefully we're in the running.
Let's find out.
I think tonight, the produce was very high quality
but for both of us,
not enough balance across the dishes so for that reason,
we're scoring Dan and Rhys...
Tonight was pretty good
but it could have been a lot better.
Dan and Rhys, I think...
So Dan and Rhys score 28 for their tapas,
putting them a point behind Prego.
It's the final day
and we find ourselves in the tranquil surroundings of
the Lamb and Flag.
HARDOCRE HOUSE MUSIC, NARRATOR YELPS
I hope that's not your entertainment!
Tonight, I think they're going to really critique us.
Up to now they don't like anything. You know,
"I don't eat that, I don't eat that," so I want to know,
it'll be interesting, what do they do?
There might be some maybe technical criticism coming their way,
see what happens tonight. Yeah, I think so.
I hope they're not too mean.
So what are you cooking?
Our menu is pub food but done really well.
Sounds promising so far.
First under the spotlight is the main,
gourmet ox cheek burger
with home-made chips and coleslaw.
Burger, you know, I don't mind if it's well made and well cooked,
then why not?
I'd hope they're making their own burgers
but I don't think they will be.
They are, Rhys! With chuck steak, brisket,
ox cheek, onions, thyme and mixed herbs.
Now for the fun bit.
Let's give Toni the smallest one
so he can get his little hands around it, bless him.
They're big enough to hold a menu.
The meat's made into patties and set aside till tonight.
Time for dessert, strawberry shortcake waffles.
Every time this is on the menu,
it sells out so it's perfect to do tonight.
The waffle, yeah, I know, I had it before.
I think it'll be very Instagramable.
This is the waffle mix that we use.
It's secret so I'm actually not going to tell you what it is.
Right. The ingredients Lana does kindly agree
to divulge are butter, sugar, eggs...
I'll add a little dash of vanilla for you. Yes.
Milk.
..and water, which are all off for a whisk.
All done ready for tonight.
Mission accomplished.
Time for the starter.
Goat's cheese crumpet.
Crumpet? I don't know what it is.
OK, we will find out the crumpet.
With the crumpet, when you bake the goat's cheese,
it all kind of melts into all
the little holes and it's just naughty.
Naughty goat's cheese.
Where's the crumpet coming from? Yeah, yeah.
Is it a Warburtons crumpet or are we talking some,
some artisan home-made crumpet?
We are using these ones which we have locally sourced.
They are from Wales.
Yeah, you can tell just by looking at them.
These crumpets are quite thick. Yeah.
So if we had a nice thick bit of goat's cheese.
First up, a spread of onion relish.
Later on, you'd better eat this.
Yeah, I'll do positive movements, I'll rub my belly and go, "Mm!"
I'm sure that'll make all the difference.
On goes the goat's cheese.
Perfect, there you go.
Today's gone really, really well.
I feel really confident for tonight now.
Yeah, I feel confident. I think we've smashed prep. Yeah.
This will be an interesting evening, it looks like.
I don't think that's a winning menu, personally.
First to the Lamb and Flag are Toni and Andrea.
Countryside pub, innit?
Make yourselves at home, lads.
Hello! Hello. Welcome.
This is my first traditional pub.
Is it? I've never been in a pub.
Have you never been in a pub? There you are, I'm going to start now.
It's downhill from here. This is the best pub.
Yeah!
Here's Dan and Rhys.
Welcome to the Lamb and Flag. Cheers, guys.
ALL: Cheers.
Oh! Never mind.
Coming up, jaw-dropping jiving.
Toni thought he was in Wembley Stadium at one point.
And someone wins the wonga.
CHEERING
In third place...
It's the final night of the competition in South Wales
where, at the Lamb and Flag,
Martine and Lana are putting on some posh pub grub
in a bid to win a thousand quid.
I love pubs, you know, especially pubs like this.
While their competitors catch up over a cocktail,
the hosts get cooking in the kitchen.
Ta-da! Here's one I prepared earlier.
I'm like 99% sure none of them have had a goat's cheese crumpet.
It's a new one on me too.
Lana made a good point last night that there were no mixed leaves with
the crumpet so we're going out with mixed leaves.
Crunch.
Indeed. And after a quick roast,
on goes that crunch with a drizzle of dressing.
Shall we go show the boys our crumpets? Yes.
And here it is.
Thank you.
So this is our goat's cheese crumpet.
Do you know what a crumpet is?
No, never had it. So first time. Ah, I'm intrigued then
to see what you think. Maybe I like it, maybe not.
Let's see what you think. Let's see. OK, what about you guys?
Because you served yours obviously without mixed leaves or bread.
Yeah...
We like to think of ourselves as a 2022 restaurant, not the 1980s.
Don't blow your own crumpet, Daniel.
Well, I hope you like it.
So what do you think, first time of trying a crumpet?
I like it. Oh, thank you.
It's too stodgy for me.
With the goat's cheese, it's quite strong anyway.
For me, I would not order that sort of thing and I won't have it again.
Dan, do you feel like you're in 1984?
I'm not a massive goat's cheese fan.
Yeah, it was all right.
Didn't really work, I think.
The crumpet just became really soggy.
I finished my plate, apart from those mixed leaves, you know.
Well, that's Lana.
They weren't shy to coming forward in voicing their opinion
on certain things so I think,
I think tonight we did come in with a bit of attitude.
We've kind of given them a bit of jib over their night
so I think they're giving it back but that's fine,
that's what we want so...
I'm trying not to do my whole tipping the table,
like I'm playing Monopoly, kind of thing. Yeah.
Only two more courses!
Do you find the locals quite difficult to please, or...?
Do you know what...
I have had to physically kick out one customer?
Really? Yeah.
Wasn't you, was it? It's Toni, later, that is now.
He was bigger than Dan. Is he? Oh, wow.
He was bigger than Dan and, yeah,
I managed to bag myself the nickname Babs,
as in Peggy Mitchell from EastEnders.
Well done.
You, out. I did the whole, "Get out my pub!"
She seems a very happy girl,
laughing a lot and she can make atmosphere
but I think you cross with her
and you don't know where you turn up.
EASTENDERS DOOF-DOOFS
I thought she was more Pat Butcher than Peggy Mitchell, to be honest.
Ouch! From Pat to patties and after a sizzle,
the burgers are topped with cheese
and ready for assembly with buns, hash browns,
onion rings and relish. Wow!
If this doesn't shut the boys up... Nothing will. ..nothing's going to.
No.
Loosen your belts!
The main is gourmet ox cheek burger with home-made chips and coleslaw.
Thank you. Thank you.
It's almost as tall as you! That was our line.
How do you eat this?
I would cut it in half.
Ready, steady, go.
Good luck, Toni.
Go on, Toni.
Go on, Dan!
Yeah, well done. You made that look easy.
Well, he's got a big mouth, hasn't he?
So what do you think, guys?
The burger is very tasty, it's moist.
Sounding positive.
The rest of it, for me, you can just throw in the bin.
Not so positive.
The flavour's awesome on the burger. Thank you. Really nice.
I don't mind a burger myself.
Burger, beer and chips, you can't go wrong.
I thought the meat was cooked really well and the chips were nice.
I think the burgers went down really really well. Yeah, definitely.
I think everybody enjoyed the meat.
So what do you do when you're not in a pub
behind the bar, when you're not working?
I used to weight train quite a lot, every day,
twice a day, really serious.
Starting to go down a bikini modelling kind of route,
but I would like to get back into it again.
The comments about Martine obviously being a former body builder
or training to be a body builder were a bit surprising.
Obviously, she's, you know, quite petite.
As surprising as this?!
They really haven't prepared for this. Come on, come on!
What was more interesting though was watching Toni
come up with the moves which were pretty choreographed.
Toni's nailing it!
Toni's a natural.
I think there's definitely more to him than meets the eye
with what he's, what he's got up to in the past.
Well done, Toni! Well done, Toni.
You're a good sport. Thank you. I think Toni's done that before.
Yeah, have you done that before, Tone?
Yeah. I knew it!
I think Toni would win an opposing contest.
I think he practices every morning in front of the mirror. And I do.
I can imagine him in his budgie smugglers.
And now here he is in his dancing shoes.
I think it did end the evening quite well there, I think.
I think they did well with that.
No prizes for guessing who's taking centre stage.
This man? Oh, God, he's always dancing, isn't he?
He's got some moves, mind. You can't take that away from him.
And he's not afraid to use them.
Toni thought he was in Wembley Stadium at one point.
What's the Italian for "in his element"?
Yeah, at his age I don't know how he did it,
to be honest with you. No, I don't either.
Oh, yeah!
CHEERING
Well done, Toni!
For me, what they did,
that brought up for me a next couple of points.
That's quite enough of that now. Let's have some pudding.
Lana is the queen of desserts
so I kind of... just kind of help here.
I'm sure you'll be very useful.
What do you want me to do with these?
Maybe circles would have been nice
because you've got the triangle of the thing so circles.
You want me to make a circle out of a strawberry?
It is a circle. What? Oh, you want me to slice them?
I thought you wanted me to do some weird origami with it.
Good job Lana's on the waffles, I think.
Yay! Whoo!
Nice and crispy for Toni.
They're covered in white chocolate,
crushed biscuits and Martine's circular strawberries.
Definitely wonderful waffles.
And after a dollop of ice cream, they're done.
Strawberry shortcake waffles.
So can we start? Yeah.
Doesn't look like it's your kind of cup of tea?
It's not. You don't like sweet things, do you?
No, no. For me, it's a bit too dry as a dessert.
Dessert, it was a mess, really.
It's like I'm in a bowl of ice cream with bread.
I commend the fact you've, like, made a waffle.
The flavour of the waffle is awesome,
especially with that chocolate and the strawberry and stuff.
I just think it's a little bit dry.
Basic, safe dessert which I think could have been executed
a little bit better.
They'd had two nights of pure cream.
Cream, yeah. Of course it's dry in comparison.
It's been really nice to meet you all, 100%.
It's been nice. Cheers! ALL: Cheers!
We've both done ourselves really proud
and I think we've done this pub really proud as well.
I completely agree.
Time to find out what they've scored you.
The Lamb and Flag needs 30 to win.
Well, we've had a great evening this evening
but we feel that the standard hasn't quite been there,
like it has been through the rest of the week,
so for that reason we are scoring Lana and Martine...
It was a great time,
great atmosphere but they need work on their food.
Martine and Lana...
Hold on, Andrea.
Let's let our hosts reveal who's topping up their takings.
So in third place...
..it's the Lamb and Flag! CHEERING
Toni and Andrea scored Martine and Lana 12,
giving them a total of 26.
In second place,
it's La Cocina.
CHEERING
In first place, Prego!
I'm not bothered about coming last.
I feel really chuffed for the guys, they're so lush. Yeah!
Well done, guys.
Thank you very much, thank you.
Really happy to finish second, had a great week.
It's been hard work but been well worth it.
CHEERING
It is so nice to win as well at the end of the day,
and we've got £1,000 here. Hello, baby!
Arrivederci, Toni.
# This is a song about a superhero named Tony
# It's called Tony's Theme!
# He's got the oil on his chain, for a ride in the rain
# No baloney
# Ride around on my bicycle like a pony
# I'm waving hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
# G-g-g-gimme a scream
# Give me, give me the theme of Tony... #
Subtitles by Red Bee Media