Come on, chunky king prawn. Take three restaurants...
I like the name Balls, oh, yes.
Cheers.
..all experts in culinary creations...
Look at that cheese.
Ask each to host a three-course meal...
Very helpful, thank you very much.
..and get them to score in secret.
Eh, God.
Yes!
On today's show, chaotic crustaceans...
I've just flicked it in my face.
It's a chunky king prawn.
You have to take your time when you're eating it.
..fishy flavours...
Does it taste like a seafood sauce?
I thought it had like a seafood-y taste.
LAUGHTER
..and dumbstruck diners...
Anne! Anne! Anne!
I didn't know - should I laugh or should I help?
..as they wrestle for a wedge of wonga.
I was going to say I like anything dirty, but I'll not say that!
This week our Professionals competition comes from in
and around Newcastle, where you'll find
a glut of gorgeous global grub from bao buns to big bangers.
And hoping to start the competition with a bit of
a sparkle are first hosts brothers Razz and Boxa,
from the Namaste Indian restaurant and Club Prosecco Lounge.
We are the first Indian venue for prosecco bar.
Everyone loves prosecco. It's a party vibe.
Especially the women. Cheers. Cheers.
And for head chef Boxa,
high-quality Indian cuisine is in the blood.
Been a head chef since I was 13. I can cook dishes very, very nice.
We were selected for English Curry Award.
It gives you more confidence.
I think that takes you to the next level.
And it's not just the accolades
that these boys pride themselves on.
Part of the customer service is...first is flirting.
To flirt with the ladies,
a good smile and it makes a massive difference - it does.
If you say so! Feeling positive?
I'm so confident tonight. Nobody can beat my food.
Or your humility.
They're kicking things off with the starter...
Spice! I hope that's not spicy. I get the hiccups.
Hoping to keep a cool head in the competition
is our second professional duo -
owners and couple Aaron and Adam of Pigalo's.
We try to bring a new image to burgers.
We refer to them as stacks, don't we?
Yeah. What you'll get from us is completely different.
It's not just your standard burgers and fries, is it?
No, it's a stack!
And, as the name suggests,
it's not cuisine for calorie counters.
Before Pigalo started, I was a personal trainer
but you have to constantly be trying the food.
We do sell the leaner cut of meat.
Technically it's healthy if you ignore all the cheese
and the toppings and the sauce.
But where's the fun in that?
Look at that cheese!
We are together, we do have some massive barnies, don't we?
I wouldn't say massive.
I think you definitely get your own way more than me.
That's the way it is.
Back in the kitchen, where front-of-house Razz
is helping out today.
Blimey, look at those whoppers!
Hope the guests like these prawns, seen the size of it?
It's the same size as you, Boxa!
This is Boxa, this is Razz.
No, no, this is me, this is you.
Size isn't everything, lads.
They peel the prawns and butterfly them ready to cook later.
You don't like small prawns, do you, Anne?
No. Bit like my balls.
Yes... Completing the professional line-up are owner Anne
and front-of-house Garry from fish and chip shop
and restaurant Balls of Prudhoe.
Balls is a family-run business.
My mam and dad took it over 52 years ago.
People are amazed when they come in
because they think they're coming to a fish and chip shop restaurant
but their reaction is, "Wow, we didn't think it was like this!"
But it's not just what's in the fryer
that's a little fishy round here.
Our Anne's quite well known for being a little bit of
a wind-up person.
When you hear her talking to the customers,
you don't know whether you're thinking,
"Is this true or is this not true?"
I'll be keeping an eye on you.
Back to the prawns, which are marinated in oil,
salt, turmeric and chilli flakes.
Look at this, Razz. The chilli bee.
Are you trying to show off, Boxa? Are you showing your muscles?
Look at these. Have you seen mine? Bigger than yours.
I'm not massively keen on spicy,
so I'm hoping it hasn't got loads of chilli in.
Should she be worried?
It's not going to be that hot -
put some coconut milk where it's going to make it sweet and sour.
Sounds like you can relax, Anne.
The prawns are covered and chilled.
They'll be cooked in the coconut sauce tonight.
Wow, it's amazing. It's going to be a winning starter, lovely.
And it's onto the main...
That sounds good, I love lamb.
It's the best lamb dish,
and I'm the best.
Should have called it Lamb modesty.
So are you taking all the full fat off?
No, not the full fat. I need the fat.
Oh, right. You have to hurry up, Boxa,
because I can do it quicker than you.
This is not a bottle of prosecco, you know!
It's a lamb shank, so be careful.
I know what I'm doing, Boxa, I know what I'm doing.
I hate lamb that's really fatty,
when you go to a restaurant and it's gristly.
You normally give the fat to me, don't you? Yeah.
Because I can't stand it.
Pressure's on, Razz!
Are you going to do this?
That's the fat, yeah. No meat on it. Perfect.
Happy now?
The lamb is drizzled in oil,
coated in a mix of spices, and it's all rubbed together.
This is the spice to give the flavour,
a bit more pepper on the lamb.
The meat is set aside to marinate, so Boxa gets cracking on the sauce.
He starts by chopping garlic and fresh chilli.
Do you want to try one?
Are you sure that's a good idea?
Ooh. That IS spicy.
It's fresh chilli. It's getting a bit spicy now, Boxa.
I'm going to get a glass of water.
I can tell by your eyes, it's tearing.
My lips are burning. I'm going to get a glass of water.
He chops onion, peppers and herbs ready to cook together tonight,
and that's the main done.
What's going on here, Boxa? Got you on this.
Onto dessert...
I haven't got a clue, not a clue.
Can you enlighten us?
Gulab jamun is a deep-fried dough ball, sweet.
It's a brilliant dish, I love it.
Do you think it'll be home-made? You'd hope so.
You don't want the main part of the dessert to be frozen. No.
We haven't made it. It's from a local dessert supplier.
D'oh balls!
We are confident that the dessert, the taste is lovely.
They will definitely enjoy it.
I guess it was home-made - by someone.
The gulab jamun will be served with
a sweet syrup, which Boxa makes by adding sugar,
cinnamon and bay leaves to water,
and leaves to boil.
This syrup makes our dessert so sweet and special.
Ooh.
Once reduced, he strains and sets aside
and with the rest of the dish bought in,
there's time for a quick over.
MUSIC: Test Match Special Theme Yeah!
Come on, Boxa.
Out, Razz!
So what's everyone expecting?
We are expecting an Indian restaurant.
Bingo.
And it's something that we look forward to trying.
Seems like it might be a Thai or an Indian restaurant. Yeah.
They're good, this lot, aren't they?
First to rock up are Anne and Garry from Balls of Prudhoe.
Oh, look, excellent. Couple of awards there.
Must be good. Yeah.
Hello, guys, you all right? Hi, how you doing? Hello.
Hello, love, are you OK?
Yeah, fine thank you. Hello, I like your dress.
Nice to meet you.
Oh, there's that flirting.
Hello, you OK? Yeah, good, thank you.
Guys, we've got a nice bottle of prosecco, you love prosecco?
Lovely, yes. Nice sparkler like you, love, nice and sparkly.
You mightn't be saying that at the end of the night
when I have a few of them!
Completing the line-up, it's Aaron and Adam from Pigalo's.
Hi, guys. Hi, hi.
Hi, guys, my name is Razz Ahmed. Nice to meet you.
And welcome to Namaste Prosecco Lounge.
We'll have a really good night,
we'll have a good laugh and that's the main thing.
And a good week. ALL: Cheers.
Coming up, royal revelations...
We had the Queen.
You've had the Queen? Oh, my Lord!
I'm very interested to listen to the full story. Can't wait.
..and a pudding palaver.
What's going on?
LAUGHTER
I think we should keep that other name - Boxa's balls dessert.
It's night one in Newcastle where brothers Razz and Boxa of Namaste
are hoping to impress with their luxury Indian food and Prosecco lounge.
In the kitchen, Boxa's cracking on with the king prawn starter.
That is our peeled tomato sauce.
It's got the fish spice in it,
sardine and some Boxa special in it so it tastes better
and nobody can copy it.
Yeah, no-one likes a copy cat.
Meanwhile the guests are analysing the accolades.
Seen the awards on the way in? Yeah.
We did notice that, didn't we?
We were a little bit like,
"Oh, my God." "What have we gotten ourselves in for?"
Boxa adds coconut milk to the prawns and gives it a taste test.
Definitely winning this, like.
There's that confidence.
Are we ready, Boxa, are we ready to go? Ready to go.
They're going to definitely lick the plate.
Come on, chunky king prawn.
Here it is...
Thank you.
Hope you guys are seafood fans. Yes. Yeah?
Oh! Whoopsie!
Just flicked it in my face. THEY LAUGH
I think it's still alive. THEY LAUGH
You couldn't write that, could you?
I like to wear my food as well as taste the food.
I told you, it's a chunky king prawn when serving it
so you have to take your time when you're eating it.
The curry sauce is absolutely insane. It's really, really good.
Appreciate it. Thank you.
I thought I was going to be sitting there with hiccups,
like, with a tissue over my mouth. Too spicy.
Yeah, kind of, "Oh, my God, I'm sweating, I need to stand outside",
but it was really good.
The bits you got in your mouth, at least.
I'm not a big spice person but it is lovely.
The sauce is amazing, beautiful. Thank you.
I don't like spicy food at all
but the prawns were absolutely beautiful.
So, how did you come to have this place?
It's always been...it's always been a popular pub.
Our plan was to do everything under one roof so we have
a nice lovely restaurant and a nice Prosecco lounge,
we've got the outdoor area called the Terrace,
we do live music, as well.
So, basically when you come here for a meal, erm,
you can spend all night here.
I'm being honest, 90% of customers here is women.
If it's full of women... You're happy.
..the bar's going to be full of guys as well innit?
That's why I have to dress up always nicely
because it's part of the customer service, it is. Yeah.
If the Prosecco brings the ladies and the ladies bring the gents, the
gents will bring the gents that are us.
So guys, how long have you been in the hospitality business?
Probably say about seven years' experience. Brilliant.
And with me, it's 52 years.
52 years? Wow.
I'll be knocking on your door, definitely.
Come and knock on yours for a bit of, erm...
If you knocked on my door, I'd give you bed and breakfast.
THEY LAUGH
She's been in this trade for a long, long time
so it's going to be a big competition.
Starters a hit, Boxa gets to work on the mains.
He cooks up the sauce and adds the lamb.
Boxa, are you all right? Yes.
Yeah, what do you think about the lamb shank? Nearly there.
Rice is plated alongside the saucy shank.
It's looking good. Let's serve it.
It's ready, Lamb delicacy with rice and naan bread.
Lamb shank there. Lovely, thank you.
You a lamb fan, guys? Do you like lamb?
I love lamb. Yes, I love lamb. Favourite meat.
So that means, Boxa, you've done the right choice,
cooking a nice lamb dish. Yes, brilliant.
I normally wouldn't order lamb off a menu,
because I don't like it when you get fatty lamb
but this is really, really nice. It's just falling apart.
I think it's the best lamb I've actually ever eaten.
I'm not even kidding, it's absolutely amazing.
If we ever go anywhere that says delicacy on the menu,
they've certainly set the bar for what we expect.
I think the lamb's so tender. It's very nice. Rice, amazing.
I thought the lamb was cooked absolutely beautiful
but it was the spicy sauce on top that I couldn't do.
We had a celebrity come in here for a meal,
a guy called Ross Kemp. Yeah, Ross Kemp?
When he ordered, he ordered chicken korma but I told him,
"You're a tough guy, what are you ordering chicken korma for?
"You're a tough guy, order something nice."
Then I recommended chicken chetinadu.
That's a very, very hot, hot dish and to be honest, he wiped the plate
up. So because of Ross Kemp that dish is very, very popular,
and I'm still waiting for him but he hasn't come back yet.
THEY LAUGH Ungrateful.
I mean, I couldn't ever imagine walking in and seeing Ross Kemp
sat down eating a curry.
EastEnders was barred in our house because it was just arguing.
No, it wasn't.
What about you guys? We had the Queen.
You've had the Queen? The actual Queen of England?
Yes. Oh, my lord.
I'm very interested to listen to the full story. Can't wait.
I hope you're telling the truth.
Dessert time now and Boxa heats the gulab jamun
while Razz is on ice cream duty.
Make sure it's nice and circle, Razz.
Yes, looks like your head. HE LAUGHS
Good luck serving your ice cream on that.
Looks great, and I think they'll definitely enjoy it.
Fingers crossed,
Gulab jamun with Boxa shaped balls of ice cream.
Here you go. Thank you.
Ooh. Uh-oh.
I did warn you about those slates.
Another one, as well.
And another one.
What's going on? I think it's a...
THEY LAUGH
I think it's part of the Boxa's balls now.
I think we should keep that other name, Boxa's balls dessert.
It reminds me a little twist like maybe an Indian twist on
a baklava from Turkey, the sweet taste.
Very small. I'd have loved more of them. Are they home-made?
It's not home-made.
Normally we use a local, local dessert supplier.
The dessert was, it was... I would have preferred
a bit more and for it to be completely home-made.
Yeah, that's fair.
How did you get the name Boxa, Boxa?
Well, when I was a kid, I used to box for Sunderland,
so since then my coach started to call me Boxa
so I've been stuck with that name since then.
Are you good at boxing? I was good. Yeah?
Has anybody else got any hidden talent?
Our Anne has. When she was younger,
she was training as an opera singer.
Really? Yeah, very, very good. That's nice.
You never know. On my night I might give you a little blast.
Can we choose the tune?
It's opera, not karaoke.
Will the teeth be staying in, Anne?
Depends how many glasses of wine I've had.
Oh.
Crikey. To finish the night,
it's all out to the terrace for a little boogie.
# Thinkin' 'bout thinkin' of you...#
I thought the atmosphere was fantastic, really great bunch.
# The one, yeah
# You made...#
Hey, you're a good, mind, Boxa, aren't you?
We've done fantastic. The hosts, the customer service,
the food, the combination,
and that's the reason I think we'll win it. Definitely we'll win it.
That's not for you to decide. Scores out of 20, please.
The cuisine wasn't for me but they were perfect hosts,
I've had a fabulous night
and the score we're going to give them is...
..15.
Tonight we're going to score Razz and Boxa...
..an 18.
Which means Namaste starts the week with
a very respectable 33 out of 40.
It's day two and the turn of couple Aaron and Adam
to host at their American restaurant Pigalo's.
Boxa and Razz... ..have definitely set a high standard.
Yeah, definitely. We're not intimidated.
The boys, I think they have to do something special to beat us.
So, what have you got up your sleeves?
Our night is about creating finger-lickin' messy works of art
and we're definitely going to do that tonight.
You should put that on a T-shirt.
Oh, you have.
Their first messy work of art is the starter...
I love cheese. I love cheese. Yeah, I'm happy for it.
Cheese, cheese, cheese. Chorizo mac 'n' cheese.
I think they like cheese.
Nice, I like mac 'n' cheese. - Yeah, I like...
That's a relief. - I like chorizo.
Aaron starts by making a roux for the cheesy sauce
and adds cream, quite a lot of it.
It's not even all of it.
To the creamy mix, he chucks in garlic salt,
onion powder and mustard,
and yes, more cream.
How "dairy"! I'm so sorry.
How's it looking?
It's looking good and it's smelling good.
In goes cheddar cheese and an industrial quantity of Parmesan.
Very cheesy.
You're telling me.
Meanwhile, Adam treats the pasta to a little bath.
It washes all of the starch out of the pasta.
Probably for the best.
That sauce seems thick enough. Happy with it?
Tastes perfect to me. Cheesy, I bet.
Adam portions out the pasta into bowls.
Maybe take a little bit out of this one
and that one there, as well. Mm-hm.
Roll them eyes once more and you'll be rolling them out that door.
He tops the pasta with the cheesy sauce
while Aaron chops the chorizo ready to be cooked tonight.
Starter prepped, it's onto the main...
I think it's going to be a steak. I think it's steak.
Well, I would imagine that it's pork
and then they might have it stacked up.
You're in for a surprise.
Ever had a burger before? It's like that.
They start by seasoning steak mince and shaping into meatballs.
These are going to be the best burgers they've ever tried. Stacks.
Make your mind up. Next, they pull pork.
Do you want a hand, baby? I am capable of doing it myself.
MUSIC: Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
Very helpful. Thank you very much.
Patrick Swayze, eat your heart out.
The stacks will be served with Pigalo's signature dirty fries.
I like the word dirty. Dirty, skinny fries.
I was going to say I like anything dirty but I'll not say that.
Too late.
To make these dirty, we finish them off with our secret Pigalo sauce
and everybody's going to love it.
Oh, secret sauce? What's in it?
What goes into the Pigalo sauce?
BLENDER DROWNS SPEECH
And, yeah, that is the secret recipe.
Spoilsport.
The ingredients are all set aside ready to cook fresh tonight.
Time for dessert...
Can't say no to that. That's going to be nice. Yeah.
I'm not a big chocolate fan but I'll have a go.
That's the spirit. Aaron starts by mixing chocolate,
flour, butter and sugar. Lots of sugar.
It's amazing how much sugar goes into this.
It's what makes it taste so good.
Next in go eggs and a hit of vanilla.
Catch.
Whoa, good hands.
It's all mixed together before being prodded into bowls
and chilled, ready to cook later, and that's the prep done.
I'm feeling really confident now that we can pull this off
and take home the prize.
If the food's fantastic, why not? They can win it.
First to the party are Anne and Garry.
Oh, this looks interesting, Garry.
It does, yeah, Pigalo's American.
BOTH: Hi, guys. Hello. How are you?
Welcome to Pigalo's. Are you all right? - How are you doing?
Doing very well, thanks, how are you? - Have you had a busy day?
Welcome to Pigalo's.
When I first pulled up to the restaurant,
it didn't have the pizzazz, it didn't have the foot appeal.
It was very, like, not a wow factor outside.
That's a good start.
Next to arrive are last night's hosts, Razz and Boxa.
Hello, guys! Hello!
Welcome to Pigalo's. It's a couple of cocktails for you,
they're the Mr Pigalo's so here's to night two
and Pigalo's American. Cheers everyone.
ALL: Cheers.
Coming up, porky predicaments...
That's the boss, Mr Pigalo.
At the end of the day, it's pig and we don't eat pig.
..and dirty discourse.
They're that dirty I want to rub it all over myself.
Is that how you feel?
If they make a good business out of them, good luck to them.
It's night two, in and around Newcastle, and the turn of owners
Aaron and Adam of Pigalo's to host two rival pairs
of professionals at their own eatery.
In the kitchen, Aaron unwraps the mac 'n' cheese
and tops with even more cheese.
I'm pretty confident that we're going to get some decent marks
from the starter. Yeah. I think everyone, I hope, will be
pleasantly surprised by the food as well as the restaurant.
Just as long as they like cheese. Once cooked, it's ready to go.
It looks lovely, and I already know it tastes delicious
so I'm very, very confident.
Chorizo mac 'n' cheese
and a non-pork family favourite version for Razz and Boxa.
The dishes are dangerously hot because they've been in the oven.
Thank you very much.
Agh! I'm joking.
There's always one...
Let's get these knives and forks going and tuck in.
What do you guys think of our family favourite?
You're our family! I'll be honest, it's fantastic.
Thank you! I loved it. I love it, to be honest.
You could tell it was fresh
and the cheese just melted in your mouth.
I thought the cheese was a bit bland
but it was still nice. I like a stronger tasting cheese.
For me personal is the chorizo is a bit hot.
Do you know what it is? I don't deal with spice either,
and this is actually spicy for me!
We choose that chorizo because it is
the best one they have on offer where we get it from.
It's the tastiest. It's got a lot of flavour to it.
So what is Pigalo all about?
So it's essentially gourmet American food,
but we didn't want to be your typical like diner.
Who's that one on the wall behind?
That's the boss, Mr Pigalo.
I was just trying to ignore Mr Pigalo!
Cos, at the end of the day, it's pig, and we don't eat pig.
I was looking at it and I was thinking,
"Well, I'm not eating any pork. I'm having cheese."
Who wants to see a pig in a suit while they're eating?
This is exactly why we chose that picture, though, because it's weird.
IN AMERICAN ACCENT: Who are you calling weird, wise guy?
Onto the main,
and while Adam gets started on the dirty fries,
Aaron smashes his meatballs on the grill.
Hold up, who's that Razz in the bar? Anyone want any drinks?
I'll have a piggie pilsner. How do you make it?
Just give me a can!
Just give you a can?! All right, it's on its way now, coming!
Burgers - sorry, stacks - suitably cloched
and topped with the pulled pork, they're ready.
The Pigasso Stack, served with dirty fries
and lashings of that secret sauce.
Oh, lovely.
I hope you enjoy our famous Pigalo stacks.
What's the sauce? Is it like a seafoody sauce?
It's a secret recipe sauce. Yeah, the way we describe it is
a smoky burger relish, like a burger sauce.
So does it taste like a seafood sauce?
I thought it had like a seafoody taste.
Anne's got some questionable taste buds, I think.
Well, I suppose we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?
I think it's salad cream, ketchup and some ginger powder.
OK. That's what I think.
Is that better or worse than seafood sauce?
I like the dirty, I like the name of the dirty chips.
Dirty fries, yeah.
It looks dirty as well, it does!
So we've had a review before, they're like, "They're that dirty,
"I want to rub it all over myself."
Is that how you feel? Like, do you want to literally like...?
I'll rub them on my face!
I like my fries separate.
I don't like anything on top of them.
That's my personal preference, but if they've made
a good business out of them, good luck to them.
That's what we call the picture-perfect stack.
Cheers, guys, OK? Cheers.
Bet you regret wearing white.
Go for it. Lovely, lovely.
I loved it. It was nice and juicy. The meat, everything,
you could tell it was fresh, it was juicy inside.
What's the difference between a stack and a burger?
So a lot of people ask that.
Obviously it's exactly the same, like the burger is a burger,
but what we do to the burgers is completely different
to what you'd do at home so we obviously,
the secret seasoning, everything's fresh like made by us.
The meatballs that we get, they're ours,
like we created them, so we create them into meatballs
and then we do what's called the smash process,
so we smash them on the grill
and that's why they're so, like, wide.
Feels like this could go on a while.
Adam and Aaron are very passionate about the business.
We then use what's called the cloche method, so we pop
a cloche over when they're cooked with the cheese on,
and it locks in all the flavour,
and that's what makes that like oozing cheese.
Bet you wish you didn't ask.
I think Aaron and Adam need to like host a bit more.
It feels a bit flat.
Atmosphere is totally different from ours.
I think hosting-wise we probably could have done a bit better.
I think our hosting was really good.
When we spent time with the guests, it was absolutely fine.
Come on, lads. Let's warm up the atmosphere with dessert.
Their dough is popped into the oven
to cook, before being topped with even more chocolate.
The perfect end to the meal.
Double chocolate cookie dough served with ice cream in a bowl.
Thank you.
We did learn our lesson from the ice cream last night!
It's lovely. You've done it really well,
looks nice, and tastes really good as well.
The dessert was very, very nice.
You could tell they've put a lot of time in it.
There wasn't any cream there,
so...sometimes cookie dough is dry
so if you add more cream it's more nicer.
The dessert was far too sweet for me, far too sweet.
So does anyone have any embarrassing stories that they fancy sharing?
Well, my youngest grandson, who's like 19 months,
we had his christening.
This guy come up and stood there and I went, "Hello!"
And he went "hi".
And I went, "What's your name?"
And he went, "Eh?
"I'm Stevie, your ex-husband."
I'd been married 19 year to him.
Right, that's enough of that.
I think the night went as well as we could have expected it
to go. There's always room to improve somewhere. Mm-hm.
Scores, please.
Adam and Aaron are two lovely boys, but tonight the food
and the hosting wasn't up to our expectations so
for that reason,
we are scoring them...
Oh, dear.
Tonight we are scoring Adam and Aaron...
That score of 27 means
Pigalo's failed to stack up
to Namaste, and find themselves in
second place, with one night to go.
It's the final day of the competition,
and the turn of owner Anne and front of house Garry
to host at their fish and chip shop-cum-restaurant,
Balls Of Prudhoe.
People will be expecting big things
and I think tonight we'll prove what we can actually do.
I think Anne and Garry are going to be really good hosts.
I think it's going to be good fun.
So far I think our night was
the best night, but one is left to go.
So what's the plan? Fish and chips, right?
We are a fish and chip shop but we're not serving fish and chips
tonight. We're doing something totally different.
Starting with the main course...
That IS totally different.
I mean, is it just a pudding full of leeks? Is there any sauce?
I've never had a leek pudding before. No, but I like leeks.
I don't know what it is
but we'll soon find out when we have our main course.
Yeah, we'll soon find out.
Garry!
Leek pudding is leeks in a pudding.
That gets to the bottom of that, then.
To make the leek pudding, they start by chopping,
yes, you've guessed it, leeks.
What's a plumber's favourite vegetable?
I haven't got a clue.
A LEEK.
Oh, could be a long day. Next, Anne combines flour,
suet and seasoning in a bowl, adds the chopped leeks and mixes.
This is going to be the best leek pudding the guests have ever had.
It's going to be the ONLY leek pudding the guests have ever had.
The mixture is spooned into pots.
I think I might be the next Mary Berry.
As long as I'm not Fanny Cradock.
The puddings are chilled ready to cook later,
so Garry gets on with the steak and gravy.
Good bit of meat that, Garry.
Oh, it is.
He dices the steak,
chucks it in the pan and tops with boiling water.
This is our special ingredient.
What's in it? I can't tell you.
Why's that? Cos it's a secret.
Not YOU as well.
Is it our gravy, curry gravy?
No, it's normal English gravy.
I'd like to have a masala gravy. Can we have it?
Not tonight, I'm afraid, Razz.
The meat will be served with mash and veg. Onto dessert...
My nan used to love making them.
Who doesn't love an Eton Mess?
I haven't got a clue. Eton Mess, Eton Mess.
No, what is it?
I think this is the perfect sweet to finish with.
While Anne chops the fruit,
Garry separates egg whites for the meringues.
Consistency of this running through my fingers.
Mm, time for a whisk.
I wonder how Razz and Boxa are getting on.
Eton Mess. Am I pronouncing it correctly?
Etton Mess. Etton? It's Eton!
We'll come back to you. Once mixed...
There she blows.
..it's spooned onto a tray and into the oven to bake.
Come on, meringues. Don't let me down.
No, that's not Eton.
Say it again.
Eton Mess.
I give up. They've finished now anyway.
Onto the starter...
Just trying to copy us, like?
Are they going to live up to Razz and Boxa's king prawns?
What happens if it's bigger than us? It cannot, possibly. OK, then.
They look pretty chunky.
I think Boxa and Razz have got a bit competition tonight.
Might not be as big, but they'll be as tasty.
They certainly will.
You could hang your hat on that.
They clean up the prawns and butterfly them.
Why was the prawn bad at sharing?
Don't know, Garry. Why?
They were SHELLFISH.
Eh, God.
I know how you feel, Anne.
I'm a big garlic lover, so it's going to have
to be like pungently garlic to win me over.
I reckon you'll be all right.
Smell that garlic. Just tell us what it smells like.
Oh, I love it, it's lush.
The prawns will be served with rice and salad later,
and that's the prep done,
but having revealed to the guests that she likes
a bit of opera, it's not just the food that needs warming up.
ANNE DOES VOCAL WARM-UP
I really want to see Anne sing opera.
I might just have to put on a little show tonight.
You feeling all right, Anne?
Ready for it? First to arrive, a very dapper Razz and Boxa.
Balls, Balls Fish & Chips.
Hello!
Hello! Hello, hello, hello. I like the name Balls,
oh, yes!
We didn't expect a fish and chip shop, no.
I mean, I go for fish and chips every time
but not wearing a suit and a bow tie!
Finally, it's a more dressed-down Aaron and Adam.
Hi. Hi. Hi, everyone.
Going to go home and get dressed!
Cheers, everyone. Cheers.
Here's to a good night.
Coming up, a remarkable recital...
The little voice inside my head was saying,
"You're not allowed to laugh at her cos nobody else is."
..and the winners are revealed.
CHEERING
It's the final night in and around Newcastle, where Anne
and Garry from Balls Of Prudhoe are bidding to win
a £1,000 prize. In the kitchen, for some reason,
Garry is playing with the microwaves.
MICROWAVES BEEP
Right...
Anne, rice is in.
Feel like I've aged ten years. Meanwhile at the table,
the boys are perusing the place mats.
It's my favourite woman, the Queen, Queen Elizabeth.
I love the photo, it is lovely. It's a really nice thing
to have in your own restaurant, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely right, it is.
As soon as I walked in, fish and chips.
Then it's like surprise after surprise.
Every little thing, you can tell it's touched with love of Anne.
And currently feeling the love of Anne are the prawns,
which are ready to go.
I think they're hard to please if they don't enjoy that, Garry.
It's all about the eye.
Garlic king prawns with rice and salad.
Thank you.
Thank you. There you go.
Tuck in, enjoy it.
I like the king prawn, nice and garlicky.
The garlic level is right up my street, the garlicky, the better.
Oh, poor Adam.
Is it bigger than yours, the king prawn?
Nothing's bigger than mine.
Nothing's bigger than yours.
Boxa still has the bigger prawn, but you only got two.
You got four at ours.
What it means to take over the business from the parents?
Oh, I'm absolutely delighted.
My parents took it over when I was 16,
and my dad and I had to work here every night.
What were their names again? Andy and Nina Ball.
Ah, so that's where the Balls come from! That's where the Balls comes in!
So I've been dying to ask about the Queen.
It was 1998,
and she came, and she was actually
linking a computer up from across the road.
Our local paper rang up and said, "Eh, Anne, we have a photo,
"and you would think the Queen was at the chip shop."
We were thinking the Queen has came, having her food
and looking at the picture, she was outside!
Tourists that come in and they're like,
"Eeh, has the Queen been here?"
Say, "Yeah, she really has," and they'll go,
"Did she have fish and chips?" And I'll go
"No, she had a spam fritter," and they'll go, "Really?!"
Anne's been quite clever, the way she's played the cards about it
cos it came across that she'd actually had
the Queen as a guest... Served the Queen.
..but I don't blame her because I'd have done the same thing. Yeah.
Back in the kitchen, time for more microwave fun.
The steak, mash and leek puddings are heated through
before being piled onto the plate.
Let's get these out.
Yes, let's. Leek pudding
topped with steak, served with mash and veg.
Oh, lovely, thank you.
Thank you.
Tuck in, and I hope you enjoy. It smells incredible. Thank you.
Enjoy it. Thank you.
The gravy is absolutely insane.
Aw, thank you. It's so good. It's lovely.
I've never had a leek pudding before but as soon as I cut into it,
I could smell it straight away. It's really nice.
The steak is perfect. It tasted phenomenal.
There's no words for it. It's really, really nice.
Oh, Boxa. Thank you.
I think we need to go out and try some food.
I think we're too busy eating curries!
I think we need to take our wives out more
and learn how to eat more food and get off the curry train a bit. Yes!
It makes me very warm that you all are enjoying the food,
gives me a bit of a tingle.
That could be the microwaves.
There was a lot of expectation because we didn't know that some of
the people would have liked the main course, but they loved it.
We've all had some lovely food this week, guys.
If there's one thing that you could eat, what would it be?
Mine would 100% be fish and chips.
I LOVE fish and chips.
I'll have the dirty fried chips. I like the dirty thing,
I like dirtiness so... Dirty fried chips.
I'm not a dirty person, I just like the word dirty fries.
I'm glad we cleared THAT up. With the food a hit,
it's time for Anne to finally show off that opera training.
Does everybody in here want to hear Anne sing?
ALL: Yes!
Anne! Anne! Anne! Anne!
A-ANNE!
SHE SQUEALS
OPERATIC SINGING
I didn't know, should I laugh or should I help? I was shocked.
The little voice inside my head was saying, "You're not allowed
"to laugh at her cos nobody else is."
Brilliant, brilliant.
No-one's forgetting that in a hurry.
Now that yous realise that Anne has never, ever been
to a training school for the opera.
But can I tell you something else? My teeth nearly fell out then!
I feel completely led astray.
We've been led astray, but it's all been in good fun.
Boxa, do you think we book Anne for the prosecco lounge?
She's going to be perfect for a comedy night. Comedy night!
Cheeky!
With the night so far hitting the high notes,
it's down to dessert to seal the deal.
Let me have a go. Careful, Garry,
you'll get another one of your tingles.
Cream and fruit applied, it's ready.
I'm really happy with this, and this is the best dessert of the week.
Eton Mess - it's a classic.
Thank you. Thank you.
After the heavy dinner, this is nice and refreshing and light.
That went straight on the floor!
I haven't tried it before.
It's nice and tasty, it's nice and fresh.
Well, to be honest, I don't know what was it?
I haven't even heard of the name.
It was nice, it was fresh,
it was colourful... Yeah. but it's not our taste.
Yeah. Yeah.
Like, it's absolutely amazing,
like it's the perfect amount of sweetness.
It's spot on, it's lovely. Oh, thank you.
I think our dessert went very well tonight.
I think everybody enjoyed it.
I just want to listen to your opera singing again.
I'm going to do that at your place one Sunday afternoon. Brilliant.
And I'll do it for free.
Anne, you'll not do it for free!
Their night compared to ours is completely different.
They've not ran it as a restaurant,
they've ran it as a fun environment.
Here's to our new friendship.
Friends. Friends. Cheers.
Let's find out who's going to win the cash.
We WILL win it. Hopefully we will.
Because we sell curries and everyone loves curries.
I HOPE we can win the competition.
The proof is in the pudding, so we'll find out soon.
The leek pudding. The leek pudding.
Anne and Garry need 34 or more
to leapfrog Razz and Boxa
into first place.
Tonight was a perfect night,
but the dessert wasn't our taste but we're going to give...
Everything's been absolutely amazing so we've decided
to score Anne and Garry...
Whoa there! All the scoring's done in secret,
so let's find out together who's going to grab that grand.
CHEERING
In third place is
Pigalo's, Aaron and Adam.
In second place is
Namaste, Razz and Boxa.
So that means, in first place, Balls Of Prudhoe!
Pigalo scored Balls Of Prudhoe a perfect 20,
giving them a table-topping total of 37.
Way! Woohoo!
Absolutely fantastic.
Thank you all for a fantastic week, friends forever.
Friends for ever. Thank you.
CHEERING
It's a shame our stacks didn't win stacks of cash,
but the right person won. Yeah.
To be honest, I feel amazing. Came second,
it's a massive achievement, it is.
I think everyone is a winner and we are happy with second place.
Maybe you can have some opera lessons. Oh, hey, I tell you,
I don't think I need any.
No, I don't either. I think I'm good enough. Definitely.
Go on, then, Anne, sing us out.
Ooh, actually maybe don't!
MUSIC: The Flower Duet by Leo Delibes