FIRE ALARM RINGS
Take three restaurants... Cheers. Cheers, guys.
..eager to show off their foodie fare.
Lovely.
Throw in a three-course meal...
Service!
..and get them to score in secret.
Let's do this.
On today's show, a crafty cook...
I was wrong, I thought it was going to be the other way round.
They thought the fat bloke was the chef here and the thin one was the boss.
..and controversial customer service...
If you are rude to me,
I'm better at being rude than you are.
CHEERING
..As they compete for a grand in cold, hard cash.
Oh!
This week's professionals competition
is in and around Bristol,
home to over 1,000 places to wine,
dine and have a "gert-lush time".
And one pair of foodie fanatics
hoping to deliver some banging Bristolian bites
are head chef Sebastian
and general manager Alex from The Cloak & Dagger.
The food that we serve here is good food. It's not posh.
Looks quite posh to me.
Even though a lot of people would say it's posh food,
I don't like that terminology.
Oh, I do beg your pardon.
I worked in fine-dining restaurants.
The highest level that I worked in
was a three Michelin-star restaurant.
Come on, that's definitely a bit posh.
But Sebastian isn't afraid
to get his hands dirty when it comes to ingredients.
Smell that, mate.
I'm really passionate about sustainability,
ethicality of where your food comes from.
The nettles that we're looking for,
like these ones round here, they're quite young.
We can fall out during services
but we always hug and make up at the end of the day, yeah,
because, yeah, you can't go to bed angry, darling. No.
Wise words.
So what's the plan today?
Tonight we aim to showcase our mentality of sustainability,
whilst bringing good food to the masses,
and promising that we can give you one of the best evenings in Bristol.
That is a bold statement.
Up first is the starter,
a selection of small plates.
Oh. OK. That looks nice, doesn't it? So it all comes together, does it?
Yup. Blinkin' Nora, that's good.
Isn't it?
Meet our next professionals -
owner and front of house manager Rich and chef Kim
from countryside pub, The Boar's Head.
The food we serve is typically British country food.
I don't mean to sound big-headed but our food is good
and we've got one lady, she comes three hours just for our liver.
That is some liver.
Table six please.
And the prawn? Yes, please.
OK, thank you.
Our working relationship, it works really well.
Are they ready, Kim? No they're not.
Can you just hang fire a minute please?
We've got no qualms in speaking our minds really, have we? No.
Can we have parsley on here?
No, no, no, no, no!
Can you please wait for the bell?
I'd wait for the bell, if I were you, Rich.
Back at The Cloak & Dagger, for one day only,
Alex is putting his bartending skills to use in the kitchen.
First job, an emulsion for the croquettes.
Just shake the garlic up in your cocktail shaker
and that will hopefully peel the garlic
and I won't look like an absolute idiot.
Talk about transferable skills.
Meanwhile, Sebastian combines chardonnay vinegar,
miso, hot sauce and soy.
Aha. Aha!
Aha. Urgh!
Every so often you are right.
Every so often.
Garlic blitzed into the emulsion, it's done.
How's it taste?
Tastes banging.
It'll be served with deep-fried croquettes later.
It's definitely not easy starters. Not easy starters. It's a lot of work in here.
Meet our final pair of the week,
chef Shamil and his cousin,
operations manager Rodrigo,
who own Sri Lankan restaurant, The Coconut Tree.
Our mission is to try and bring people on a journey
through Sri Lankan street food, banging cocktails.
Most of the recipes are from parents and our grandparents.
But what these boys are really known for is their competitiveness.
Even from cooking to, you know, even playing sport,
we are definitely competitive.
Yes!
We're going to be the fun ones.
Definitely the fun, yeah.
Definitely the winners.
It's tequila time!
Actually it's sushi time.
Not looking forward to the sushi.
That's all right. I'm not a sushi person. I'll have that for myself.
Best not tell Sebastian that, Rich.
First job, cut up the trout.
What do you need me to do, chef? Stand there and look pretty.
Nice work if you can get it.
The trout is rolled with rice and will be sliced up later.
Caramel butter, oh, lovely. You're not going to like that, are you? Lovely.
Top secret caramel butter no less.
It's got quite a good reputation here.
Nobody else makes it but me
so I don't have to give the recipe away.
Go on, I won't tell anyone.
Smell that, guess what's in it?
Salt, caramel, butter?
No. Party pooper.
The secret spread will chill till tonight.
Onto the main.
What's nduja? I've never heard of that.
No. No.
It's got to be a sauce.
It's got to be a sauce, hasn't it?
No, it's a spicy sausage.
So this nduja is from a friend of mine.
He started his own company of charcuteries.
I'd much rather use something made locally rather than flying something in from a different country.
Sebastian makes up the ravioli filling
by adding lemon zest, garlic and toasted nigella seeds to ricotta
and the nduja.
Onto the pasta itself.
Getting the ravioli right,
cooking it to, you know, al dente
is going to be the hard bit.
The filling is piped onto the pasta.
Do you not trust me to do that then? No. That's fair.
Yup, just keep standing there looking pretty, Alex.
The pasta parcels will be cooked tonight and served
with a wild garlic sauce.
On to the short ribs.
Ribs should just fall apart anyway, shouldn't it? Yeah.
It's moist, as long as it's not too dry. Yeah.
So long as that's slowly cooked. Yeah, it'll be all right. Yeah, I'm sure that will be lovely.
The reason I've chosen the short rib is because
it is our best seller and it's an absolute banger.
Flame grilling ribs on your doorstep.
That's certainly a new one on me.
To cook the short rib on the barbecue, to give it
like a nice smoky barbecue sort of flavour.
And there's a lot of smoke.
Adds that Umami-ness.
FIRE ALARM RINGS
Uh-oh!
I knew that would BLEEP happen.
So did I.
Smoking seen to,
the beef is burrowed into a braising liquor
and will slow cook till tonight.
Last to prep, the crispy potato terrine
and Alex has finally been trusted to get back on duty.
This is tedium.
I think I can guess why Sebastian delegated this job.
The spud slices are dipped in butter and stacked,
ready to be baked tonight.
Final course to prep, dessert,
I love chocolate and caramel.
Nice simple dessert, yeah.
And I think after those flavours you would need something
a bit more, I'd say it horribly, but plainer. Yeah.
Why don't you go away and have a coffee?
All right. And I'll do it.
Hang in there, Alex.
HE GULPS
Sebastian whips up a crunchy base for his bar.
Then milk, eggs, chocolate and gelatine
are given a good old whisk.
Oh, he's back.
Hold the bowl. Great.
SEBASTIAN LAUGHS
It's very technical, mate. That is terrific bowl-holding.
The mix is dolloped on
and finished with a miso toffee topping.
It'll chill till tonight.
While the hosts pop off to pretty up,
the guests make some predictions for this evening.
The flavours sounds like
someone who knows what they're doing, isn't it? Yeah.
Have you got a dress? Yeah, I'll have to put a dress on.
Can't wear your jeans along to this one, can you?
I'm sure you could.
It's up to the hospitality gods now.
Well, not exactly, it's up to your guests.
# Putting on the Ritz...#
And the first ones are here -
chef at the Boar's Head, Kim,
and owner Rich, looking very dapper.
Hi, there. Hello.
Hi, there guys.
Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you. And you.
Welcome to the Cloak & Dagger.
Seb. Hello, there, Kim. Kim, nice to meet you.
I'm Rich. Rich, nice to meet you. Good to meet you.
Gin and tonics with a bit of a twist.
They've been made with beer in a gin process.
Beer and tonic. I like that.
I could get quite used to that.
Oh, yeah, how many more can we have? Steady on.
The final guests are Shamil and Rodrigo
from The Coconut Tree.
Hiya. Hi, there, how's it going?
I'm Seb. I'm Rich, lovely to meet you.
Shamil, nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you.
I've been optimistic in saying that it's better to go first.
We're at least going to be at the top at least once this week.
That's true.
That's an interesting way of looking at it.
Cheers, everybody! Let's do this.
Coming up, a cracking CV...
Went to work as a private chef on superyachts in the Mediterranean.
Oh, dear, we've got a real, real strong competition.
..and fabulous fashion.
Hides a lot of sins, waistcoats.
Until you sit down, it comes up like a boob tube.
We're going to smash it.
It's night one in Bristol
where Sebastian and Alex at The Cloak & Dagger
are hoping to impress with their menu
of sustainable local produce.
Nothing negative so far whatsoever. It's all been pretty pozzie.
Pozzie?
Positive thoughts, positive outcomes.
Oh, catchy!
I'm feeling pretty confident about the starter.
Now I just have to remember how to cook it and how to plate it.
That would definitely help.
While they crack on with the starter,
the others soak up their surroundings.
Oh, this is nice.
Oh, isn't this lovely?
Yeah, it's very nice.
I like the umbrellas.
Those umbrellas, you couldn't have one because you'd take off...
I know. ..for being so short.
I'd have two, I'd go wooph.
Yeah, Rich is definitely the fun one who breaks the ice.
We'd never see her again and we can't do that.
We need you.
Back in the kitchen, Sebastian fries the croquettes.
Lovely, lovely!
Little bit odd. Bread is barbecued,
sushi is sliced and garnishes galore go on.
Ready to rock and roll.
Short rib and goat's cheese croquettes,
trout sushi and sourdough bread
with a special, secret salted-caramel butter.
Ooh!
Excellent. Tuck in and enjoy, guys.
I'm going to be honest.
I was not looking forward to the sushi.
I think you might have just converted me to be fair.
There's so much flavour in this
and I really like the fried chillies.
Thanks, man.
I feel like Rodrigo and Shamil,
they were tasting the food
and they were looking through every component.
I think that they, they're definitely
going to bring something high to the table.
Croquettes are my favourite, yeah, so far.
A little bit slightly dry
but when you have it with the sauce,
I mean,
nothing to complain.
The inside is,
I feel it's quite moist
and quite enjoyable, from what I ate anyway.
Alex, what's in the butter again?
So he won't tell me or anyone.
I think that one's going to his grave.
It would be nice to know the recipe
but no, he wouldn't give that up. No, and that's fair enough.
No, not at all. Quite right, yeah, that's fair enough.
So, Sebastian, what's your background?
Went to London, was there for 13 years,
worked up to a private members' club,
three Michelin star restaurants.
Went to work as a private chef
on superyachts in the Mediterranean.
Oh, dear, we've got a real, real strong competition
and I think that did shine through with the food.
If you guys didn't work in hospitality, what would be your sort of choice of career path?
I would be a pilot, definitely,
but sadly people with my accent are not trusted
to be pilots apparently.
I'd be more concerned if somebody with a Bristolian accent came over, "All right, my musher,
"we're coming in to land."
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Hey, bab, how are you, airlines here,
come on in, have a good time, sit back and relax.
I think I'll take the train.
I would love to be a tequila taster, I would fly to Mexico.
A tequila taster?
I feel like you're making jobs up now.
There was lots of giggles with Shamil wasn't there?
He seems to be the quieter one out of the two.
And we all seem to be sort of gelling quite well together thus far.
It's a shame he's here really but there we go.
Charming.
If they enjoy the second course as much as they enjoyed the first course,
then I definitely think that we'd be in with a chance for a win.
Positive thoughts,
positive outcomes, let's think pozzie.
Yeah, but let's not say "pozzie" any more though perhaps.
After an impressive start, it's onto the main.
Asparagus is griddled
and the ravioli is plonked in a pan.
So Seb's rad-ish.
Oh, dear.
With the short rib and potatoes cooked,
all that's left to do is plate up.
They're looking good, they're looking all right.
Umami short rib with crispy potato terrine
and Somerset nduja and ricotta ravioli.
Lovely, sir, thank you. No worries.
So this is a nduja and ricotta ravioli.
You've got a wild garlic sauce which I go and pick the wild garlic myself.
We had a debate about the "endula".
Nduja, yeah. Yeah, so what is it?
So nduja is a spicy pork sausage meat
that is traditionally from Italy.
Nayoudo.
Nayoudo? Nayoudo? No.
Not quite. Oh, God. Oh, Kim.
Dig in, guys, enjoy.
Lovely.
What's everyone think of the dish, guys?
The short rib's absolutely beautiful,
melts in your mouth.
The short rib, absolutely superb, just fell apart.
We've got a lot um, yeah.
Yeah. We'll be fine.
And the ravioli, yeah,
it's a little bit too salty but amazing.
Thank you, thank you, man.
It's not the first time that I've been told that I'm a little bit heavy-handed with the old salt.
I think it is a chef thing.
That is too strong for my palate.
I think it might be the sausage.
So the thing with the food here is that it's...
it's small plates that will pack a punch
and they are quite decadent as well, like.
It just wasn't my taste
and I felt really, really mean
telling him that as well. Oh, bless, yeah.
But how does everyone handle speaking their mind
when it comes to customers?
Unfortunately, yeah,
a lot of the time the customer is not right
but it's how you bring about telling them that they're in the wrong
is the real challenge.
I do think that the guest,
the customer is always right
because it's how they perceive that situation at that time,
and I do think it's our job
to make sure that we do everything possible.
In the type of venue that we are and what we're doing
and what we're trying to achieve, that's not necessarily the case.
I like to describe ourselves, we are but mirrors.
If you, like, are rude to me,
I'm better at being rude than you are. Yeah.
He seems chilled
and then when he responded with the customers,
I was like,
that actually did surprise me a fair bit.
I guess it just takes your time and energy.
I wouldn't bother. It's already done.
I will, like, show, tell them what they've done wrong,
why we gave them that service
because it's also a case of, I don't want them back.
Blimey! At least this lot are getting the full three courses.
Sebastian blowtorches his chocolaty bar
and serves up a fancy-looking sphere of ice cream.
Ready to go, see what they think.
With a sprinkle of salt, it's ready.
Chocolate and caramel bar with milk ice cream.
The chocolate's a bit too bitter for me. Yeah.
But the ice cream is second to none. That is nice, yeah.
Thanks. For me, I think the chocolate's perfect
and then the ice cream cuts through. Thanks, man.
It's up there, isn't it? It's up there, yeah. Well, we'll do better.
Yeah!
The chocolate was a little bit bitter
but it's 70% chocolate so I'm not surprised.
They all complimented the dish so I'm happy with it.
Rich, I definitely want to steal your waistcoat.
Do you? We can do a twirl just for you. Whoo!
This is...
this is the normal attire, I'm afraid.
That's dapper, that is. Very nice.
I'd see that man being somebody that I could spend
a good amount of time with and not get bored, so, yeah.
Hides a lot of sins, waistcoats. Until you sit down,
it comes up like a boob tube but other than that,
yeah, it does hide a lot.
I think that everybody enjoyed themselves
and everybody had a nice night and everybody left happy
and if you do that, then obviously that's a winner,
regardless of the score.
Talking of which...
We had a great night apart from
a few minor errors like saltiness in the mains.
Apart from that, it was great atmosphere, loved the staff,
loved the company so we decided to give them...
17.
So we're giving the guys 17.
So the Cloak and Dagger's fine food gets them off to a strong start,
scoring 34 out of a possible 40.
It's the second day of the competition
in and around Bristol,
and the turn of Rodrigo and Shamil from the Coconut Tree.
The one to impress tonight,
after hearing Sebastian's stories last night,
I would like to see what he thinks of it.
Sebastian, wow.
How I'm ever going to match up to that standard, don't know.
I'm feeling pretty confident about the competition at the moment,
that maybe they went home with a little bit of nerves, maybe.
It's still early days!
So what's everyone expecting tonight?
I think those guys are absolute great cooks. I think...
They've been doing it for a while, I reckon.
Tonight it's all about bringing authentic street food dishes.
Yeah, it's about bringing some iron vibes and fun to the table.
That sounds like a plan. On with the starter.
Egg hoppers, crispy fried lamb balls
and isso wade, aka prawn falafels.
Ooh, nice!
I must admit I've never had an egg hopper before
or an isso wade before,
or crispy fried lamb balls before,
so I'm looking forward to trying new things.
An adventure awaits, Alex.
First to prep, the lamb balls.
Crispy fried lamb balls are our take on tuna cutlets.
It's basically tuna cooked with potatoes
and stuffed into a crispy fried ball
but the same we're going to do with lamb instead.
Seasoned lamb mince is added to onions,
garlic, chilli and curry leaves.
Crispy fried lamb balls. Mm.
I wonder if they're big.
Reasonably sized, I'd say.
They're rolled in a crispy coating
and will be fried later.
Next, hoppers, a type of Sri Lankan pancake.
I've definitely had an egg hopper before.
Show off!
If you're a tourist in Sri Lanka, you probably had it for breakfast
but growing up in Sri Lanka we only eat it for dinner
and usually we will eat six or seven of them.
Impressive.
Rice flour, sugar, coconut milk and yeast
are whisked together to make a batter.
The hoppers will be cooked tonight.
Sri Lankan prawn faf...fafalas.
To make the prawn fafalas,
in go lentils, onion, chilli, chickpeas,
Sri Lankan spices and teeny tiny prawns.
So the prawn man has told us these are the best prawns in town.
They're certainly the smallest.
Verdict?
Very prawny.
Not surprising.
The mix is made into rounds and will be fried tonight.
Onto the main,
Black pork, chicken curry kottu and coconut sambol.
I've had black pork before. It was delicious.
That's one of our special dishes,
a recipe passed down to us from our grandma.
It'll give Sebastian a run for his money.
The gloves are off!
The pork is coated in a selection of seasonings,
then it's fried with onions and loads of chilli,
and left to slow cook.
Next up, the chicken curry kottu.
I've had chicken curry so I've never had
a chicken curry kottu. I'm not quite sure what that is.
Fill him in, Rodrigo.
Kottu is made with chopped roti
and then you stir-fry that with vegetables like carrot,
leeks and onions,
and then you put in the chicken curry on top
and kind of chop it up.
I'm hoping for juicy meat and loads of sauce with the curry.
Chicken is tossed in curry seasonings
and the roti bread is chopped.
Well, I don't mind a bit of spice. Do you mind a bit of spice?
Nothing too excessive though.
I've got some bad news, Kim.
Sam's always a bit heavy on his spices.
The chicken is fried with onions.
All that's left to do is whip up the coconut sambol. Any good?
How is it? Nice.
I'll take his word. And so will I.
Last to prep, dessert.
More hoppers,
but this time sweet treacle ones served with coconut ice cream.
Yeah, that's straightforward. Yeah. I don't think anything
could go wrong with that. No, that should be good.
Looking forward to that. Be nice light actual dessert,
actually, isn't it? So that'll be good.
So long as it's not anything to do with us going on a...
What are they called? The old... Space hopper. That's the one!
A hopper batter is knocked up with treacle
and it'll be fried tonight.
So what's everyone expecting later?
I do feel like they're going to be good cooks
and I feel like they're definitely going to bring their A-game
so we'll have to wait and see, won't we?
But the most important question is...
What colour waistcoat do you think Rich is going to wear?
I think he's going to go for yellow today.
Hmm, I'm going to say bright pink.
I reckon blue.
Tonight I will be certainly wearing a lovely two-piece outfit.
A blue one, I hope.
Ready to do this tonight? It'll be a good night.
We're gonna smash it.
First in are last night's hosts, Sebastian and Alex.
Well, after you.
Why, thank you.
How's it going, mate? Good to see you.
That's the proper Sri Lankan welcome, you always give a big hug.
So here we've got Ruby.
Is that the name of the drink? Name of the elephant is Ruby.
Cheers, guys. Cheers, guys, thank you.
I knew it.
The final guests are Rich in a lovely blue two-piece and Kim.
Hi, Kim, you all right? Come on!
We had an amazing welcome this evening, didn't we?
Yeah, we did. Really, really friendly.
So what's Ruby going to think is going to happen tonight then, guys?
Good gracious.
Ruby is looking for a home-made...
LAUGHTER Yes.
ALL: Cheers, guys.
Coming up, a corker of a porker.
Licking your fingers is always a good sign, right? Yeah.
BOTH: That black pork.
Jesus Christ.
And family friction.
You'd probably be like
the older aunt that you don't really see.
You're older than me as well, you cheeky sod!
It's night two of the Professionals competition in and around Bristol.
ALL: Cheers, guys.
Where Shamil and Rodrigo are hosting
a night of Sri Lankan street food in their restaurant,
the Coconut Tree.
Come on then, let's do it. Let's do this.
While Shamil kicks off the final prep for the starter,
the rest are having a look around.
I really like the bar there,
all the 2p pieces lined up like that, it's really, really cool.
2ps? Yeah. Or not 2p.
That is the question, yes!
In the kitchen, the hopper batter is cooked with an egg.
Then the prawn falafels and lamb balls are fried.
Finally, on go the garnishes and they're off to the pass.
Service.
Egg hoppers, crispy fried lamb balls and prawn falafels.
Amazing. Thank you. Thank you.
Right, let's dig in, guys.
Lovely, thank you.
This is the nicest hopper that I've ever had.
Can I get that in writing?
You can and I will say...
I wanted Sebastian to enjoy it rather than being critical
because, you know, he knows his food so,
yeah, it means a lot, means a lot. Yeah.
The lamb balls, perfection, absolute perfection.
You like the flavour?
The lamb balls, they were just spot-on, weren't they?
What's the matter with you? Nope, she's gone.
Sorry... Sorry, sorry.
They were absolutely spot-on. So, they were crispy, weren't they?
This is going to take ages.
The sauce that went with the lamb balls...
Oh, God, I could literally... Well, we were eating...
We were literally eating that with a spoon, yeah.
THEY LAUGH HYSTERICALLY
I mean...
How unprofessional. Oh, God!
He's not laughing at the lamb balls.
Just give me two minutes.
I'll get myself together in a minute.
Lamb balls.
The texture was lovely.
Of the lamb balls?
Don't, don't...!
Come on, guys. It's going to be the adverts in a minute.
We're just going to have to press on.
Yesterday I judged that there was some sort of
further relationship between you guys apart from colleagues,
so whether it's a relation or, it was obvious, was it?
Yeah, we are first cousins so, yeah.
Well, yeah, he's a bit younger than me
but we grew up together in the same town in Sri Lanka.
They're just lovely genuine guys.
They're genuine, that's the thing. They're genuine, definitely.
There's nothing pretentious about them. No, no.
I guess keep your head down, be humble,
work hard, isn't it? That's what you've got to do.
So we're definitely not related.
No. Definitely.
You'd probably be like the older aunt that you don't really see.
Ooh, awkward!
Oh! You're older than me as well, you cheeky sod.
There's a lot of banter that comes with Rich and Kim.
They like to have digs at each other
and like to play on each other quite a bit, I think, yeah. Yeah.
With rave reviews for the starters,
the boys are keeping it in the family for the main.
Part of our mains is actually our granny's recipe
and she says it's going to be a win.
We'll see.
Shamil starts by frying the pork.
It looks nice. Does it taste good?
Good, of course, man. I made it.
Then whips up the kottu by frying egg with chicken curry,
chopped roti and veg.
And it's good to go.
Black pork,
chicken curry kottu and coconut sambol.
We got black pork.
This is something we had on the menu from day one.
It's a recipe from our granny.
It's a family favourite.
KIM: It's very different, something I've never tried before.
The pork just melts in your mouth.
It's spicy but it's not over, like, burn your mouth out which is good.
It was that black, you thought it was burnt but it wasn't.
It was just... It was just perfect.
Perfect. It was perfect, it was perfect, to be fair. It was.
Licking your fingers is always a good sign, right? Yeah.
The main was great. That blackened...
That black pork.
Jesus Christ, yeah, that was good, that black pork.
We made Granny proud. We made Granny proud.
Yeah, really, really good, well done, mate.
So while cooking,
we had a small competition to guess your waistcoat colour.
OK. So I went with yellow.
I'm glad you never said size but, yeah,
waistcoat colour, yeah. You went with yellow?
Yeah, I said yellow and he said pink.
Pink!
And I said blue. I'll collect my winnings later.
Now, from a well-dressed diner to a headliner.
Many years ago,
I was a compere for a little while called Maud Minger,
which was an old-fashioned hospital matron.
Yeah, it was very fruity, very fruity,
not something you could say round a dinner table.
That's probably where the waistcoat styles came from.
Ooh, matron!
Ooh, dessert!
I think we've got the easiest one left but no, let's not jinx it!
But it's definitely the easier course out of the three.
Shamil whips up the sweet hoppers.
Beautiful.
Then on goes ice cream and treacle sauce.
Sri Lankan treacle hoppers with coconut ice cream.
Dig in.
What do you think?
I don't like coconut. Oh, right, OK.
And I don't do nuts.
For me that was the worst thing that could have been put in front of me.
I hope you feel really awful about it. I do feel really bad about it.
I think you should as well because it was really nice.
I know, but...I can't help being an awkward cow.
Maybe the hopper's a bit...
Yes?
A bit too thick? But beautiful, tastes absolutely beautiful.
All the harder things went really well
and then I think the hopper could have done better
because I think we were... kind of lost focus by then, we were like...
Yes, the hopper is thick but I really like it.
I'm a massive fan of like the American style pancakes,
the big fluffy doughy pancakes.
So, guys, anybody got any talents here?
What's your talent?
Kim's talent is being patient, putting up with you, Rich.
Kim seems like the more reserved one out of the two
and I feel like she's the one that keeps him in tow
and makes sure that he doesn't go too far off the tracks, maybe.
Sam can play drums. OK.
Can you?
Traditional Sri Lankan drum.
Oh! Have you got one nearby?
It's here!
Fancy that!
Banging.
I think we might win it.
I think I'm going to go Sri Lanka, yeah.
No, I'm going, not you. You're going to give me the money, right?
You're going to give me the money.
Scores please.
The atmosphere was great, conversation flowed all night,
so did the drinks, and I think we'll give them a 19.
That's what we're going to give them tonight.
So Rodrigo and Shamil,
we're going to give you an amazing...
So the Coconut Tree net a massive bunch of scores,
taking them into the lead with a whopping 38.
It's the third and final day of the competition in and around Bristol,
and we're heading to the village of Aust,
to Rich and Kim's countryside pub, the Boar's Head.
Last night was amazing, wasn't it?
The food was absolutely beyond belief.
It was really good. It was beautiful, wasn't it?
The confidence and arrogance that we gained on Monday night
has definitely been deplenished. Yeah.
I would like to say we had a winning night, or at least close.
You're in the lead for now.
I think Rich is the chef.
Almost!
Today Rich is going to be my little helper. Yeah, I am.
Out of the three of us, I am the least experienced.
I'm a local girl, I work in a local pub.
That's all I've done. Do you know what I mean, it's...
But it works. It does work. It does work.
So what's your plan to wow them?
Tonight we're going to be delivering
wholesome, hearty, locally-sourced country food.
On with the starter.
Chorizo hash topped with a fried egg and parsnip crisps.
That definitely sounds like that's up my street. Mm-hm.
I think it's a safe style. It's a safe style, yeah.
I'm feeling a bit more confident now.
Cocky!
It's a very popular dish in our menu.
See if we can wow them with the first course.
While Kim's left to mash the hash,
Rich has donned his country garb to pick up the chorizo.
Hola, girls!
Yeah, they're from Bristol, not Spain.
Dave! Yeah? Oh, that Dave.
How you doing? Oh, Dave, we need your help.
So you're promising me this is the best one that you've got?
Absolutely, best in England.
Dave, I'm going to keep you to that. Thank you.
Give us a hug.
Yeah, not sure she's keen.
Kim, Kim bab,
I've got the sausage you sent me out for.
Hoping he'd take a bit longer, eh, Kim?
So how are you feeling today, working with me in the kitchen?
Always love working with you, Kim. Love being in the kitchen.
I wonder if the feeling's mutual.
Potatoes are mashed with parsley.
Everything OK, Rich?
Chef, do you want a bit... OK, I won't interfere.
Best not to. In goes the chorizo, olive oil and then a taste test.
That's really nice.
The hash will be baked later.
Onto the main.
Poached stuffed chicken breast
with a thyme and white wine sauce, potatoes and veg.
That is...something that I've done thousands of times.
It's very classic, that is.
It's giving me pub vibes, isn't it? Yeah.
Blimey, you're not feeding the 5,000.
We've always been known for big portions. Yes.
We obviously like our food.
I hope they're hungry.
The chicken breast is bashed.
That's it, put some welly into it, Kim!
Chicken breasts can be dry if you don't cook it properly.
Got to be nice and moist.
That's definitely a challenge, yeah. Challenge, and then...
Getting chicken breasts right.
The chicken and stuffing are rolled and will be poached later.
Last to prep for the main, potatoes.
Chunky spud slices are fried in olive oil.
On goes stock and a dollop of wine, then they're baked.
So that just leaves dessert.
Chocolate and brioche bread and butter pudding
with cream custard.
Wow, that sounds delish already.
This sounds very homely to me as well.
Yeah.
It's our most popular dessert. It's our most popular, yeah.
It is our most popular dessert.
And a very decadent one.
First job, buttering up the brioche.
There's gonna be a certain amount of nostalgia that comes along
with this dish which I'm really looking forward to.
Cognac-soaked raisins are sprinkled onto the bread
and covered with a custard cream sauce.
Next, on goes some sugar...
Oh, good lord, that is a lot.
Kim, ten times more sugar than that.
What?!
Layers and layers of stodge.
Love it, I love a bit of stodge.
Yes, but there are limits!
Melted chocolate gets poured on before one final layer of stodge.
Can I lick the bowl now, can I? Go on, then.
Can you grab a spoon? Yeah, I've got a spoon.
Cheeky!
Lovely.
That's gonna win, gimme five. That's gonna win.
The stodgy sugary sweet will be baked tonight.
Everything's gone well today
but I'm definitely feeling the pressure.
Come on then, bab.
Let's go and get ready. Yeah? Come on. Come on then.
If the chat and the banter and the personality
and the evenings that we've had with them so far
is matched with what they're going to do tonight,
I definitely think that it's going to be a winning night, yeah.
I think it's playing a bit too safe.
I would like to see a bit more interesting stuff in them.
First to arrive are Sebastian and Alex.
Hello! Alex, Sebastian. Welcome!
Nice to see you. Mate, look at that!
That blazer is next level.
This jacket only comes out on special occasions such as Christmas,
last Easter, and of course it's come out for this week.
I was wrong, I thought it was going to be the other way round,
but I'm pleasantly surprised.
Kim was stood there in her chef whites.
I thought, "Well, I've been proven wrong but happily proven wrong."
Very glad to have been.
They thought the fat bloke was the chef here
and the thin one was the boss.
Next up are the ones to beat, Rodrigo and Shamil.
Your waistcoat! THEY CHEER
Your waistcoat.
Very snazzy.
So here's to a fantastic last night.
Let's enjoy it, let's just have a good time.
Good luck to the winners.
Yes. Cheers, guys.
Coming up, a clucking cameo...
Kim, come on, we've got to get the main done.
HE CLUCKS
..and someone collects the cash.
In third place - are you ready for this?
It's the third and final night in and around Bristol,
where professionals Rich and Kim from the Boar's Head
are hoping they'll wow with their traditional pub food.
The atmosphere's great, isn't it? Yeah.
Looks likely there's going to be a hell of a party tonight, I think.
Yeah. That's how it feels. It's all good. Yes.
While Kim kicks things off in
the kitchen, the boys peruse the poultry.
Ooh, look at this! Ooh.
They have some chickens.
Looking forward to the fried egg.
Shamil's my chicken. HE CLUCKS
Yeah, moving on...
With the eggs fried...
Beautiful.
..all that's left to do is plunge
the parsnip crisps into hot oil and serve up the chorizo hash.
Oh, looking lovely, chef!
With a drizzle of parsley oil, it's ready -
chorizo hash topped with a fried egg and parsnip crisps.
BOTH: Service!
Beautiful. Ooh.
Tuck in, guys, enjoy. Thank you.
I like the hash brown.
It's, like, soft in the middle and crispy on the outside. Perfect.
It feels like mashed potato, but you've got that coarseness
with it as well, which is really, really nice.
Sebastian's comments, they really meant a lot didn't they? Yeah.
He was probably one of them that we were...
Worried about, yeah.
Yeah, because of his background.
But I think we pulled it off.
The starter, for me, hash brown, absolutely amazing.
The parsnip crisps, I wasn't really sure because it wasn't crispy.
No, I was very happy with them. They were how...
Yeah, they were crispy, they were sweet.
From a contented chef to a candid conversation.
Someone bought a packet of chocolate covered biscuits, wasn't it, and they were on the side.
So, yes, so they got shared around
and someone said they couldn't possibly let that pass their lips.
I could not possibly let one of those pass my lips.
And I looked up and said,
as you do, "He's obviously lying, look at him."
He is a fat...
I did not say that!
Blimey!
Rich and Kim definitely have a good relationship. Yeah.
With the starter a smash hit, time for the next course.
Kim, come on, we've got to get the main done.
Oh, hello!
Come on! Oh, right, sorry.
Ethel the chicken was definitely not hurt. No.
No. She likes to do her little debuts now and again.
Only when you make her!
The veg is baked and fried,
and with a completely different chicken poached,
it's all loaded onto the plate. Here it is -
poached stuffed chicken breast
with a thyme and white wine sauce, potatoes and veg.
Look at this!
That smells absolutely amazing.
I've worked in up to three Michelin star kitchens
and this would be very worthy of being served in that kitchen.
Oh, that's really kind. That means a lot, that does.
That is really, really delicious.
I'm gobsmacked. You are, weren't you? You just said.
I am absolutely gobsmacked.
I honestly thought he'd just - I know, I don't mean to be impolite -
he'd really be critical because of, obviously, all of his experience,
and he wasn't, he loved it.
Beautifully cooked, in my opinion.
The stuffing inside the breast was absolutely... Fantastic.
Yeah, fantastic, yeah.
I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of chicken breast
so it's not my type of thing. No, that's fine.
I like chicken on the bone, so that's probably the thing.
I wouldn't eat chicken on the bone, I don't know about you.
No, not really. No.
So, yeah, it went really well, we think, yeah. Yeah.
And it seems the hosts aren't the only ones in high spirits.
This is an old, old pub
and it must have been probably about four o'clock one morning,
and I heard a chair being pulled across the bar floor,
and the end chair at the table in the bar
had moved about eight foot towards the snug area.
Right. Time to go home!
Right on the edge.
I'm going home now.
See you later, yeah.
I don't like ghosts.
Oh, bless your nylon knickers.
Oh, thanks, mate.
I don't want to see ghosts.
Yeah.
But there's one behind you!
Ha-ha - got you!
With mixed reviews on the main, it's time to try
and pull back some points with dessert.
I think...
Dessert's going to do it. It's going to be wow. Yeah. Yeah.
Hopefully. And I'm going to have the biggest spoon out of everyone.
That's fine.
Kim portions out the hefty puds into some fancy little bowls,
and it's good to go.
Chocolate and brioche bread and butter pudding
with cream custard.
Thank you, yeah.
The sultanas are soaked in cognac.
ALL: Ooh!
Matron!
Yes.
That is ten out of ten, honestly. Lovely. Thank you.
I would have ten of them.
Good, that's good.
Ten out of ten, Kim. Absolutely. Ten out of ten. Kim, legend.
The cognac in the raisins is a great addition.
The entire night tonight I've been taken on
a nostalgia trip from, like, growing up in the country. Yeah.
This perfectly finishes it off.
I think that was probably
the best of all the courses that we did. Desserts, yeah.
Final thoughts?
First things first,
I want the name and number of your tailor.
The biggest thing that I've learnt this week is maybe going back to my roots.
I've taken a lot of technique and a lot of skill,
but not maybe so much the soul.
It is lovely just to know that whether you're from
a different culture or see things differently
and have gone round the world,
we all have the passion for what's on the plate,
and hopefully we've all inspired each other by that.
Doesn't matter how smart you are and how clever you are
with your cooking, sometimes it just takes...
Simplicity is the key, and I think they executed that really well.
Absolutely exceptionally.
Here's to the winners.
ALL: To the winners!
Rich and Kim need 39 or more to top the table.
We're going to give them a...
..19.
We're going to give...
Hold it!
Let's find out who's going to land the lolly.
ALL: Whooooooa!
So in third place, are you ready for this?
Is the Cloak & Dagger, Alex and Sebastian.
Second place...
..the Boar's Head village pub in Aust, Rich and Kim,
which means in first place is
the Coconut Tree, Shamil and Rodrigo.
Well done, mate. Well done.
Shamil and Rodrigo scored Rich and Kim 16,
meaning a slam dunk for the Sri Lankan boys.
Really pleased to win, really, really happy.
I'm glad to put Sri Lanka on the map.
Top three, baby. Top three, top three.
Knew we'd get it, I knew we'd get top three. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I really think this jacket brought us luck today.
Look at it, look.
How can this not bring you a bit of luck, there? I know.
It's well good.
Cheers, guys! It's been an absolutely amazing week.
There you go. I did it wrong.