NARRATOR: Previously,
two teams have cooked in round two...
CLAUDEAN: That tastes absolutely perfect.
..and while OGs, Claudean and Anthony
stepped up to the plate...
It's absolutely delicious, cooked to perfection.
This is a different restaurant we're in tonight.
..it wasn't enough to knock gate crashers,
Aaron and Chris,
from the top of the leaderboard
on 72 points.
The redemption team should definitely be worried.
Absolutely.
Whoa. (LAUGHTER)
Tonight, we're in New South Wales...
It's just go hard or go home, right?
Woo.
..where mums, Amber and Mel...
(SCREAMING)
We've been friends most of our lives.
AMBER: We've got our best friend charms.
Let's do this.
I'm just gonna rub my scent.
Is that Colin's chair?
This is Colin's chair.
I love it. I love it.
..are dishing up their treasured family recipes.
This is my mother-in-law's recipe,
really looking forward to sharing with everybody.
The orange cake is very dear to my heart,
it's been passed down from my Nan.
And it's the showdown everyone has been waiting for...
I've been dying to talk to you guys.
Oh, no. What does that mean?
(LAUGHTER)
..as Claudean and Chris finally face off.
What did you label Claudean?
It takes less than five minutes for this to kick off.
('STARSTRUCK' BY KYLIE MINOGUE) # I can't help it
# I get stars-truck
# Over you... #
Tonight we're in New South Wales,
home to the Blue Mountains,
and for gate crashing team, Amber and Mel,
it's a scenic walk
to mentally prepare for their first instant restaurant.
Mel, I think the secret to staying on track today is just,
let's keep communicating with each other.
Yeah. I'll pull you out of your funk.
Yep. You pull me out of mine
even if you've gotta slap me on the ass.
Pull my hair.
(CHILD SCREAMING)
# But your mumma always... #
I'm Amber. And I'm Mel.
And we are primary school besties from New South Wales.
I mean, we've been friends
since like, we were seven and eight years old.
And to be honest,
if anyone else asked me to do this,
I would've told them to go and shove it.
Mel's the only one I would've done it for.
# On a cloudy day... #
Five, six, seven...
You know, as busy mums...
(CHEERING) ..it's all about good home cooking.
Simple. Yeah.
But delicious.
What have we got? CHILD: 100.
Wow. Ten, awesome.
I would say that our hobbies are eating and drinking.
Yeah. Yeah, pretty much.
Oh, look at her, she's going back for more.
Really, what else do I have time for?
I would see myself as a high achiever.
Oh, wow. That looks lovely.
Always has to be the best of the best,
taste the best.
Alright, dig in.
PRODUCER: You guys really think you could win My Kitchen Rules?
(BLEEP) yeah.
Oh, I don't think you can say that.
Can't you? I don't know.
Don't they just beep it out.
# Don't come out... #
I'll say it again nicer. OK.
I believe that we can win My Kitchen Rules.
That better? Oh, I love it.
I love it.
Amber and Mel have just five hours to shop for their ingredients,
set up their instant restaurant
and prepare their dishes before their guests arrive.
I think it's time for a coffee, Mel.
Oh, my gosh. Absolutely.
Then it hits 5:00, and it's wine o'clock.
That's exactly right. Not wine o'clock yet, lovely.
We actually haven't cooked together much.
Is mimosa classed as wine o'clock?
Oh, mimosa is an all-day drink...
..Mel.
Generally,
when I'm cooking for you,
I want you to sit on the other side of the bench
and have a sip on a glass of wine and have a chit-chat.
So, we all know you love yourself a bit of Manu.
I love myself a bit of Manu.
He's a bit cheeky.
He is cheeky, they're both cheeky.
They are both cheeky.
You're a married woman, Amber, why would you say that?
I know.
We can look, but we just can't touch.
I am a big Manu fan.
I think it's the accent for you. Yeah, I think it is.
I think it is. Yeah, shimmy, shimmy.
Yeah. Yeah.
Our game plan tonight really is for consistency, right.
We haven't come into this competition
to be at the bottom. No.
But we do need consistent eight and above
to be on top of that leaderboard
and beat those boys, so. Actually, that's exactly right.
The boys got three sevens,
so we definitely need to... Better them.
Yeah, absolutely.
There's no flying under the radar for us,
we're at the top of the leaderboard, we're the team to beat.
Yeah, people have got our names, and they're coming for us.
You know what?
I think the other guests have slightly underestimated us
as just the housewives of...
Yep. ..the Blue Mountains.
In terms of Amber and Mel,
I am actually expecting big things tonight.
Their confidence is massive.
We're on the bottom of the leaderboard,
maybe we're gonna stay there.
I'll be devastated
if we get anything lower than a five.
If I got anything under a five,
I may actually ugly cry.
And we have said we're not ugly crying on TV.
No, no, no ugly crying on TV.
So, we're just pulling up at Woolies.
Woo-hoo, we're here. Woop-woop.
Amber and Mel, they've been friends forever.
They must know each other inside out,
they know they can cook well,
and they think they're gonna kick butts
and they're gonna be on top of the leaderboard
and that's all that matters to them.
Let's do this, let's go.
Got the list? I've got the list.
OK.
It might be a bit of a surprise for some of the guests tonight
because a big part of our menu tonight
is Lebanese cooking.
So, we are two Aussie chicks cooking Lebanese food today.
Food plays a really big part in my life
and probably started, really,
when I married into a big Lebanese family,
my husband, who's Lebanese
and food was a way of showing love.
Let's go get our lamb.
For the entree, we're making spice lamb with hummus,
pomegranate, and pita bread.
I'm not stuffing up hummus.
So, the hummus, your mother-in-law's recipe.
Traditionally, your hummus is served at every Lebanese dinner or lunch.
The lamb isn't really the hero of this dish,
but it is there to add that flavour to it,
add texture to it.
Next, we're gonna get our spices for the lamb.
They have lots of nice mixed spice
and white pepper.
That's the Lebanese spice combo.
Spiced lamb, it's a staple in Lebanese cuisine.
So, they've said it's spiced, I wanna taste that spice.
Maybe before we go, I can have a sneak hello to Mum...
Oh, yeah. ..'cause she's there.
Can we please pop in and see Mum? Yeah, yeah.
Mum works at the local Woolies,
so it's gonna be a little surprise when she sees us there.
Oh, beautiful girls, oh. I love you.
I love you too.
Oh, it's going fine with the shopping?
Yeah, yeah. We've done OK.
Yeah, yeah, found everything.
We're headed to the... Everything, was it easy for you?
Yeah, no, it was, it was. Oh, see, there's a Woolies for you.
I know, fresh fruit people.
I'm sure she still looks at us
just like we're seven years old. Yeah.
Mum probably just still looks at us like we're in year three.
Yeah. (LAUGHS)
Always better now I get to have a hug from my mum.
Alright, baby. So, thank you, Mum.
Thank you.
Everyone needs a hug, doesn't matter how old you are,
from your mum, right? Yeah, definitely.
('NEED YOUR LOVE' BY JQ) # I just wanna know
# Am I crazy for saying That I need your love... #
Tonight, I really wanna find out what the girls are all about.
MEL: Let's go get our fish.
Because in my opinion,
you need to be a really strong team
to withstand the pressure of the MKR kitchen.
Thank you.
When you look around the table,
everybody's a threat at this stage.
We're coming for you.
So tonight, we are making baked fish.
I need about 15 portions
'cause I wanna have some extras just in case.
GROCER: Yeah, no worries. And we like barramundi.
That's a whole side there.
MEL: Oh, wow.
Oh, that looks beautiful.
For the main,
we are making baked fish in tahini sauce,
with roasted almonds and caramelised onions.
Thank you so much, Andy, thank you.
Thank you, take care. Have a great day.
Oh, feel that heaviness.
For this dish,
I'd love a whole baby fish on the bone,
maybe a little light tahini sauce,
not overpowering,
some almonds for the texture,
and lots of caramelised onion,
and maybe something else to cut through the tahini.
('THE BUSINESS' BY TIESTO) # Let's get down
# Let's get down to business... #
Hi. Where are you, partner?
AMBER: Yeah. (MEL LAUGHS)
Alright, let's get the fish in first.
I'm just excited now to actually get in the kitchen
and start prepping. Yeah, let's go.
That's straight in the fridge, Amber.
Let's get them straight in the fridge.
With their shopping complete,
Amber and Mel need to set up their instant restaurant,
and prep their meals before their guests arrive.
Oh, there goes that clock, Amber.
Instant restaurant set up time. Here we come.
('HISTORY' BY JOEL CORRY AND BECKY HILL)
# 'Cause we got so Much history... #
Our instant restaurant is in the beautiful Blue Mountains.
(SQUEALING)
So, we really want people to feel
like they have that Blue Mountains experience.
So, we are incorporating some real eucalyptus plants in there,
so they even smell the mountains.
I would love to be sitting at our table tonight
because Aaron and Chris...
Oh. ..with...
BOTH: Claudean and Anthony.
Oh, my gosh.
There was a bit of biff there, right?
I reckon Claudean's gonna come in with guns blazing.
And I'm a little bit jelly belly that we're not sitting in there.
There's no reason that
we can't beat the boys tonight with a smile.
I think you'd be... With a smile.
..very disappointed if we didn't get over 70.
Oh, I would actually.
We've got this.
We've got it. Yeah.
Now Mel, I'm just gonna rub my scent.
(MEL LAUGHS)
Is that Colin's chair?
This is Colin's chair.
I love it. I love it.
Alright, little bit for Manu too.
I don't want him to get jealous. (MEL LAUGHS)
I'm excited to finally get to properly hug Manu and Colin.
Ah! You wanna hug Colin?
I do. (LAUGHS)
They're spending the night in your room, Mel.
Mums gone wild. Yes.
(MEL LAUGHS)
Down, down. Dropping it.
Nice and slow. Beep-Beep.
(LAUGHTER)
So the name of our instant restaurant
is Salty Secrets.
Go Salty Secrets. Salty Secrets.
Oops. Yay.
Yay. We know each other's
deepest and darkest secrets.
Every stretch mark, every tear that's been cried.
We know it all.
No telling our salty secrets...
No. ..though, right?
Looks beautiful.
Looks like us, clean and classy.
Let's go.
Mel, remember when we were in year three,
I gave you one of these for a birthday?
Oh, no way.
Got a brand new. 34 years later,
they still make these best friend charms?
They still make a best friend charm.
It was a heart, and you...
Split it in half. ..split it in half.
I don't still have mine.
(TENSE NOTE)
I still have ours in a little...
Oh, you do? In a little box.
Oh, wow. Our original, yeah.
Bitch.
(LAUGHS)
Alright, ching-ching. OK.
Alright. Go, let's do this.
Alright, Amber,
you are gonna start working on ice cream first.
I am now. I'm gonna start prepping the entree.
You don't need to be a brain surgeon to make hummus.
No. Chickpeas, tahini,
a little bit of garlic, lemon juice.
Our menu, to actually cook it, it doesn't take a long time.
No, but it takes a while to prep everything.
Our dessert tonight is very close to my heart.
It is Mel and Amber version of my nana cake.
So, we are making upside-down orange cake,
with orange and ginger ice cream.
So, Mel, I'm gonna put all the ice cream elements
into the ice cream maker.
So, if we don't get this ice cream started now,
there's a risk that it won't set,
and we could end up on the bottom.
It could ruin the whole night.
And I'm just going to add a tiny little bit of our ginger
because I don't want the ginger to overpower the ice cream.
Yeah, I agree.
I'm gonna do the fish for our main.
Baked fish with tahini sauce.
You want everyone to get the same, don't you?
You don't want any scrag fights at the table.
(MEL LAUGHS) "She got a bigger bit than me."
Scrag fights.
Do you reckon Claudean would jump the table
if she... Oh, maybe.
If her fish was smaller than Christian's?
Maybe.
How are you going, Mel, with your prep?
Yeah, I'm good.
Time check is... Ooh.
We're pretty much on time.
Everything's prepped for entree. Great.
Ice cream is now churning away in the ice cream maker.
So that's gonna be ready.
Is that OK to go while we go get dressed?
That's fine to go while we get dressed.
Might need to fix up that hair and the lippy.
Yep. It won't be fancy hair tonight, that's for sure.
No.
Just gotta keep it back, out of the face.
No one wants a hair in their food.
That would be a nightmare for me.
(MEL LAUGHS) Look at you.
If someone pulled a hair... That would be a nightmare.
..out of their food.
I'm feeling good about where we're at the moment.
Let's class it up now, baby.
Yeah.
Excellent, alright, let's go.
('RELY' BY KAREN HARDING) # We can rely on each other uh-huh
# From one lover to another uh-huh
# From one lover to another Uh-huh... #
Teamwork is the key for this competition,
and I think Amber and Mel have what it takes
to be able to pull this off well tonight.
I'm really excited to get to know Aaron and Chris.
They came into my home and gave me daggers.
I will listen and I will observe,
or I'll just go straight in for the jugular,
we'll see.
Claudean and I have had a few first impressions.
She's loud, she's proud, and I'm a bit like that as well.
OK, guys, should we do this?
(OVERLAPPING SPEECH) Let's go.
Let's go press the button.
Now that we are here in the Blue Mountains,
I'm expecting some pretty great food.
I'm also looking forward to seeing
if I'm right about one thing with them.
That I reckon they're the really excitable girls.
How you would say, Woo Girls.
Alright, guests arriving soon.
Oh, my god! You know, Woo girls.
Woo!
(DOORBELL RINGS)
(GIRLS SCREAM)
The famous doorbell.
Oh, my god.
I think there's even a little squeal.
# OMG... # (AMBER AND MEL SCREAM)
(TECHNO MUSIC PLAYING)
(LAUGHTER)
I wanna run when I see them coming.
(SQUEALING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Was there a fire alarm going on with the front door?
That woo!
Woo!
(SQUEALING)
MEL: Yes! (LAUGHTER)
Oh, wait, no, that was just the Woo Girls.
OK, let's do this.
Alright. Woo!
ANTHONY: Oh, look at that. CLAUDEEN: Oh, wow.
Oh, wow.
This is pretty as.
SONIA: Ooh, we're in the forest.
Oh, amazing.
Oh, this looks amazing.
This looks so beautiful.
Walking into the instant restaurant,
to me, they brought the outdoors indoors.
They've nailed that brief.
I thought it was relaxing
when I walked into the instant restaurant,
maybe a little too relaxing.
I got massage parlours of vibes.
Seriously.
Salty Secrets.
CHRISTIAN: Salty Secrets.
Salty Secrets.
Look at that.
we're gonna get some salty food?
My first thought is,
surely Spicy Secrets
would be more fun to have between friends.
It's gonna be a bit salty then tonight.
(LAUGHTER)
I think when we were standing there,
welcoming our guest into our instant restaurant,
the nerves did start to kick in that this is real,
that we are actually on My Kitchen Rules.
(CHUCKLES) Actually,
these are not just our friends
that we're having over for dinner tonight,
they're actually our competition.
Welcome, everybody, to the beautiful Blue Mountains.
We've tried to bring a bit of the mountains outside, in,
for you tonight.
Our instant restaurant is called...
AMBER AND MEL: Salty Secrets.
We have known each other for most of our lives,
so you can imagine that we know each other's
deepest, darkest, and saltiest secrets.
(LAUGHS)
And if you've had enough to drink, maybe share some of your own...
BOTH: Salty Secrets?
(LAUGHTER)
We are so excited to have everybody here,
so enjoy,
and we'll come back shortly with some yummy food.
CLAUDEEN: Thanks, girls.
(OVERLAPPING SPEECH)
I'm all about a salty secret,
so let's see if we can get anybody
to spill their salty secrets at the table tonight.
Well, well, well.
I like it. Love this.
This is good to put in the shower when you're having a shower.
ANTHONY: You're giving our secrets away already, are you?
(LAUGHTER)
The OG teams,
we have gotten to know quite well over the last instant restaurants.
So, I'm hoping tonight
we can get the gate crashers out of their shell a bit.
They might be feeling, "Oh, do we trust them?
"Don't we trust them?
"Are they gonna all stick together?
"It's a them and us kind of thing."
Yeah, I've been dying to talk to you guys.
Yeah, we've obviously cooked for you guys,
you guys cooked for us last time.
This is the first time we get to sit down at the table.
I know.
Was that, "I know," or was that, "Oh, no?"
A bit of both.
(LAUGHTER)
What does that mean?
Because there were some daggers thrown.
We're gonna see...
I didn't throw the daggers first, you guys did.
All we've had is first impressions, and...
And what did you think?
What did you label Claudean?
I didn't label nothing, I said, "She seems like a bitch."
(TENSE NOTE)
SONIA: I'm looking backwards and looking forwards
and thinking, she's going to jump the table any minute now.
Straight off the bat, it's Chris versus Claudean.
We knew it wasn't gonna take long.
Backstabbing, not a fan.
I do refer to myself as a front stabber.
I dunno about these people who talk crap behind people's backs.
I'm just not in for it.
And if he wants to be like that, bring it on then.
Amber and Mel have just welcomed their guests...
..and it seems the Salty Secrets instant restaurant
is already living up to its name.
All we've had is first impressions, and...
And what did you think?
What did you label Claudean?
I didn't label nothing.
I said, "She seems like a bitch."
It takes less than five minutes
for this to kick off between Claudean and Chris.
We apologise.
No, speak for yourself, man, don't...
(LAUGHTER)
Just relax, let's see.
AARON: I apologise.
I guess it's time to bring out the popcorn.
Don't, don't, OK, don't.
CHRISTIAN: No, do, do.
I don't think I actually said, "She's a bitch,"
but I said, "Oh, she seems like a bitch, but."
Goodness, Claudean's speechless.
(LAUGHTER)
I wanna know, why do I seem like a bitch?
Holy shit balls.
Oh, well, it's their fault.
I think it was you.
(PEOPLE EXCLAIM)
'Cause Christian... It wouldn't have been Nick.
It would've been this guy. No, it was. It was Christian.
And then Chris throws me right under the bus.
So what, Christian said that I was a bitch?
No, I did.
It seems like there's a triangle
between Claudean, Chris, and Christian.
And I don't know what their dynamic is,
I think they're still trying to work it out.
It's a Bermuda triangle.
One of them will go missing. (LAUGHTER)
And he was telling me his first interaction with you.
He was talking everything food related
'cause we're all foodies.
I'm not a foodie.
Oh, maybe that's why he took offence
'cause you called him a wanker, apparently.
And then I thought oh, well, she seems like a bitch
'cause why would you call him a wanker?
He's talking about food.
But have you heard Christian talk about food?
Well, I have now.
(LAUGHTER)
Chris doing that makes me question the conviction of his words.
if he's so quick to deflect onto me
after voicing his opinion...
..I mean, what's that say about his opinion?
I love you Claudean, but...
(LAUGHTER)
No buts.
You know when people say, "I love you, but,"
well, you don't love me.
Shove it up your ass.
I'm gonna put that in the fridge, Amber.
There you go. OK.
Do you wanna check your dough?
Make sure that you're still happy with that?
We still have a lot to do.
Judge is gonna be here soon.
Yes, we've done a lot in prep,
but now the focus is really
on getting that entree done,
so that we can serve in a timely manner.
AMBER: So Mel, what's left for us to do for this entree?
My focus is to get the smoothness of this hummus.
I can play with the flavours in that bowl...
..I just want this smoothness to be right...
..because I'm not serving grainy...
(PLATE CLATTERS) Shit.
Grainy hummus.
So at this stage,
I think the hummus is about 90, 95% there.
I just wanna get this hummus right.
Where's my Lebanese husband when I need him?
He is my taste tester.
When I make hummus at home,
I always get Peter to taste it.
My husband, he has grown up with hummus.
He is my indicator of whether it's on point or not.
I'm stand-in husband.
You are tonight. Yeah.
What's it got too much of or not enough of?
It doesn't have too much of anything.
I don't know, I think once it's on the plate
with the meat and the garnish...
Yep. You know what?
It's good, Amber. It's good.
It's really good.
('BOYS' BY LIZZO)
# I like big boys itty bitty boys
# Mississippi boys inner city boys
# I like the pretty boys With the bow tie
# Four three two ow
# Boys
# Make a girl go crazy... #
You ready?
(DOORBELL RINGS)
(GASPS)
Oh, my god. Stop, stop, stop.
OK, we're gonna be cool and calm. Yep.
Do you reckon they'll give us their autograph?
(AMBER AND MEL SCREAM)
Oh, wow.
Whoa...
BOTH: Hello!
(OVERLAPPING SPEECH)
Oh, my god, they look so handsome.
They do. They do. They do. They look so...
I think a little nervous wee came out.
(MEL SQUEALS AND LAUGHS)
Bonsoir. Good evening.
Oh!
Woo-hoo!
COLIN: I know, I know.
Ah, look who you get to sit next to you tonight.
Oh, thank God.
You lucky little devil.
So excited... Oh, hi girls.
Hi. We're back.
You both look very calm.
We are very calm.
Welcome, Colin.
Welcome, Manu.
Amber may have pre-rubbed herself on your chair.
Oh, my god.
(AWKWARD LAUGHTER)
Can someone call us a cab?
(LAUGHTER)
What's on the menu, please, ladies?
If you'd like to turn over your menus,
we'd like to share with you.
So for entree,
we will be serving spiced lamb,
with hummus, pomegranate, and pita bread.
Middle Eastern food definitely gonna be represented tonight.
I'm expecting vibrancy in flavour,
it should be packed with flavour.
For main,
we'll be serving baked fish with tahini sauce,
with roasted almonds, and caramelised onions.
What kind of fish is it?
What kind of lamb is it?
It seems like they're playing things pretty close to their chest.
And for dessert,
you have an orange upside down cake...
..with orange and ginger ice cream.
Dessert, I can't wait for.
I love an orange cake.
I don't know how
orange cake and orange ice cream will work,
but we'll just have to see.
Is this what you normally cook?
Yeah, it is.
I've learnt how to cook Lebanese food
from my husband and his family.
We make this sort of food all the time.
And really looking forward to sharing it with everybody.
And the orange cake is very dear to my heart.
It's something that I make weekly for my girls.
It's been passed down
from my nan to me.
Well, you ladies seem to be really sure of yourselves,
but I'm sure you've still got a lot of work to do,
so see you later.
Bye. See you.
Enjoy.
I think they feel that we're just mums,
cook spaghetti Bolognese or a curried sausage every night.
For us, I want to be,
almost like the quiet achiever, right?
Let's come from nowhere and show them what we are made of.
I love the look of this menu.
Curious to see what type of lamb we get.
If it's cutlets, I love cutlets.
I'm thinking though maybe kofta.
Mm.
This is a real competition-worthy menu.
Now, if you can balance out that sweet and spiced
with the lamb, with that earthy hummus,
that's a flavour bomb of a dish.
Love lamb.
Spiced lamb,
she's talked about Lebanese heritage there with the husband.
So, maybe some flavours of sumac
might come through that lamb.
Portion size, what do you reckon?
I'm starving, man,
so I hope it's a full rack of lamb.
(LAUGHTER)
I've just popped the lamb mince in with the onions and spices.
I'm just breaking up that mince a little bit,
and then, I'm just gonna let it all sit,
and let all the flavours infuse into that mince.
That's 100%, let it stick.
I'm really focused
on getting the balance of these flavours,
and getting the mixed spices into that lamb.
Our guests are expecting spice lamb.
If we fail to meet that component, all over Red Rover.
I can smell it out here, Amber.
Ah, it smells beautiful.
Ah.
This is my mother-in-law's recipe,
so it's really important that this lamb packs a punch.
It is minced lamb, so it's little bombs of flavour.
If we don't pack enough punch into that lamb,
then it could make the dish a bit bland.
And we really want it to complement the hummus
and the other flavours that are gonna be on that plate.
I've just stirred through those extra spices,
the salt and the pepper, Mel.
Yep.
Mel, I need you to come and taste this.
I have been adding, with each taste, a bit more salt.
The importance of that spiced lamb
is to make sure that it does have a real good hit of spice.
Yeah, OK, that's got good caramelisation,
I don't want too much more.
No.
I'm really happy with that.
It's just all falling into place.
Mate. Yeah, happy.
OK, let's do this.
So, I'm gonna start to plate now, Amber.
I started off with the hummus at the bottom,
and then we needed to build those layers on that plate.
I'm really, really happy with this, Amber.
Exactly the consistency that I was looking for.
We're going to put some olive oil over that hummus.
Don't be afraid of the olive oil. OK.
Yeah, that's it.
Sprinkling some paprika, lamb mince on top.
This meat looks really good, Amber.
We then had the pomegranate with the parsley,
and a few pine nuts.
I'm really happy.
OK, I want that bread, and I want that bread.
What do you think? Judges...
It's looking good, Amber.
Every... All the elements are there.
I'm feeling so good about this dish.
Alright, let's go.
Happy? Happy.
Got it. Let's go.
Entree is served.
Now, please do this dish some justice,
and eat it the traditional way.
With Your hands.
With the bread.
Don't wanna see any forks.
Thank you.
COLIN: Thank you.
Thank you.
As soon as the entree comes out in front of me,
the first thing I notice is the lamb,
apart from the lack thereof.
The cut, it looks like mince.
Mhm.
I was expecting a couple of lamb koftas.
Maybe some cutlets, or some shish kebabs.
But lamb mince?
I don't think anyone's really impressed.
Tonight, we're in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales
for Amber and Mel's instant restaurant.
And it's time for their entree
of spiced lamb, hummus, and pita bread.
We're feeling pretty confident.
We hope that they like it.
And how would it be
if we just had Manu licking the plate?
Thank you, ladies.
BOTH: Thank you. Enjoy.
Bon Appetit.
I get into the lamb and the hummus, and I just...
Something's not right.
My lamb's too crunchy.
And very salty.
As much as I love pita bread
and dip,
I'm Greek, I love lamb.
I wanted a bit more substance.
Entree was unbalanced.
It was hummus with lamb, not lamb with hummus.
So, I think it just didn't make sense.
I don't know, maybe I didn't have enough lamb.
Literally just felt like
it was mince that was just overcooked.
The pomegranate, love it.
The pine nuts, love it.
The lamb, in terms of the mince,
I think a bad choice, just a bad choice.
I think this is more about the hummus
than it is about the spice lamb.
I think the hummus is the overriding flavour
that you get off it.
I don't think it fits the brief of what we were told.
I don't wanna use the word stingy
'cause I know that they're probably
not stingy people,
but when you're promised lamb, you're hoping for lamb.
I just got a speckle of dust of lamb.
Yeah, I'm very surprised about the lamb.
I feel like they just cooked packet mince lamb,
just minced lamb.
It didn't have much seasoning to it at all.
I think all the seasoning
was definitely in the hummus.
I was nervous,
this is a beautiful menu.
Now that I've tasted the entree, not nervous anymore at all.
I think my entree was much better than this.
Ladies,
spice lamb with hummus, pomegranate, and pita bread.
There's one thing I love about Lebanese food,
the intensity of flavour.
It's simple foods, but the flavours are full on.
What's the spice mix that you put in your lamb?
The Baharat?
I used mixed spice and white pepper,
as my mother-in-law uses.
(SIGHS)
Let me explain something to you about spices.
There's a huge difference between freshly grinded spices
and something that you buy in a store, in a bottle.
This is a cooking competition...
..and I would've made the effort,
if I was not gonna make the spice mix myself,
to at least go to a Lebanese shop or a Arabic shop,
and get the spice that smacks you in the face of flavour.
So I think this is probably,
and I don't wanna be rude,
but an Australian version of Lebanese food here.
Yeah.
So the spiced lamb,
what I was expecting,
maybe a little bit of a kofta,
or maybe some... A braised shoulder
because to me, the lamb,
which is the bride who's getting married,
was the bridesmaid to the hummus.
It was an OK dish,
but from what you promised, it was a little underwhelming.
Yeah. AMBER: Mhm.
How do you feel, Mel?
I agree with all of the things that you have said.
Yes, it should have had that next level,
and yes, I should have gone to the extra effort with the spices.
You're right, it needed that extra punch to it.
I'm blaming my husband for that one.
He is my indicator of whether it's on point or not.
You're going back to the kitchen,
you've got baked fish with tahini sauce,
roast almond, and caramelised onions.
I don't want you to change anything that you wouldn't do,
but make sure that it's full of flavour.
MEL: Yeah.
Thank you. BOTH: Thank you.
Thanks, everybody.
When we stepped back into that kitchen,
I could feel Mel's energy change.
She really wants to make her family proud,
and I could feel that she was really disheartened.
It wasn't terrible.
No, they didn't hate it.
No, that's exactly right.
Yes, there's room for improvement.
I think we just have to take on their feedback now,
add that punch of flavour into the main,
which I know it has. Yep.
Although we are disappointed with the critique,
we just need to pick ourselves up,
dust it off.
I'll punch them and pull their hair later.
(MEL LAUGHS) It's not gonna ruin our night.
No. We're just gonna keep going.
We are onto main meal now,
that's where our focus is gonna be.
OK, Amber, I'm just gonna put the fish into the oven.
So, this is just the marinated.
Not even marinated,
it's just the fish with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
For main, we're making baked fish
with tahini sauce, roasted almonds, and caramelised onion.
So we are baking this fish in the same way
that my mother-in-law has taught me how to do it.
There's a bit of pressure, I think, for me to get this right for her.
The importance of timing for this main
is to cook that fish perfectly.
We're gonna pull it out of the oven when it's 90% cooked,
pour that beautiful tahini sauce over it,
and it only needs to go back in the oven
for another five to eight minutes.
If we keep it in there any longer, it's gonna overcook the fish.
Am I putting it in too early?
No.
Something inside of me is saying,
"Is it too early to put the fish in, or is now the right time?"
I put 15 minutes on the timer.
We'll come back and see how we go.
There's so much to do,
and I know that I can still be prepping the other things
while that fish is cooking.
So I whack it in the oven, just move on to the next thing.
You know who will be able to pick up on these flavours,
I think, is Chris.
Yes 'cause he has that Egyptian background.
Yeah, I found out he has an Egyptian background,
so he can actually probably pronounce it more so than I can,
to be honest with you.
How do we pronounce it?
(MEL GIGGLES)
Suk mahara?
No, not suk mahara.
(LAUGHTER)
Samkeh harra.
It's the 'ha', I can't do that.
Samkeh harra.
Harra. I can't do it.
Samkeh harra.
Anyway, that's why on the menu
it's called Baked Fish in Tahini Sauce.
Yes.
So more importantly
than all the food and everything else,
the secrets.
What's your salty secret?
I had this thing where
I didn't like to throw things away when I was a kid
'cause I got weirdly attached to things.
Ooh. The top drawer of my desk
was full of old toothbrushes.
That's really weird. Yeah, I know.
And what were you planning on doing with them?
Just didn't wanna throw 'em away.
PATRICIJA: I think that's called hoarding, right?
Yeah, yeah, correct.
Christian hoard's toothbrushes.
It just makes sense to me that he is the way he is.
My friends and I, we used to have a competition
on who could wear their underwear the longest
and who could not shower the longest.
So, I made it to eight days without changing my underwear.
(RETCHES) Yeah. Yes.
Marcus decides to tell everyone
about his eight-day underwear spree.
It was 11 actually.
Oh, god.
Do you want her, hear about salty secrets from us?
ALL: Yeah.
The salty secret is Colin and I started on the wrong foot
because when I started TV,
most chef in the industry thought that I'd sold my soul.
I said he sold out.
Why?
Because they thought I was no longer a chef.
I was a TV celebrity.
Right.
And I got told,
"Are we gonna bring a new chef? Colin Fassnidge."
I went, "What?
"The guy hates my guts and I hate his guts."
So, day one of 'MKR' I turned up
and they're like, "Have you met Manu?"
And I was like, "Shit."
(LAUGHS) We did the season.
It was a, a tough learning curve for me.
So, we finished the show,
I went into my room, he went to his
and so I heard... (KNOCK)
Open my room and he went,
"I would like to apologise for being an asshole."
(EXCLAIMS)
CLAUDEAN: Good man.
And we've been good friends since then.
(KISSES) It's love.
(LAUGHS)
So, I'm gonna work on the tahini sauce.
I have to say that different tahinis
do make a difference. AMBER: Ah.
This sauce can be quite overpowering
with the tahini.
So, it's so important that I also get the consistency
and the flavour profile right.
So, it's such a balancing act.
I've deliberately chosen this tahini
because this is what my mother-in-law would get.
You should be able to taste it with each mouthful,
that balance of the citrus with the lemon, the tahini,
and then that coriander sliding through,
but still get the hit from the chilli.
I'm just trying to get the balance of water, lemon and the coriander.
When that fish comes out,
I want that fish to almost be like 90% cooked.
'cause this sauce just goes on over it.
Hello ladies! Hey!
Here comes trouble.
This could be you've, you know,
you've always wanted me in your kitchen,
but this could be your kitchen nightmare.
I know. (LAUGHS)
Alright.
No kitchen nightmares, please, tonight.
Talk to me, talk to me through these main course.
How are you going after entree?
OK. I'm still going, but yes.
You know, I'll just have a little taste.
I'm going OK. So, I completely agree, you know,
Lebanese food needs to have that punch.
Should have gone and found my little Lebanese spices,
so, 100% agree. Well, yeah.
Have you tasted this?
I haven't tasted that yet.
Why not, you're not, you often...
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What's going on?
That's what I'm just asking myself.
What's in the oven?
LADIES: The fish.
How long does it take to cook a piece of fish?
Well, I'm gonna think that's gonna take about 20 minutes.
You reckon, to cook a fillet of fish is gonna take 20 minutes.
Take out the fish for a minute, gimme a look at it.
OK.
Didn't even question, Colin.
Those two fish trays were outta that oven
before he could finish his sentence.
How long do you normally cook a piece of fish for?
Oh, if I'm doing it like this, it's probably about 12, 12 minutes,
but I've got a lot of fish in there.
Well, that's not 20.
You say you'd normally cook it for how long?
About 12 minutes. About 12 minutes.
Have I put in too early, look...
Like, I wouldn't even bring that out if you're gonna do that.
OK.
I felt like I was getting in trouble from the school principal.
And I didn't get in trouble,
I'm a good girl,
I do everything by the book.
But you can do what you want.
You can put that back in the oven,
but it's all over for you two, right?
Yeah. It's all over tonight.
Yeah. I'm telling you that now.
OK. Alright. It's all over, right?
My gut was saying not to put that fish in,
it was too early.
And when Colin came in
and confirmed that,
I was actually really angry with myself
because I should have just followed my gut instinct.
The track you're on now, the trajectory...
Yeah. ..is heading towards the bottom.
It's a tense moment for Amber and Mel
as the instant restaurant has just turned into a kitchen nightmare.
I think I wanted Manu to come into my kitchen, not Colin.
Cyclone Colin, I'm gonna call him.
He did his loop around,
I could then feel Mel's anxiety,
just lift even more.
I'm feeling the pressure.
I won't lie, Amber. I can, I can see the pressure babe.
But remember, we don't want stress on a plate.
No, I don't.
We are here to put love on the plate.
Alright. OK.
I'm actually going to test the fish.
I'm really grateful for Colin's feedback about the fish,
he was so spot on with that.
Colin was right.
That is quite cooked.
I'm gonna get rid of this little guy,
I'm gonna put all the bigger guys in here.
Mel was spinning outta control
like a Tasmanian devil.
More seasoned, more lemon.
She kept questioning the fish.
We only need 12 pieces.
She's here on the fattoush salad.
Almost forgot about the fattoush.
It was cyclone Mel after Colin.
Take a moment, Mel.
Why are we moving fish around?
Because I'll put all the sauce in one if I can.
I think it's gonna be more saucy.
She wanted to move bits from this tray into that tray
and from that tray into this tray.
Mel. Yeah.
Come on, I'm, I think we are getting a bit lost,
I think you're overthinking things a little bit.
No, no, but...
And all I could see happening
was her turning those beautiful pieces of fish
into mashed fish.
You're gonna start breaking all the fish.
Yeah. OK, alright.
I had to put my foot down
and I said, "No,
"leave the god damn fish."
Mel! Hi.
Come back here, please. OK.
That girl needed a good hair pull.
Pull your hair and smack your bum.
To reboot her.
And only you could do that for me, Amber.
Thank you. Yeah.
Right.
Pull it in. Alright, let's get this.
I need my head chef back.
Nick and Christian main course. What are we expecting?
Baked fish, doesn't say what type of fish.
They've not really given us much to go on
with just baked fish.
So, it'd be interesting to see if we get little, whole fish each
or, or a fillet.
Well, I'm not an expert like my friend Christian here, but...
COLIN: But you've eaten fish before.
I have eaten a fair bit of fish,
probably not as much as Christian, but I have eaten fish.
I like everything here, I love tahini, I love almonds,
I love caramelised onions,
I'm hoping for a little barramundi or snapper.
After I've tasted the entree,
all I'm thinking at this stage is, we are gonna be OK.
I know what's coming isn't necessarily gonna be great
because I knew that the main
probably was gonna be on par
with the entree in terms of flavour.
If you see the word baked after before a piece of fish,
what's your thought?
It, it would be good if they're going to bake a fish
or cook it in the oven.
I think a whole fish with the bone still in it.
I've never heard of those combinations
with tahini, roast almonds and caramelised onions,
so also intrigued.
I think it could be a bit underwhelming.
Baked fish is pale and white, tahini pale and white,
roasted almonds potentially pale and white.
Could be a bit underwhelming. Beige.
Mmm.
So, I'm just pouring over the fish now.
Not the fish, I'm pouring over the sauce.
So we are baking this fish tonight
in the same way that my mother-in-law
has taught me how to do it.
We're gonna pour that beautiful tahini sauce over it
and it's gonna go back in the oven for about five to eight minutes
and just finish that cooking process off
and allow for that sauce
to really sort of absorb through the fish as well.
Alright, let's just go, full steam ahead.
They're gonna be hungry.
Are you happy with this? Perfect. So far.
So, plating up our main course
we always knew that this course
was not gonna look sexy on the plate.
I'm gonna start to put this fish on.
This fish is so fresh, which is beautiful,
but it also means that it just falls apart.
Yeah, we said going into this, didn't we,
That flavour was never gonna be compromised
for presentation.
Alright, fattoush is in the bowl.
If this doesn't pack the flavour, then I'm out.
We always knew that this dish was a risk.
That the flavours of that tahini sauce
is quite unique and strong,
and it may or may not be to their liking.
We've got our rice, Mel. Yep.
Our fish. Yep.
And then we've got our fattoush salad,
just to add a little bit of freshness...
Yep.
..to the dish. Yep.
The bloody fish is done, Amber,
I was a bit nervous and just took a big deep breath,
but I was happy with what we were serving.
OK. This is it.
I've got Colin's. I've got Manu. Let's go.
Let's go.
BOTH: Main is served.
MEL: I am feeling good about this.
AMBER: Besides the look of the fish,
I'm quite happy with the flavours of that tahini sauce.
I think that we've done everything that we can for this dish,
and I've cooked it like my mother-in-law cooks it.
So, we don't wanna be at the bottom as a leader board.
So, the plate comes out.
it's a little bit all over the place,
and then there's an unexpected salad that comes out as well.
Even that looks a little bit rushed,
it looks like something has gone wrong in the kitchen
and the look on Amber and Mel face really confirms that,
they look deflated.
It looks like something's been going wrong in that kitchen.
Mm.
It's time for Amber and Mel's main course,
with the mums hoping it's their baked fish
that will reel them in a high score.
MEL: I was looking at Colin, thinking,
"Please, please, please, hope that that fish is cooked."
The worst thing that we could have done
is served the judges overcooked fish.
COLIN: Thank you ladies. Talk to you after.
Bon Appetit.
Where are the noodles?
And onions.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Dry. Mm. It's just a sauce, for me.
I'm very underwhelmed.
It's a big hodgepodge of creamy, brownie kind of...
That was supposed to be the tahini sauce.
Where's the caramelised onion?
In the rice.
Oh, yeah. It's not sweet enough.
Mm.
It's such a weird tang to it.
It's supposed to be,
but it's under seasoned.
That taste in your mouth,
it needs to be a united balance.
Yeah.
This isn't the type of Middle Eastern food
that I'm used to having at home.
Leading on from the entree, it's underwhelming,
mainly in terms of seasoning.
I think the rice was cooked perfectly.
This is, we call it... (LANGUAGE UNKNOWN TO CAPTIONER)
So, you've got those little sort of dark brown bits,
they're the vermicelli egg pasta, which go noodly.
I think it had a lot of potential,
but, just under seasoned all components.
I didn't mind the tahini and how overwhelming it was,
but it still, was just, I think, very smack on the face.
I'm going to be controversial here.
I like the tahini sauce,
I would've liked to on the side, not all over the fish.
I'm gonna start by saying,
I've got a big old chunky piece of hair in mine.
CHRIS: What?
Yeah. I've got a hair in my, in my food.
If I was served hair in my food at a restaurant,
I'd keep eating and I'd never say a thing.
'cause like, you can't taste hair.
It's gross, but... (LAUGHS)
Wow. No.
CHRISTIAN: What? If I, if there's, no, no, 'cause...
The last three, four times
I've gotten hair in my food at the restaurant,
I just sort of put it to the side and say,
"You will not be a Karen today, Marcus.
"Just keep eating,"
and I'll keep eating the food.
That's not being a Karen.
But at the same time,
let's just pretend the critique
has nothing to do with the hair.
We'll just put that to the side
and then critique the food.
And I don't know if there's a correct way
to judge hair in your food in a competition,
I feel like that's a first. Unless you...
Oh, it's not the first, mate.
So, what do you... And it won't be the last.
Is that a pass or a, up to me?
It's up to you. OK.
Such a Marcus thing to do.
I mean, somebody that doesn't wash for eight days
is definitely gonna eat a hair on a plate.
I'm not happy at all.
I love salad, I love fish and I love rice.
That tahini was way too overpowering for me,
I didn't like it at all.
This is a competition
and this is not a competition dish, I'm afraid.
Wow.
CHRIS: Oh, my god.
Claudean's a little bit more on the extreme end of no filter.
Ladies, ladies, ladies,
for main course you gave us bake fish with tahini sauce,
roasted almond and caramelised onion.
How's the MKR kitchen tonight ladies?
It's a bit of a rollercoaster, have to say.
Oh? Yeah.
Is the friendship still intact?
Oh, of course. Oh, my god.
There's nothing that'll break this friendship.
100%. OK.
Because I think when we cook meals as well,
it's very much that share platter, and not plating, 12 dishes.
It's putting lots of meals in the middle of a table
and everybody's sharing,
so I think that has really challenged us.
What you just say, you don't usually plate 12 dishes,
makes a lot of sense with this main course.
Yeah.
I think all of the elements, individually, are OK.
Yeah.
But together it's a bit of a mess.
The tahini sauce is wonderful, I really like it
and it is what it's supposed to be. Yeah.
And it goes very well with fish. Yeah.
But the fact that you drowned it on the top of that fish,
just kind of you can't escape, it's all clumped together.
Yeah.
The rice was cooked really well with the noodles in there,
I loved it.
I would've liked something like a little bit more,
while you were cooking the rice to flavour that rice in there.
Yeah.
The fish. You know what?
You were just so lucky that you didn't bake it for 25 minutes.
Thanks Uncle Colin.
Yeah, you're welcome for that one.
The tahini, I like the tahini.
A nice little cannel on the side,
you could have had the fish, you taste the tahini.
And then you have the rice.
But it was sort of, here you go, get in there and that's it.
Yeah.
It's very difficult when you have a Lebanese family
and the fish is in the middle.
The fattoush salad is in the middle,
the rice is in the middle and everyone's gonna have,
you know, a spoon of each,
it makes sense.
But when you start plating,
it's a different game.
Yeah. Yep.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback.
Leaving that critique, I was devastated, I was gutted.
And you know, I'm very, very lucky
that, you know, Amber understood
the importance
that, that just wasn't any dish.
I knew how much that fish dish meant to Mel.
I knew that she was cooking it for her mother-in-law.
I knew how much she wanted
to make her mother-in-law proud.
My heart was like, (LAUGH) breaking.
Aww.
Sorry.
But still again,
that high achiever in me is like, we've got one more go,
you know, so not to give up,
you know, just to keep going.
But I also knew walking,
as soon as I walked back in that kitchen,
I had to leave that behind.
I am a little bit worried for us.
That this could push us down, but you know what?
We've got one more course to go. Yeah.
I don't think anyone has done a strong dessert.
No.
so I think this is our opportunity to maybe pick it up.
I think so, let's bring it home with.
Throw out the bloody consistency,
now let's just go hard or go home, right?
That's right, let's bring home a bloody good dessert.
Yeah. OK. Right. Let's get cracking.
Yep, alright. Let's do this.
For dessert we're making upside down orange cake
with an orange and ginger ice cream.
We did a lot of the dessert in prep,
so you had measured out all the ingredients already.
The oranges were sliced.
So really, it was just about putting it together,
making the caramel,
and really putting those elements together
and allowing that cake to bake.
Alright, so Mel, I'm gonna get started on the actual cake.
Excellent. OK, just so you know, I am keeping an eye on the caramel.
I am conscious that it will start to change soon,
but right now, it's OK.
I know that we can nail this dessert.
Ice cream's in the freezer, that's half of it done.
All we need to do is make our caramel,
make our cake mix, pop it in the oven.
I wanna show our kids and ourselves
that we've got what it takes
to make it straight through to the grand final.
It's been a disappointing night for Amber and Mel
who are now hoping it's their dessert that will earn them a strong finish.
Mel? Yes.
I'm starting on the cake batter.
I'm gonna beat that till it's light and fluffy
and I'm adding in the orange rinds to it.
MEL: It smells so nice.
The dessert we're making upside down orange cake
with an orange and ginger ice cream.
OK. I'm doing the caramel.
The caramel takes so long to get right,
it is such a tedious process,
you need to stand there by the pan
'cause it can melt so quickly,
but that caramel can burn just as quick.
It needs to be all brown.
No crystals.
I'll just give him another couple of minutes.
We just need to get this dessert done.
We do not need a boat to be rocked at this stage.
Do your thing caramel.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Do you think they can finish on a high with this dessert?
I love orange cake.
I love ginger.
So, I'm hoping that they get it right.
So, we know we're at the bottom of the leaderboard,
but it's Amber's nan's recipe, so I'm all about that.
Let's just hope Amber does her nan some justice with this cake.
But also, you know, we don't really score on that.
No. We do actually score on the plate.
It looks alright. I mean it reads alright.
If they balance it,
it could be a, could be a winner.
And if the first two courses are anything to go by,
I'm a little bit underwhelmed already about this one.
I'm giving them a little bit of hope
because you know the first two dishes
were sort of a Middle Eastern spin
of dishes of cuisine.
This one has nothing to do with...
Yeah, but they're already turning an afternoon tea into a dessert.
CHRIS: Yeah, that's true.
I think orange and ginger, it's a bit strange.
Sounds like an anti-nausea tablet to be honest.
(LAUGHS)
How's your caramel looking, Mel?
Yeah, I'm not happy about these bits.
There's just a few like little, I don't know, chunks or something.
So, Amber and I are both cooking caramel.
Ah, yours has taken over.
What's going on there?
I had less sugar in my pan. Oh, yeah.
You could've just said that, like, you're better than me.
But I'll take that.
I look over to Amber's pot,
notice hers is coming together a lot quicker.
OK. Can I swap with you then?
Yeah. OK.
You can save it, amazing.
Mel started to get frantic about her caramel pan.
Mel, we've gotta start this again,
this is all crystallised on the bottom of the pan.
There's way too much sugar in there. Alright.
Shit. Shivers, sorry.
I turn around,
she started frantically stirring the caramel.
Mel, leave the caramel.
You can't add the other half there, it'll crystallise.
I know. Mel, calm down. OK.
And then she started to try and take control.
I'm not gonna use that one, Amber.
Oh I, that was a dodgy one.
Just don't use that one.
So, I had to put my mum hat on.
Don't put them in yet. Put the caramel in first.
Shush.
Stop bossing me around. Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry.
This is my dish. This is, this is go.
I needed Amber to take control of that situation
and put me back into,
into the place I needed to be to continue.
I'm not touching it. (LAUGH)
They look amazing.
Alright Mel, let's get these cakes in the oven, alright?
Yeah, go, get in. Get 'em in, get 'em in, get 'em in.
I'm head chef on this one. This is my dessert.
Timer on. Can I put a timer on?
Patricija. I have a fun question for you.
It's clear that you're capable of doing your research.
Oh, I know where this is going.
I was wondering if you had done your research
about anybody else at the table,
if you found anything fun.
Seen anything.
Do you want me to give a fun answer or the boring answers?
The fun answer. CLAUDEAN: Fun only.
I'm the typical lawyer.
I just did a quick little five minute search
before we went to instant restaurant.
I just was like looking for that little thrill of,
can I actually find these strangers?
Everyone I wanted to find, I have found.
I just wanna know who I'm sitting down the table with.
To be honest, OK, we'll start with you,
very difficult to find, YouTube,
I YouTube, "Aaron Barbecue Australia," nothing.
I, so it was a bit difficult.
Got there in the end, also found yours.
But where did you look? TikTok.
For you, I saw your Instagram handle,
using Instagram on the plane in front of me.
(LAUGHS) You're on private.
Claudean, I found very quickly.
For Marcus, much the same.
Then I went to your follower, found Sonia.
CLAUDEAN: So, you are really doing your research on all of us?
No, well, I mean, I took five, ten minutes.
So, Patricija is obviously sussing out the competition.
AARON: It's the invasion of privacy. No, it's not, it's all public.
It sort of makes me think
I should switch all my social platforms to private.
With what you know, with what you've seen,
I think you guys are gonna be a surprise package.
I'm a silent observer.
Chris thinks Patricija and Brigita
are the dark horses of the competition.
I tend to disagree.
Well, it gives you a lot more insight
into our abilities, our repertoire in terms of the kitchen.
But that doesn't increase our abilities and our repertoire.
AARON: They can stalk all they want, but if they can't deliver.
CHRIS: I don't know. She's smart, mate.
She's smart.
I say she's not spending her time in the right areas.
So Mel, I'm just gonna pull out this ice cream.
It's quite icy.
At least it's not a thick shake like some of them.
Well, no.
'Cause our ice cream is already in its little dishes,
we add that onto the plate.
It's not melting too fast yet? No.
Come on this little babies.
We need to get those cakes out to our guests fast.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Yep, nope, that's good.
Alright, quick, get them on. OK, go on, they look good, Amber.
It looked amazing, it smelt amazing
and also this was our last course
that we're serving tonight.
AMBER: I know in my heart of hearts, I put so much love...
MEL: Absolutely. ..into that dessert,
knew that was on the plate, that's what we promised.
Absolutely.
I was confident going in with that dessert.
OK. I've got Manu's. I've got Colin's.
Let's do this. Let's go.
Dessert is served. Dessert is served.
I'm hoping that we've done enough.
MANU: Thank you. COLIN: Thank you.
I don't think that we have beaten Aaron and Chris,
but I am hoping that we have done enough
to beat Claudean and Anthony.
Thank you.
When desserts put in front of me,
I think it looks very beautiful on the plate,
which makes me feel like, uh-oh.
Are we going to still be on the bottom of the leaderboard?
What's going to happen with us?
With a top spot on the leaderboard at stake,
Amber and Mel hope it's their upside down orange cake
that will turn their luck around.
AMBER: I know in my heart of hearts,
I put so much love into that dessert.
I just hope that we have done enough to keep us off the bottom.
MEL: Watching the judges taste our dessert,
still nerve-wracking.
This is our last chance to get some really good positive feedback.
Thank you ladies.
Thank you.
Bon Appetit.
Can't taste any ginger in the ice cream, can you?
I really liked the creaminess
and like the bitterness of the ice cream.
I think it really complimented the really sweet dessert.
I think it was a good way to finish for me, yep.
COLIN: You had two ice creams.
I did, yeah.
Really liked it,
I think it complimented the cake a lot.
The ice cream for me,
yeah, it was overpowering.
Yeah, I didn't really enjoy it.
It wasn't my cup of tea.
When it comes down to strategy,
we see Claudean and Anthony
give that sort of harsh critiques.
AARON: They know the pressure's coming
and I think that's all they're focused on at the moment.
Yeah, I do think maybe it's a bit of gameplay on their end.
Was this better than your tiramisu?
No.
I'm telling you truthfully, yeah, from my heart, the truth.
I don't like the ice cream.
There's, I can't taste ginger in it, and it's bitter.
I do think this dessert was better than your tiramisu though.
No way, mate. I'm just saying.
That's my opinion. Well, you got bad taste.
Chris is pretty shit sure of himself.
It's just water off a duck's back to me.
I actually thought yours was more inedible.
I got through more of this than yours,
that's my honest, honest opinion.
Come at me.
Ladies, for desserts,
you cooked us an upside-down orange cake
with orange and ginger ice cream.
And I think that your dessert
was absolutely delicious.
Ooh.
It's moist, it's very orangey
in all different part of the orange,
which there's a sweet orange, there's a caramelised orange,
there's a bit of the bitterness of the pith of there,
there's the zest.
The ice cream, equally delicious.
It wasn't too sweet
and there's a really slap
of bitterness in there.
First course, you struggle,
but from you finish on the high with this desert, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you Manu.
This reminds me of stuff I grew up on, steamed puddings,
it was light, it was airy.
I liked the crunch around the sides
where the sugar has caramelised that pastry.
A negative was there's a little bit of pith in the orange
that was on top,
very small negative.
The ice cream reminds me of an ice cream we used to make
and I think well done on this
because not everyone gets it, but I get it and I liked it.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you ladies.
Thank you.
Mel.
Ah.
It was so great to know
that we're not part of the bad dessert club.
We've decided a new dessert club.
Yep.
BOTH: The good dessert club.
We've gotta go in and face those judges one more time.
I'm a bit nervous for those scores.
As the evening draws to a close,
it's now time for the guest teams
to give Amber and Mel's instant restaurant
a score out of ten.
Alright, so the entree,
lamb was meant to be the main ingredient
and unfortunately I think that was the most underwhelming part of it.
I wasn't expecting lamb mince
and I was hoping for a lot more of it.
Yeah, that lamb was too dry for me.
CHRIS: It's just the wrong choice of lamb.
AARON: Hummus was way overseas and...
CHRIS: Just too lemony, right?
Just overpowered. AARON: Yeah.
Main meal, baked fish with tahini sauce
and caramelised onions.
Couldn't find any caramelised onions in there.
And the tahini sauce just overpowered everything.
CLAUDEAN: Way too overpowering. ANTHONY: Yeah.
Problems with texture for me on that one.
Like the, the barramundi was lost in everything else on the plate,
it's just a, I found it a really confusing dish.
Dessert, we had the upside down cake.
I didn't like it that much.
You did? BRIGITA: I really didn't mind it.
I like the texture of the ice cream. Texture was good.
I wasn't a fan of that flavour.
Thought the bitterness from the ice cream
paired really well
with that sort of really sweet orange cake.
I think average, average, average. Overall five.
So, five? Yeah. Yeah.
That's a five. Five?
Five.
A four is probably my score. Yeah, I was going with that too.
Yeah.
Five. Five?
Yeah.
So, tonight we'll give them, what do you think?
Bit worried we could still be in the bottom of the leaderboard.
Yep.
We'll go in the four. Four.
So, tonight we'll give them a four.
It's a dog eat dog world out there love.
It's every man for himself.
We are not ready for this experience to end.
We know we've got more to give,
we know that we are better than what we showed tonight.
Moment of truth, tonight is make or break for us.
MEL: We've put our absolute heart and soul
into all of our meals tonight.
The entree, main let us down a little bit.
AMBER: We don't wanna be below 63.
MEL: The dessert feels like much more of on a high.
But have we done enough?
We're just not ready to go home yet.
Our future in this competition all comes down to this final score.
Amber and Mel,
thank you for welcoming us into your home
and now it's time for the scores.
So, the guest teams are giving you a combined score of...
..23 outta 50.
MEL: I was devastated. I was devastated with that score.
It was so low.
If people were scoring, honestly, our guests didn't enjoy our food.
That breaks my heart.
And now it's our turn.
We'll be scoring each dish out of ten.
Ladies for entree you serve spice lamb with hummus,
pomegranate and pita bread.
There was a lack of Baharat spices in there
to make it really authentic.
I thought we lost the integrity of the lamb
'cause we'd fried it so much,
so I couldn't really taste it was lamb.
What you promised is not what you delivered.
For your entree tonight, I score you, a six.
The score I'm giving you for your entree, is a five.
It was really hard to hear.
It was a lot lower than I was expecting
for our entree.
For main, you gave us baked fish with tahini sauce,
roasted almonds and caramelised onions.
The tahini overshadowed the entire fish,
like you should have had a little bit of tahini on the side.
Maybe with this style of food,
you may need to learn how to plate it differently
to make it more cohesive.
The score I'm giving you for your main course, is a five.
For your main course tonight I score you, a five.
Really deflated, disappointed,
you know that's not the score that we were hoping for,
but it's really difficult to hear this feedback
and to get these scores.
CLAUDEAN: It's looking good for us.
We'll just have to sit tight and see what happens.
For desert you served upside end orange cake
with an orange and ginger ice cream.
Beautiful dessert,
I think the upside end orange cake was well cooked,
moist, sweet and ginger ice cream well-made,
just a little lack on the ginger flavour.
Basically it's, a dessert
very dear to my heart.
I grew up eating steam puddings
and the marmalade ice creams,
it's something I would make myself.
I think it was your best course of the night.
The little crunch around the side was the highlight.
So for your dessert tonight I score you,
an eight.
The score I'm giving you for dessert, is a nine.
Yay.
Finally, a score that we are happy with,
it's like, yes, we can cook.
AMBER: Good old Nana Kate.
Yep. Thanks Nana.
So Amber and Mel,
that gives you a grand total score of...
..61.
With a score of 61,
Amber and Mel have placed third
on the leaderboard
with three instant restaurants
still to go in this round.
We're at the bottom of the leaderboard at this stage
and it's shit.
It's devastating.
AMBER: We've still got a lot to give.
This is not the end of Amber and Mel.
Christian and Nick, you've got your second chance.
How are you guys feeling?
Excited. Looking forward to welcoming everyone back
and to our instant restaurant.
The time for redemption is now.
Good man.
Amber and Mel, thanks for having us.
Thank you for coming everybody. Thank you.
Now it's time for us to come back to the party.
Aaron and Chris,
you can rest on your laurels all you want.
But at one point
someone in this cook is going to overtake at 72.
CHRIS: Christian and Nick,
this is gonna be their second time going at it.
Have they taken on feedback?
Have they learned from their mistakes?
We are gonna find out,
and I can't wait to get to Melbourne.
Oh, you guys did so well. Thank you, thank you so much.
Thank you.
Between Chris and Christian,
I think we definitely have
two alpha males
sitting at the table.
Christian, he's the big hospo dude,
he wants to be the person with the most knowledge.
So, put your food where your mouth is, doll.
Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv