NARRATOR: Previously,
three teams have cooked in our second round.
Woo! And despite mums, Amber and Mel...
(SCREAMING)
..delivering sweet success in dessert...
Beautiful dessert, your best course tonight.
..their lacklustre entree and main
caused them to crash to the bottom of the leaderboard
with 61 points...
This is not the end of Amber and Mel.
..pushing the barbeque champion's confidence as round leaders
into overdrive.
I think, easily, ours was better.
Woah.
Tonight,
Melbourne's culinary connoisseur and OGs return to the kitchen...
Yeah, buddy.
NICK: That smells good.
..where there's more than redemption on the menu.
It would be great to shut Chris up.
But as the heat rises...
Something's not quite right.
..have they bitten off more than they can chew?
CHRISTIAN: This is definitely not how we planned.
As their rivalry reaches smoking point...
These guys talk a big game, they didn't deliver the first time.
Are they good enough the second time around?
..can Nick and Christian
beat the barbeque boys at their own game?
Watch out, barbeque boys.
We're coming for you.
('LIFE SO GOOD' BY CHAMPION MOOD) # Ain't life so good
# Yeah this life is good
# Ain't life so good... #
Tonight, we're in Melbourne,
where housemates, Nick and Christian
are preparing for their second instant restaurant,
and they're calling in a little extra support.
NICK'S MUM: Hey, Nicko. Hello.
So good to see you.
I'm loving the moustache. Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
It was so nice talking to Mum.
I don't think you'd find
two bigger mummy's boys
in Australia, to be honest.
How are you going? Tell me, any pretty girls?
(LAUGHTER)
Maybe.
I may have told her that, yes, there was someone.
Ooh, we'll see.
Yep. You need to get married.
I'm gonna end up with really good-looking grandkids, am I?
(LAUGHTER)
Far out, Mum.
She's always trying to match me up with someone,
and she's just being a proper Greek mum.
First, we'll win this competition, and then we'll see.
Well, there is a secret ingredient, a lot of love.
A lot of love.
That's it. A lot of love.
I love you, Mum.
(SPEAKS GREEK) Oh, you guys deserve this.
We're so excited.
We're gonna smash this one out.
I know how proud both of our mums are.
So to have that support, to have that love,
that's the strength that we need.
Alright, so, win the competition...
NICK AND CHRISTIAN: And find a wife.
(LAUGHS)
We want to see our mums
on the balconies
in Kitchen HQ,
looking down on us
when we are competing for the grand final.
In their first instant restaurant,
Nick and Christian faced high expectations.
Looking forward to dinner.
You guys have spoke a big game.
Oui, Chef. Oui, Chef.
While they had a strong start...
This was top-notch.
I'm gonna get that cross hatching going on the top.
..they fell short at the main...
You're in the business, yeah?
Oui, Chef.
There's no char here.
..and dessert was a complete disaster.
The cake was undercooked.
So, Nick and Christian,
that gives you a grand total score of
66.
Thank you. Tonight
is their chance at redemption.
Who doesn't love a comeback story?
# Ooh-ooh-ooh
# Ooh-ooh-ooh... #
Alright, let's go. Alright, let's go.
It's time for Nick and Christian
to shop for all their ingredients for a killer cook.
Just up here.
OK, here we go, Nick and Christian.
It's the second time
that Nick and Christian are cooking for us.
Very different menu than they've cooked last time.
I feel like Nick's taking over this time around,
it's a little Greek.
CHRISTIAN: It's all gravy, baby.
It's all gravy, baby. NICK: Alright.
I think Nick and Christian
are gonna be feeling the pressure tonight
because they didn't deliver what they wanted the last time.
Time for some...
How do you say it in Greek?
(NICK SPEAKS GREEK)
(CHRISTIAN SPEAKS GREEK)
For entree, we are serving chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree and pickled cucumber.
Beautiful. That is absolutely perfect.
Octopus is to be cooked
until the tentacles become nice and soft.
Now, we had an issue with the chargrilled fish last time.
They better deliver on this one tonight.
Hey, how you going, mate?
You got any beef short ribs?
NICK: For the main, we are making short-rib souvlaki.
Short ribs gonna be the star of this one.
Hey, barbeque boys, watch out, we're coming.
(NICK LAUGHS)
So an update for the leaderboard.
We are sitting at the top on a 72.
We know we're going to Kitchen HQ.
So, tonight, I'm gonna dominate
some of those conversations at the dinner table.
Could be some fireworks.
CHRISTIAN: I feel more in control already
than I did last time.
Christian's ego on a scale of one to ten
is probably about 150.
He's always trying to throw me under the bus.
I'm sick of it.
And if he wants to be like that, all sparks are gonna be flying.
Look out.
# Woah-oh-oh-oh... #
Hazelnuts.
For the dessert,
we are making chalk malt semifreddo with hazelnut praline.
Last time, the boys ate some humble pie.
Let's hope that they deliver tonight.
NICK: We need some cream.
MANU: Semifreddo,
the translation is half-frozen, or semi-frozen.
So it's a great recipe that you can pour in the mould,
put in the freezer,
and when you're ready, you slice it, and voila.
Semifreddo.
All it is, is whipped cream,
whipped eggs, and sugar syrup, that's it.
And then just a whole bunch of love put into it.
A whole bunch of love.
COLIN: With this menu tonight,
Nick and Christian have a lot going on.
There's a lot of skill.
And if they pull it off, they go on the top.
With their shopping complete,
Nick and Christian are heading home...
I'll start heading in.
..where they'll have just three hours to prepare
before their guests arrive.
Last time,
we let the pressure get to us a little bit.
So this time, gotta keep the communication up.
Laugh, breathe, talk.
Have fun.
We know where we went wrong in our first cook,
and we're gonna make sure that this time around
we don't make those same mistakes.
Alright, let's get this table set.
3181 is the postcode of Chapel Street.
We're showing everyone a little snippet
into our lives as hospitality workers.
Both of us have started from washing dishes,
working those double shifts,
and we are proud to be representing Melbourne and our industry.
This is us, and we've got a lot to prove.
We had our soft launch,
where we were still working out the kinks of the kitchen.
Tonight, it's the grand opening.
Yeah.
And everything has to be on point.
Let's do this. Let's get into the kitchen.
Yeah. Let's go.
You ready? I'm ready.
Back in the MKR apron.
Back in the apron, back in the monster.
Ready to smash this.
Let's time this beast.
Before the guests get here,
we do have a couple of super important things on our prep list
that need to be done.
The ribs need to be in the oven,
and the semifreddo needs to be in the freezer.
This is gonna be the best beef sandwich
people have ever had.
Ultimate dude food. Oui, Chef.
This main, this short ribs souvlaki,
is combining my Greek heritage,
Christians' barbecuing techniques.
It's the two of us rolled into a pita.
(LAUGH)
I knew that's where that was going.
How's it looking?
These charcoals are really starting to catch now,
so it's not gonna take me too long to get these.
Yeah, I can feel the heat.
(LAUGHS)
The heat is on, brother.
So a short rib needs to be braised
to get that ideal texture of just falling off the bone.
So, you would sear it, get a bit of colour,
get it in a stock, braise it.
Braising liquid started,
so I've got the carrots
and the onions caramelising on there.
But you don't wanna over braise them
because you just want it just falling off the bone,
and there should be some moisture in there.
Bourbon has this beautiful sweetness to it.
It's a bottle of bourbon.
Then finishing it off with a whole bunch of beef stock
just gives it an extra layer of flavour.
Mm.
That is, yes.
Yes. Thank you.
We're making some pretty good headway on our prep list.
We've got the ribs braising in the oven.
We need this semifreddo done.
That's gotta have as much time to freeze as possible.
And despite the fact that it's called a semifreddo...
We still need it to be freddo first. (LAUGHS)
Last cook, we had a miserable time with dessert.
So we've gotta get that beautiful, silky, smooth texture.
This time, rather than working harder,
we're working smarter.
So instead of baking something in the oven,
we're just gonna put something in the freezer.
Bro, look at how the egg mix has come together.
Oh, my gosh, I'm excited for that dessert.
Now it's time to flavour it.
This is that perfect balance of chocolate and malt.
Who doesn't love a glass of chocolate malt milk?
That tastes like just finishing school.
(LAUGHS)
This is making me feel like a massive kid.
Gonna put some into moulds.
It's exactly what I was looking for.
It's reminded me of my childhood, so it's ready to go.
That's dessert in.
Yes.
Come on.
Let's get dressed, yeah? Yeah, let's get dressed.
So coming into the boys' instant restaurant tonight,
we are a little bit embarrassed to walk in and sit at that table.
We are on the bottom of the leaderboard.
Don't wanna be a bitch, but I hope they fail.
(LAUGHTER)
The question is, are they gonna bring it?
I know these guys are confident, they can talk the talk.
Can they walk the walk?
Can they knock us off the top of the leaderboard?
Hell no.
('LIGHT IT UP' BY CASEY BARNES) # Light it up
# Pour some diesel... #
Instant restaurant ten. I can't wait.
There's some BD energy in the air.
# Don't you worry about... #
AARON: Hey, how are you? (OVERLAPPING SPEECH)
CLAUDEEN: How do we feel? MEL: Nice to be back at the table.
Feels good at the top.
He started already, we haven't even gotten in the door.
Are you guys at the top? I don't know.
You've only mentioned it a few times.
(LAUGHTER)
So, shall we go in?
CLAUDEEN: Let's do this. CHRIS: Let's do it.
MEL: Let's go guys, go.
(DOORBELL RINGS)
Bucket list, tick.
I got to press the MKR doorbell.
You did, yeah.
Here you go, brother.
Ooh, that was crisp.
So excited to have everyone at our second instant restaurant.
Yo, yo, yo!
MEL AND AMBER: Hey!
Hey, how are we? Hello.
CHRISTIAN: Felt like we were actually throwing a dinner party.
NICK: And it's setting us up for a great night.
PATRICIJA: How you going? Hello, I get a handshake this time.
Hello, how you going?
I've always gotten a hug, but this time it was a handshake.
Hello, oh, we're shaking now.
PRODUCER: Do you think Nick and Christian
are eligible bachelors?
No comment.
Do you? Oh, I'm sure they would be.
Yeah, if they...
There's someone out there?
Yeah, there is someone out there for everyone.
Oh, man. Wow.
I was really surprised by the look of the boys' restaurant.
It was very classy, chic.
Quite masculine.
Felt like I was at a cigar bar or something.
That's it, cigar bar. Yeah, it was very cool.
I was impressed.
CHRIS: Oh, wow.
First impressions matter,
and yeah, we're off to a good start in my opinion.
Marcus, Claudean, Anthony, welcome back.
Everybody else, welcome to 3181.
You forgot Sonia.
Sonia wasn't here last time.
MARCUS: Yeah, bruh.
Oh, true.
Thanks, Claudean.
Pardon the interruption.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you for coming tonight.
It's a pleasure to welcome you to our instant restaurant.
Eat, drink, be merry.
See you guys soon.
(OVERLAPPING SPEECH)
Ah, this will be exciting then.
Nick and Christian been talking a big game around the table.
They want everyone to know their extensive food knowledge,
and they're good at this and they're good at that.
I have big expectations from these guys tonight
because of Christian's mouth.
Amen to that.
I actually have to agree with that.
I have to agree with that as well.
He loves the sound of his own voice.
And now they'll come out tonight,
and they'll be like, oui, Chef, oui, Chef.
And it's like, guys...
Is that... ..get a grip on reality.
No, did they actually say that in the first restaurant?
They do, they say, "Oui, Chef." No, but it's respect.
You like respect. CHRIS: Is it Respect?
But it's wanky.
It's wanky.
Christian's too much for me.
I'm so glad Christian's cooking tonight
'cause I'd rather eat anything raw that he puts out on the plate
rather than listen to his wanky critiques.
(LAUGHS)
Cheers guys to 3181. And Oui, Chef.
ALL: Oui, Chef.
NICK: Oh, Christian, they smell good.
Oui, Chef.
It's a big boy, this one.
Octopus is saying
that we have cooked a fair bit off together,
and I'm pretty confident with
how we've worked out the best way to cook it.
For the entree, we are making chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree and pickled cucumber.
One minute per tentacle on a rolling boil.
To give it a quick blanch.
And then this time, we're gonna chargrill them properly.
We've said from the start...
..that top of the leaderboard is where we want to be.
So if we want to really prove to ourselves and to everyone else
that we are here to win it,
we need to take that top spot.
I wish I could be the fly on the wall.
Let's just see how quiet Chris goes
after every dish that we put out tonight.
It would be great to shut Chris up.
He's been very, very vocal
to let everyone know that they're on top of the table.
Yep.
They threw out the gauntlet with barbeque.
It's about time we answered the call, Chef.
Yes, chef.
Oh, I can't wait, man.
I can't wait to serve the judges some short rib.
That's what I'm really looking forward to.
('MY HEART GOES' BY BECKY HILL) # My heart goes
# La di da da di da
# My heart goes
# La di da da di da
# My heart goes. #
(DOORBELL RINGS)
Alrighty. Let's go.
Let's go and get 'em.
Let's get these two.
(OVERLAPPING SPEECH)
How are we, boys, we meet again, huh?
Yes. Number Two.
In my language, it's called deja vu.
Hi, guys, how are you?
You good? Very good.
We have a second opportunity to really impress the judges.
That's all we need.
Bonsoir.
(ALL CHEER)
How are you guys?
Looking good tonight, fellas. Wow.
Alright, hold on.
Take it all in.
Oh, look who I'm beside tonight.
MARCUS: Get the... Get...
(PEOPLE EXCLAIM)
CLAUDEEN: I never got a kiss on the hand like that.
AARON: Never washing that hand again, I bet.
(GIGGLES)
Welcome, everybody.
For those of you who were here at the soft open...
(LAUGHTER)
..thank you for coming back.
Welcome to opening night of 3181.
If you'd like to turn over your menus.
Can't wait.
(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING AND GASPING)
For your entree this evening,
you have chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree and pickled cucumbers.
Actually cannot believe they've decided to chargrill again,
but surely, they're gonna get it right the second time.
For mains,
you've got a short-rib souvlaki.
We cook short rib all the time, we love short ribs.
One of our favourite cuts to smoke.
So yeah, big expectations for this one.
And for dessert
we have a choc malt semifreddo
with a hazelnut praline.
In round one,
Nick and Christian dropped the ball with the dessert.
Will the dessert be the thing that brings them back up tonight?
Well, well, well.
A lot of work on here, boys,
and you have a lot of new friends to impress tonight.
Frenemies. Frenemies.
We know what we can do.
We know how we can deliver.
And this is an opportunity
to show the gate crashers what we've got up our sleeves.
Just know that we're better. (LAUGHS)
Amber and Mel,
currently, you're at the bottom of the leaderboard with 61.
But, I say currently.
Everything can change.
How you feeling?
Not great about our scores, but there's still three teams to go.
So, if Nick and Christian don't perform well tonight,
that is actually in our favour.
It'll bump us up that leaderboard.
Aaron and Chris...
..you've been holding your position so far.
We're happy we're safe.
One way or another, we're getting to the semifinals,
so yeah.
Do you think that Nick and Christian can beat your score?
These guys talk a big game.
I'm not sure whether they can deliver.
They didn't deliver the first time.
We know dessert is the nemesis for these guys.
Let's see what comes the table tonight.
Big D energy.
(LAUGHTER) Big D energy.
These guys weren't good enough the first time around.
Are they good enough the second time around?
Let's see. (LAUGHS)
Game on, mole. MANU: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I mean, as opposed to doing a whole bunch of meats OK,
we're gonna just focus on doing one well.
MARCUS: Hey!
That's it, bro.
Little does Chris know,
that was the stupidest thing
that he could have done in that moment.
That's given us a little kick up the backside
to band together,
walk back into the kitchen,
and go, "You know what?"
"This is how you do an entree."
Can I just say,
if you guys don't get a higher score,
we're gonna have to listen to him for weeks, right?
Oh, I know. Right?
I know. Yeah, but if they do,
then you're gonna have to listen to him for weeks.
COLIN: Oh, yeah.
What would you rather, hey?
You'd have to ask Claudean which one she wants to hear more.
I don't wanna hear Christian.
(LAUGHTER)
Christian just gets up my nose.
Wanker.
Well, guys, tonight's the night to prove yourself...
..and keep some people quiet.
Good luck, guys.
Thank you, Chef. Thank you, Chef.
I'm fired up now.
We need to motor, we need to get these elements done
because we're gonna win this thing.
OK, so...
..we're in a really good spot right now.
Yeah. We've got most of the elements
for the entree ready. Yeah.
I've just gotta give these a quick char.
It says chargrilled on the menu.
This time, we have to deliver. Alright.
We need to make sure that
that char flavour is punching them in the face.
This is the moment.
Oh, I'm excited, Christian.
Me too, brother.
We need this octopus to be perfect.
Fire's going nice and well,
so I'm getting some good colour into 'em.
(BLEEP) sake.
We're losing the suckers a little bit.
Something's not quite right.
NICK: How are they going?
They're sticking.
They're sticking? Yeah.
The skin on the outside, rather than charring,
is sticking to the grill
and pulling away from the octopus itself.
Some of the suckers are coming off.
(BLEEP).
It's falling off in my hand...
..and...
(SIGHS)
..I've got no idea what's happened.
(CHRISTIAN SIGHS) (BLEEP).
All we know is, it's not going to plan.
In Melbourne,
housemates, Nick and Christian are facing a sucky situation.
NICK: How you going, Christian?
CHRISTIAN: Some of the suckers are coming off.
(BLEEP). They're sticking.
They're sticking? Yeah.
Ah.
The skin on the outside, rather than charring,
is sticking to the grill
and pulling away from the octopus itself.
(BLEEP) sake.
(BLEEP).
This is definitely not how we planned.
We want skin on this octopus.
So I've only got one option left.
I'm just gonna take all the skin off.
The fat's not sticking to it, so I'm just gonna take it off.
I really do not want to see this
without those suckers on the tentacles.
That's what octopus is for me.
This is the only way I can think of to save this dish
is that skin's gotta go.
Nick and Christian, they're hospo workers,
they serve customers for a living.
I wanna know what we're like as customers
outside of this competition.
Do we have any Karen moments we're not proud of?
So what's the Karen... I know well what a Karen is.
OK, can you tell me... What's a Karen?
A Karen is the epitome of an entitled person
that doesn't understand basic respect...
A white lady.
Short hair at the back, long at the front.
You're a Karen.
I am not a Karen.
I am defs not a Karen.
If there's a runny egg in my sight, I will vomit.
And I tell them, "Make my egg dead,
"cook it twice."
"I don't wanna hear it clucking."
And if they bring me out an egg that is runny,
I'm straight up there.
Doesn't matter what the chef thinks.
Remember, the customer's number one.
You're paying for a meal and you find a hair in your food,
you send it back.
I have to say,
we were at your instant restaurant, and Marcus did find a hair.
No.
So, he actually pushed it aside and kept on eating.
(GASPS) No...
Marcus. You found your hair in our food?
Oh, my gosh, that is worst nightmare,
to find out that there was hair.
My heart stopped.
But that's what I'm talking about.
I was never gonna be a Karen.
And even with the way we graded your food,
I made sure the hair was not part of that grade,
because... Well, I could have got
an extra point for protein. How long was this hair?
It was about that long, and it was dark.
We both have blonde hair.
Look, we're blondes. Yeah.
Might not be natural.
It 100% was not our hair.
It can't have been me.
I've got little pubic hairs on my head.
It's not... (LAUGHTER)
It can't have been me.
CHRISTIAN: I've got the octopus charring up now.
It does feel a bit wrong to me not having suckers.
But...
There's nothing we can do about it.
I've got the octopus back on the char,
and it's working.
We're getting that colour into the octopus flesh.
Right, I'm gonna blitz up this eggplant.
Yep.
We've got the potato ready, the eggplant puree is perfect,
that pickled cucumber is ready,
but I'm worried about that octopus.
It's gonna be fine, you're overthinking it.
I'm not overthinking it.
I don't think there's a problem with it.
It's not how we...
But the skin's not there.
No.
Alright, let's talk about entree.
Chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree, pickled cucumber.
What's your expectations?
I'm thinking baby octopus would probably be a smart choice.
I think a bigger one, it's gonna take time,
and then, tenderness is gonna be a problem.
If it's undercooked, it's chewy.
If it's overcooked, it can go a bit too mushy.
I'm looking for a nice char on there.
The char grill, obviously, it's coming from fire.
I'm expecting to see it, I'm expecting to smell it,
and then it should back up
in the actual taste flavour profile in your mouth.
I love octopus.
I don't want baby octopus,
I want
the big octopus, the tentacles.
But I do realise that
that takes a long time to prepare properly,
and it's a whole process.
It involves being hung up, being beaten.
It's a long process.
I don't think... Are we talking about octopus here?
We're still talking about the octopus.
You're sitting beside you son here.
Oh, my goodness.
(LAUGHTER)
OK. I get it.
Alright, let's stick to the food, OK?
Yes. Let's leave it at that.
Thank you. Marcus?
I think that they have a super, super strong chance
of taking you boys off the leaderboard.
Don't look at me and smile about it.
You know how I feel already.
If they get all of these right,
they're smashing everybody out the park.
And do you think they can get it right this time around?
They look more composed.
Christian still seems quite pale, stressed.
It's Melbourne. There's no sun, bro.
Yeah.
AMBER: These boys have proved before that they can't chargrill.
Yeah. We're secretly hoping
that they won't be able to deliver again on the chargrill.
I also love charred grilled octopus,
so I am hoping that it's nice and soft.
I wanna see and taste the chargrill.
Yeah, we'll wait and see.
Hopefully, the boys fall flat on their ass,
and they fail,
and they don't get redemption tonight.
The mood has definitely shifted in this kitchen.
I am...
I'm worried.
CHRISTIAN: Is it the perfect version
of what we've done on this dish before?
No.
Is every element still on that plate?
Yes.
NICK: I want it to look like the rock pools, that type of thing.
Like the places where an octopus might hang out.
We've got the potatoes ready,
we've gotten the eggplant ready,
we've got the pickles ready, we've got the dill.
All that we are hoping
is that people get
that each element that's in this little trio...
..is designed to be eaten together.
That's where the balance is in the dish.
I've got Manu here.
I've got Colin here.
Alright, let's go.
BOTH: Let's do this.
Hopefully, they don't care
that there aren't any suckers on these octopus.
Entree is served.
MANU: Thank you.
So when the dish first came out, I thought this makes sense,
Nick and Christian plate pretty things.
But I feel like even most Greek people,
when they do octopus,
it's big chunks of octopus, or whole baby octopus.
Not little bite-sized chips of octopus.
It was weird.
Where's the octopus?
I can just see tiny, little round bits.
This plate just screams Christian.
It's fancy, it is inauthentic,
and it doesn't deliver what it says it's gonna deliver.
It's Christian on a plate.
I want to be feeling more confident...
..but there's no skin on that octopus,
and there's no suckers.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
I'm a perfectionist.
I know that perfection is unattainable,
but that's what we want for this restaurant.
We're here to win this competition.
At Nick and Christian's instant restaurant,
the judges are tasting the entree,
Chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree and pickled cucumber.
We have been so meticulous in this entree.
Hopefully, they don't care
that there aren't any suckers on these octopus.
Thank you, boys.
BOTH: Thank you.
Bon Appetit.
Octopus is good.
It was very sophisticated and elegant,
beautiful altogether,
and I love the flavour of it.
Chargrilled octopus, there's no char on it.
I definitely think something's gone wrong.
No chargrill to be found anywhere.
It was very, very soft.
The octopus was overcooked for me, mushy.
The potato was a little bit random and underseasoned.
But I think our taco was better.
Patricija? Mm.
What you think about this octopus entree?
I don't know if it's just because it's Christian,
but the plating to me almost seems passive-aggressive.
It's like Connect Four.
Do you think this is wrong?
It's almost insulting to the user.
We know how to put everything onto one fork-full ourselves.
I enjoyed it.
I thought the flavours were really lovely.
I thought the eggplant,
I was tasting the smokiness from that,
which I enjoyed.
Overall, it was a really lovely entree.
Somebody needs to teach the boys how to char something.
They said chargrill, they said chargrill last time,
I didn't... I don't get the char flavour.
Boys, you cannot chargrill.
Go and learn how to chargrill before you put that on your menu.
By cutting it up,
they're hiding the fact that
maybe it's not as charred
as what it should be.
Now, I think it's an average dish.
It was the first thing on the menu,
chargrilled octopus.
That's what I'm expecting to be the star of the show,
and was already a fail for me in my eyes.
Better than yours?
No.
Better than the girls'? Yes.
Oof, not looking good for you.
We want the top spot, we need tonight to be a success.
Hopefully, we should smash this out of the park.
Gentlemen,
for entree you served us chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree and pickled cucumber.
I'm gonna start with your critic,
and I'm gonna start with the negatives.
Yep. Yep.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Just a pinch of salt.
That's it.
That is my only new negative I'm gonna give you tonight
is a pinch of salt.
And that's it.
This is a fine-dining kind of plate, and I'm happy.
The potato is perfect.
The eggplant puree is perfect.
The octopus, perfect.
Just...
A touch of salt. Bit more salt.
(LAUGHTER)
One negative.
More salt.
This dish has been so divisive,
I would say, around the table.
And 'cause we've plated it at very fine dining,
which is what I expect from you boys, right?
It's My Kitchen Rules.
From what I can see,
there's been a few problems
with the actual tentacles on the grills.
We've lost that black char on the octopus,
and that's where my negative stop
because that's my plate, right?
I love the octopus. I love the potato.
The eggplant puree
was the star of the dish.
I'll eat that as well.
MANU: I was saving that.
If you had a restaurant that served kangaroo tartare and this,
I'd go to it.
So there you go. BOTH: Thank you.
Getting... Getting... (LAUGHING)
Getting that from Colin...
..that is huge, that is massive.
I'm feeling on top of the moon right now.
Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Thanks very much.
See ya.
(EXCLAIMING WITH JOY)
Don't leave me hanging.
Oh.
A touch of salt. All it needs is a touch of salt.
Oh, my god.
Empty plates. Empty plates. I don't care.
Empty plates.
As happy as I am with the critiques, we cannot let it drop now.
They've just gone on about fine dining,
and us being fine dining.
Wait till they see these souvlaki.
We need to make sure
that these souvlaki is on par with the octopus,
if not better. Yeah.
Let's just...
Smack 'em in the face.
Yeah, smack 'em in the face
with the short ribs souvlaki from hell.
For the main, we are making short-rib souvlaki.
Alright, I need to get going on that pita bread.
As a teenager, I lived in Greece, and we ate Souvlaki every day.
It's Greek fast food.
It's traditionally lamb or chicken cubes on a skewer
rolled into a pita.
But tonight, we're serving short rib.
Hopefully, that doesn't translate to the scores.
I'm really liking the feel of this pita.
Mate, we could be sitting pretty
if we keep this up tonight, brother.
Yes.
I mean, we said we're going for the top.
Yep, this is exciting stuff.
Yeah, bro.
We've done fine dining with our entree.
Now, let's do ugly-delicious.
The ugly-delicious, yes.
This is what we would eat at the end of a big shift.
Is that big enough for you?
It's a nice... That's perfect.
Yeah?
It's not about the size of the pita bread,
it's the meat your stuff it with.
(LAUGHS)
Watch out, barbeque boys.
We're coming for you.
I really wanna know what you two think
'cause you sit there with a look on your face.
Nobody knows what you thinking.
Can't get a word in, Claudean, can we?
(LAUGHTER) It doesn't bother me
what other people think about us,
and how we relate to the competition.
It's a competition for ourselves.
We're not here to please others.
You girls were, I have to say, very hard to read at first.
MEL: Poker face, non huggers.
Actually, after our restaurant,
we both ran inside the kitchen, went,
"Oh, my god, they hugged us." They hugged us.
(LAUGHTER)
I hope you liked it,
it was your first and your last.
Brigita and I are hardworking rather than competitive.
I would rather put that energy towards actually cooking food.
Am I a nice bitch or a bad bitch? CHRIS: No, you're a bad.
Bad bitch.
Claudean is just a specimen that we've never...
We've never met anyone like her before.
She's so over the top.
Hey, I will wipe that smile right off your face.
She's just a character I could listen to all day,
and just observe.
(CHUCKLES)
You're not gonna leave anyone guessing
in terms of where they stand with you.
I'm about as subtle as a sledgehammer, yeah.
Coming up...
CHRISTIAN: Hot behind, hot behind.
Thank you for the compliment.
..can Nick and Christian...
That is perfect.
..put their money where their mouth is?
It would be great to shut Chris up.
Yeah, buddy.
And silence their critics.
Guys, just before you mention that you're serving.
Sorry, no. This is our time.
In Melbourne,
housemates, Nick and Christian
are motoring through their main course.
I'm rocking with two pans, Christian,
for this pita bread.
Yep.
Bubble, bubble.
The pita bread, it looks perfect.
I don't wanna jinx it or anything but these do feel good.
We're making good time on what we need to.
The bread's getting cooked,
now it's time to pull out the short rib.
Hot behind, hot behind, hot behind. Yep.
Thank you for the compliment.
The thing I'm most looking forward to
about this souvlaki
is the short rib itself.
We've seen the barbeque boys
present pulled meat and it was dry.
This has been braising away for hours,
just sitting there in that beautiful liquid.
That smells good.
The reason we're here
is to prove to ourselves that we can win this.
I'm expecting to just be pulling out bones
and trying to catch the meat before it falls back in.
Yeah, buddy.
Oh, yeah.
That is perfect.
So that is the perfect consistency for what we want here.
Just quickly, do you know how much I wanted to just walk out
with a clean bone
and just put it down in front of Chris and Aaron
and walk off?
Short ribs is something both of us are very familiar with.
We smoke short ribs all the time,
so I'm interested to see
how they're actually gonna present this dish.
I'm a bit torn on the souvlaki.
Is it gonna be a traditional souvlaki?
Is it gonna be sort of a small portion
of fine dining type Souvlaki?
Definitely not traditional.
You guys are the meat pros, the barbeque pros.
Is your expectation high on this?
Definitely. Definitely.
And texture's everything for us.
Do you think they're trying to one up you?
No, that's definitely not gonna happen.
NICK: I'll finish off the tzatziki.
We're gonna make a harissa tzatziki for these souvlakis.
I've got my yoghurt in,
got my chopped dill, got my cucumber.
The tzatziki needs to be light and fresh,
bit citrusy,
touch of garlic coming through with that dill
to just make it sing.
I'm gonna blitz up these bullhorns.
And then we're gonna be adding some harissa to it
that we're gonna be making
out of some roasted bullhorn peppers.
And we want that to be the spice element.
You know, we want a bit of heat in there
but we don't want it to be an overriding heat anyway.
Like, it's just that warming, hello.
Yeah.
I know that the flavours work
but this is a very different dish to our entree.
You're gonna start laying pitas out? Yep.
This is what we would serve our friends on a Sunday afternoon
with a few beers.
I'm putting the harissa tzatziki mix on.
We like our spicy things.
Mate, spice is key in life.
There is no way to dress this up to make it look pretty.
Cabbage and lettuce,
bit of texture, bit of flavour.
It's a souva.
The rib meat, it is falling apart, it is succulent, it is juicy.
You can't put lipstick on a souva.
It's still a souva.
This braising liquid's just reduced down.
But I can't help but get this niggling feeling.
I think this is a good amount.
I don't think we're gonna need to add much more.
I'm worried that this is gonna be a messy eat.
Alright, I've got Manu's.
I've got Colin.
Let's do this. Let's do this.
It would be great to shut Chris up.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Guys, just before you mention that you're serving your mains.
Sorry, no, this is our time.
ANTHONY: Here he goes. CLAUDEAN: Here he goes again.
OK.
There's no way I would ever be so disrespectful.
MARCUS: Chris is stirring the pot tonight,
throw a grenade over here,
start a fire over here.
I don't even care
if he was gonna say something positive in that moment.
All I saw was red.
It was disrespectful.
Not tonight.
Tonight's our night.
Mains are served.
I was like, "What the hell?"
I wanted to know if it's beef or are we getting a pork short rib.
And that's all there is to it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
We're gonna need a bib.
My god.
It is a monster of a plate.
It's big and it's just got mountains of food
on top of each other.
Boom, boom, boom.
The beef is shredded,
so I'm like, "How's that even classified as a souvlaki?"
The only representation of a souvlaki it has,
it's in pita bread.
SONIA: Thank you. NICK: Thank you.
Dude food. Dude food.
Yes, I am very excited.
COLIN: There's only one way to do this.
(LAUGHTER)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
Watching Colin and Manu roll up their sleeves
and then roll up that bread...
Thank you for understanding the assignment, boys.
It's 3:00am.
(LAUGHTER)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
There is a lot riding on this main course,
we've come in with a high for our entree.
Yeah. We need to keep that ball rolling.
We know what is on the plate is the best tasting plate of food
that we can offer
but this is not a pretty dish to eat
and that's when the doubt starts to creep in.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
Back in Melbourne,
the judges are tasting Nick and Christian's main course,
a short rib souvlaki.
Thank you, gents.
Thank you. Thank you.
It's gonna get messy.
I don't know what to do.
(EXCLAIMS)
How are you gonna wrap your lips around that, Sonia?
Bon Appetit.
(LAUGHTER)
Go, Colin.
BRIGITA: Oh, my god.
I'm taking this very seriously.
Yes. Big portion.
Meat, bread, dude food.
Jesus.
Habib, help him.
It's massive, like, eating...
You're said to sort of pick it up with two hands
as if it was a 3:00am kebab,
which is like the opposite of the entree,
like gone from fine dining to just complete mess.
I don't mind eating with my hands,
I don't mind eating pizza with my hands.
But it does look very big and messy
and I'm trying to establish how I'm going to actually eat it
without wearing it.
(LAUGHTER)
MANU: Mummy.
CLAUDEAN: Get it, girl.
MARCUS: Good work, Mum. SONIA: Mm.
MAN: Oh. Oh, shit.
(COUGHS) Is it spicy?
You can't taste the beef.
Just gets lost. Yep.
PATRICIJA: It's a soup. MAN: Yeah.
SONIA: I can't believe that you've got two bites left
and you've eaten it like that.
Marcus, I think we're gonna have to start with you.
You have swallowed these things in like...
Far out. ..like five seconds.
Manu, this is my sort of dish. Yeah.
Sure, I understand they might have wanted
that beautiful, vibrant presentation of the colours of everything
to come through on the plate,
so we could see it open
but for us to roll it ourselves...
Even looking at Mum,
she was never gonna get through that, ever.
But the meat had flavour,
I liked all of the elements inside,
the spice that came through was nice.
The pita was absolutely amazing,
except there was too much sauce
and it soaked through the pita bread.
That bread, I'm going to ask them for the recipe.
The sauce was a little bit too spicy for me.
The sauce, it's overwhelming.
That's all I could taste and soggy bread.
I think if you're serving something like souvlaki,
if you can't actually eat it
in the way that a souvlaki should be eaten,
it's a bit of a fail.
I was expecting something incredible,
maybe shed a tear because it was so delicious.
But quite disappointed.
If I was to get this at 3:00am when I was drunk,
I'd be happy to eat it.
But I'm sober, I'm here,
like, it's a thumbs down for me on this plate.
When I tasted the individual components
individually, they taste good
but I think combined, it was just a mishmash in my mouth.
I think we're still at the top of the leaderboard.
CHRISTIAN: We're here for a reason
and that's to win
and we're our own harshest critics.
Is it good enough?
Are we good enough?
Gents, short rib souvlaki.
Pita, tick,
short rib, tick,
sauce, tick,
this is the best jus.
The bread is beautiful and fluffy and kind of yummy
but also kind of big and thick.
So, by the time you just wrap the whole thing,
it's like you've got a toilet roll of meat and bread
kind of thing.
I would've held back on the sauce a bit
because when I picked mine up,
the sauce ran straight out.
So, you have to eat it quite quick,
otherwise, you lose the sort of, the components of the bread.
Maybe I would've wrapped it and then given it to us.
The short rib was cooked well.
Definitely different to the entree.
It's a dish that's so far removed
from the other, sort of elegantly plated dishes
that we've had in this competition so far.
But these are real small things.
The flavour's there,
yeah, was there probably a little bit too much sauce on it?
Probably.
You didn't do very well last time. No, no, we did not.
So, this one is about redemption? Yep.
NICK: Yeah. I think so far you've done OK
but it takes another course to prove your point.
Yes, chef. It does.
Thank you. Thank you.
COLIN: Thank you.
We're travelling well
but dessert's where we stuffed up last time.
If we're improving, that's all we need.
Yeah and that's just what we are gonna continue to do
with this dessert.
We're gonna improve on a terrible effort last time.
For the dessert, we are making choc malt semifreddo
with hazelnut praline.
I'm going to smash out that praline.
So you've got that beautiful nostalgic flavour in the semifreddo
topped off with a little bit of crunch
and a little bit of texture.
We have to work fast and carefully
because we don't want this sugar syrup to burn.
I know that this praline takes at least 30 minutes to set,
it's hot toffee poured over roasted hazelnuts.
We're gonna make sure that those hazelnuts don't burn.
If we can get everyone on board with this dessert,
that's gonna bump up their average score
from the rest of the teams. Yep.
So, can I ask a question?
Are there certain people that you trust
and certain people that you don't with the guest scores?
I trust nobody.
I'm drawing parallels between round one and round two
and it is clear that the scoring is much harsher this round.
If someone's at the bottom of the leaderboard
and they're about to go home
and they're the last instant restaurant.
Yeah. I'd be very surprised
if someone said, "Oh, I'm too much of a nice person
"to score them low."
Do you think that we're gonna strategically score
because we're at the bottom of the leaderboard?
When it comes to the last instant restaurant, yes.
We're on the bottom of the leaderboard
and we are not scoring strategically.
We'll score for the food that is in front of us.
What if you got a HQ and you do absolutely poorly,
it's just when you steal someone else's position
that actually belongs here.
Would you? Would you strategically score?
I've openly said I would
if I'm at the bottom of the leaderboard
and there was the last team's cook.
I'm not gonna go, "Oh, I'm too nice."
OK.
I would never, ever, let anybody know
that we are strategically scoring.
So, with Aaron carrying on the way he is,
I'm actually gonna act appalled and poke at him.
I will happily give a dish ten if it deserves a ten.
Yeah, unless you're on the bottom of the leaderboard.
Potentially. Yeah, then potentially
ought to be overcritical, subconsciously,
we're not in that position. Not subconsciously, consciously.
We're not in that position though. Not subconsciously.
You would make a conscious decision to underscore
'cause you didn't wanna leave.
That's not integrity.
We're in a competition
and the whole goal of this competition
is to not go home.
It doesn't sit well with us.
It obviously doesn't sit well with Claudean.
I would never, I would never do that.
You can find imperfections in every perfect dish.
I don't care what you're saying to me right now,
I do not agree with you.
I would never, never, never, do that.
I think you did a really good job.
You convinced them.
So, I will score you how I taste the food on the plate.
CHRISTIAN: How's it looking?
NICK: Maybe it's just because there's a lot riding on this
but I am a little worried.
I want a clear toffee.
It's not looking how it...
..like how it should.
There are gonna be shards of this praline on the plate,
it needs to look like brown glass.
This has started to crystallise.
It doesn't look good.
You're not meant to stir the toffee
but I can't help stirring it,
I don't know why.
Does it need more water? It seems a bit too dry.
It should be clear, I should be able to see the bottom.
Just a little bit.
Yeah.
(SIZZLING)
No more, I didn't like the way that acted.
I'm freaking out,
we don't have time to make more toffee.
We can kiss goodbye to top of the leader board.
(EXHALES HEAVILY)
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
Nick and Christian are on the final stretch
with their dessert cook...
Oh, I've done this before.
..but the toffee is not cooperating.
It's not looking how it should.
The semifreddo is in the freezer, so it can set in time for dessert.
And we need to make sure the praline has enough time to set
but the toffee doesn't look good.
This has started to crystallise.
It's still granular, it's not a clear toffee.
It needs to look like brown glass.
COLIN: Evening, boys.
Evening. Evening, Colin.
What's happening?
The sugar hasn't melted through.
Well, that looks like it's crystallising.
Yeah.
So, what are you gonna do with it? Praline, isn't it?
Yeah, so, we're gonna pour it over the roasted hazelnut...
And then you're gonna smash it.
It clicked.
The praline can either be a shard or a crumb.
That's probably a better idea.
I guess we're going with a crumb.
Like, talk to yourself.
You're gonna pour it onto the nuts. Yeah.
You're gonna smash it,
like, is the, you know,
is the guy on a galloping horse gonna go,
"It's too grainy?" No.
I think you're letting little things get in your head
at the minute.
Definitely. Definitely, chef.
Like, this dessert thin g better not happen again, mate.
I hope not.
Yeah, let's get back in the game. Yes, thank you.
Yeah? Alright, see you later.
Thanks, Colin.
We're overthinking everything right now.
If we spread half of it over onto another tray,
it's gonna cut down the time this is gonna take to set.
Now we need to get this cool
and I know that it takes at least 30 minutes to set.
We can't put it in the fridge.
There's too much moisture and it'll start to...
Sweat. Yeah, sweat.
So, should we put the kettle on and have a cuppa while we wait?
Sure. OK.
We're in Melbourne.
Pretty cold outside right now.
Should we just go and sit out the front?
Alrighty.
We've got a dessert that's only got two elements on it.
One of them is in the freezer,
the other one's got a cool.
It, like this feels ridiculous, just don't drop it.
No.
Just getting to sit out the front
and it gave us an opportunity to really solidify
how much this means to us.
Yeah.
I know we've made some mistakes tonight
but we still have learned from our previous cook
and we can get to that grand final.
This is the first time
that we're doing something for ourselves
where we've taken a risk.
'Cause this is a lot cooler already than it was beforehand.
Yeah.
That fresh Melbourne air has really given us a clear head
and we're just literally gonna smash this praline right now.
I'm pretty happy with how that's looking.
I like the difference in textures.
You got some hazelnut bits.
Got some toffee. Toffee bits.
Hazelnuts. You got some sugar crumb.
That's loud.
The other contestants are gonna think
that we are killing someone.
Hope that's not our semifreddo.
CHRIS: Yeah.
It's frozen and they're trying to get it out of the tin.
Sonia, the dessert queen.
Are you looking forward to it?
Semifreddo's a lovely dessert.
MANU: What's the semifreddo?
Translates literally to sort of frozen, half frozen.
This is giving me milo vibes, choc malt.
There are some techniques to getting it light and fluffy.
But apart from a few techniques,
this is a simple dessert.
I was expecting something a little bit more fancy.
I want it to be nice and luscious as it melts in my mouth.
I know it's gonna be like, you know, a little bit dense on the spoon
but I should sort of still have that sort of luscious sort of feel
as it sort of dissipates in my mouth,
that's what I'm looking forward to.
Do you think if they get a good dessert
now you're in trouble?
See if they can execute this final dish.
'Cause this is where they fell short last time.
Touche, touche.
We know that dessert isn't their strongest course.
I don't think they have much of a chance.
Semifreddo is not something I would normally order
but I like the combination of like, choc malt and hazelnut,
I like those flavours.
COLIN: If it's a good dessert, how are you feeling?
Yeah, bit nervous, we're on the bottom.
I had a big cry about it, I won't lie
but then there's that drive to get back on there
and have a second chance
and show everyone that we can actually
serve really good food.
If their kitchen accidentally catches on fire
or their freezer breaks,
well, you know, we may not be sad about it.
It's a simple dessert.
Can they pull it off?
Let's hope not.
NICK: I'll do one more bash. CHRISTIAN: Yep.
And then start plating? And then start plating.
Cool.
Time to test this semifreddo.
We've got a dessert that was made really early on
in the cook.
I don't know if it's set.
I don't know if it's worked.
Alright, moment of truth.
The semifreddo needs to look like
this beautiful mound of chocolate malt
sitting on a plate.
It needs to be soft, it needs to be fluffy
but it still needs to hold shape.
Are you happy with the ones we've got?
It was never gonna be the prettiest thing.
It's sort of, it's a little ugly delicious.
I'm really hoping that it takes people
back to their childhood.
That gives them a little nostalgic hit.
This is the final push, Christian. Oh, we're almost there, bro.
It needs to melt in your mouth, not on the plate.
There's a lot riding on this dessert.
We want this.
We wanna be at the grand final.
This one and...
This. ..that one?
Cool, let's go. Alright.
Dessert is served.
Whenever you serve a really simple dessert,
there's nothing to hide behind.
We've got a dessert that really only has two elements to it.
We need this to be perfect.
Thank you.
The first thing I noticed
is the overall portion size of the dessert.
It looks quite small. It was tiny.
It's like a canape version of a dessert.
I do notice the semifreddo is starting to melt quite quickly.
Thank you.
We've gone from fine dining,
Thursday night kebab in the alley
and a bit bland.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
(CRUNCH)
CHRISTIAN: It's a pretty big crunch that comes from one of the judges.
(CRUNCH)
So the praline's worked. Yeah.
This is our moment for redemption.
We really need this dessert to bring everything home tonight.
If we deliver on this dessert...
..top of the table, baby. Yeah.
That's where we're looking right now.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
In Australia's foodie capital, Melbourne,
the judges are digging into Nick and Christian's final course.
A choc malt semifreddo with hazelnut praline.
(CRUNCH)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Thank you, gents.
Thank you. Thank you.
We've just put up a dessert
that has hopefully redeemed our dessert making abilities.
Done. Done.
It's done. Another cook done.
Yep. And you know what?
Dessert this time, was actually a dessert.
Bon Appetit.
(CRUNCH)
It's so loud.
It was like ASMR around the table, everyone crunching the praline.
(CRUNCH) (COUGHS)
Every mouthful was crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch,
getting those big sort of chunks of toffee in your teeth.
It was very intense. (CRUNCH)
Almost a tooth breaking sort of crunch from the praline.
Marcus, you swallowed this.
(LAUGHTER)
It disappeared. You would've loved
another two or three of those? Yes.
This for me,
finally is a dish
that is not for the bad desserts club.
This dessert is my favourite dessert of the competition.
I think they made their praline really well.
The roasted hazelnuts were a nice touch,
I got more, perhaps, malt flavour than I did chocolate.
A rather safe dish.
It was quite simple, Mum
but I liked the flavours and I enjoyed every bit of it.
Honestly, it's a little bit underwhelming.
It feels like ice cream with some nuts.
That's it.
So, are you hoping to get off the bottom?
Of course, we would like to get off the bottom.
Do I think our dessert was better?
Yes.
It was my favourite of the three courses tonight,
I actually enjoyed it.
Maybe a little bit of the hazelnut within the semifreddo
would've been a nice sort of touch
but overall, I love this dish.
Better than yours?
No.
How much do you guys wanna come back
in the next restaurant
and tell the boys that you're still top?
I would love to.
I would absolutely love to, like, especially Christian,
I'll just make sure that I am seated right next to him
at the next instant restaurant.
Just so I can remind him.
That can be arranged. Yeah, I'm sure it can.
What if he's on top?
Yeah, that's a different story. I won't lie.
Humble pie will be eaten.
Absolutely, mate and I hate eating it.
I'm still feeling relatively confident
we might hold on to this 72.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
CHRISTIAN: All I got for dessert from my nan
was malt chocolate on an ice cream
and it made me happy.
I know that it's a great dessert,
I'm just really hoping that the judges see it the same way.
Gents, gents, choc malt semifreddo with hazelnut praline.
(SUCKS TEETH)
Nick? Yes.
Did you deliver a better dessert, mate?
Yeah, I think we did.
Christian?
Definitely.
Very dainty entree...
..not so dainty main course...
..and very dainty dessert,
which confuses me a little bit
and maybe in the near future you choose one lane?
Yes, chef. Yep.
So, semifreddo,
fluffy and frozen but not icy, which was delicious.
My biggest critique is the praline,
I think really big pieces of sugar,
like you could break your teeth on.
I think if you used the food processor perhaps
and really just make it a lot thinner.
Yep.
But I really enjoy the flavour of the hazelnut though,
which is really compliment the chocolate and the malt.
A little tip to next time when you're unmoulding them,
I would probably unmould them one hour before,
put them back in the freezer.
So they actually set rock hard
and then that way
we wouldn't have had that semi-melting.
It was a semifreddo
but we were getting to the stage
where it could have got a bit worrying.
Yeah. Yeah.
The praline added that extra bit of sugar.
Maybe a bit of salt would've just, you know,
sort of counteracted some of the sweetness.
You definitely had redemption on dessert tonight.
Thank you. Thank you, chef.
We worked hard
to get all these elements right.
Thank you, gents, we'll talk to you soon.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
But more importantly,
if the aim of the game is redemption,
we've redeemed ourselves.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
It is now time for the guest teams
to critique Nick and Christian's dishes
and give them a score out of ten.
So, for entree we had chargrilled octopus.
AMBER: Unfortunately, I didn't get much char.
No, neither did I but nice.
Octopus I thought was cooked nicely. Yep.
The eggplant was beautiful.
Entree, chargrilled octopus. Mhm.
No seasoning.
I couldn't taste any char on the octopus.
For main, we had short rib souvlaki,
my least favourite dish out of three courses.
AARON: Same.
Way overpowering, loss of flavour of the beef.
Yep.
I didn't finish my dish. Me neither.
I wouldn't order it again.
The short rib souvlaki. Souvlaki.
Big fail, I mean, so sloppy,
almost a soup at the bottom of the plate.
Yeah, no, that was a miss for me.
When that dessert came, Mum,
that there was my favourite dessert of the competition.
I enjoyed it.
I thought as far as technique went,
they executed it really, really well.
I did really enjoy their meal.
I'm thinking a six. Yeah, I think a six.
Yeah?
For me it's a six.
MARCUA: Six? For me it's a six.
Alright.
Happy with a five? Happy.
Pretty much a five, overall. Let's go a five.
Five? Yeah.
Alright.
I'm thinking six to five.
CLAUDEAN: I'd give him a four.
OK, we'll go five. OK, five it is.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
NICK: We've received incredible feedback from the judges.
CHRISTIAN: But I honestly have no idea
what to expect from these guest scores.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
Walking back into the instant restaurant
for that final score reveal,
I'm feeling really confident,
we've put forward three courses of good, good food.
No big negatives.
I think we've done so much better than last time.
I'm just hoping that the scores reflect it.
Thank you Nick and Christian for your hospitality.
Your mission was to redeem yourselves.
So, let's find out if you did.
The guest teams have given you a combined score of...
..27 out of 50.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
27.
I'm sorry.
What table were you all sitting at?
We've gotten incredibly positive feedback
from the judges all night,
yet the guest teams have only scored us four points
higher than Amber and Mel.
I wanna hear what the judges have to say.
Gentlemen, for entree you served chargrilled octopus
with eggplant puree
and pickled cucumber.
Probably one of the prettiest dish of the competition so far.
Thank you.
And love the fact that
every mouthfuls were exactly the same.
The only thing that I was missing on there,
was a good pinch of salt.
Chargrilled octopus,
slight problem on the lack of the char
but in saying that,
I still love the flavour of the octopus.
I thought the puree was the standout,
very dainty little dish
and I would pay for that dish.
Thank you. Thank you.
For your entree tonight, I score you...
..a nine.
Thank you, chef.
The score I'm giving you for your entree is a nine.
Thank you, chef. Thank you, chef.
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
Two nines. Oh.
Colin said he'd pay for that dish. Yeah.
Nick and Christian, for main, short rib souvlaki.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
It was more like a takeaway dish
versus like a restaurant dish.
And probably the hardest to eat it.
But when it comes to eating something pleasurable,
tasty, flavoursome,
I think it was just brilliant.
When I close my eyes and I ate it, I wanna eat it again.
If it was on presentation, get out of here.
But the actual flavour, I enjoyed it.
It was moreish.
When it comes to judging,
I think I've gotta judge on satisfaction.
So, the score I'm giving you for your main course...
..is an eight.
Thank you. Thank you, chef.
For your main course tonight, I score you, an eight.
Thank you. Thank you, chef.
Mate.
Oh.
We're ticking every box from the judges
that we wanted to tick with this cook
and if we score sixes or above,
we're sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard.
For dessert,
choc malt semifreddo with hazelnut praline.
The semifreddo itself,
the technique of making it was correct,
it was delicious.
The praline was too chunky for my liking,
you could have broke your teeth on that sugar
but really, I enjoy the hazelnut flavour.
The semifreddo was soft, it was luscious
but I do think we could have hit it with a bit of salt on there,
lessened the sweetness a bit.
So, for your dessert tonight, I score you...
..a seven.
Thank you, chef. Thank you, chef.
Seven. Yeah, buddy.
The score I'm giving you for your dessert...
..is a seven.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Seven, seven.
So, Nick and Christian,
that gives you a grand total score of 75
and that puts you at the top of the leaderboard.
With their score of 75,
Nick and Christian
move to the top of the leaderboard,
pushing Aaron and Chris
to second place.
And new,
top of the leaderboard,
Nick
and Christian. Yeah.
Here we go, bro.
Definitely don't think Christian's ego needed this.
I don't know how he's actually gonna fit in the room with his ego.
Sonia and Marcus.
CHRIS: Hey. (CHEERS)
You are the last redemption team to cook.
75 to beat.
What do you think?
Mum and I are so excited to cook, it's not funny
and I think 75's a doable score, Mum?
We're not going to give you any stress on the plate,
going to give you some mighty fine food.
Well, see you guys in Adelaide.
Thank you very much. Take care.
EVERYONE: Thank you.
MARCUS: The goal is to take the number one spot
off of Nick and Christian.
There's no doubt about that.
Can you imagine the bragging rights that we would have if we beat them?
Maybe we won't be quite so humble after this.
Yeah.
NICK: Opa. CHRISTIAN: Opa.
Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv