Previous Episode: MasterChef Australia Season Four – Kylie Fights For Immunity
It’s the one we’ve been waiting for – the pop-up restaurant challenge! The losers of this one will head into a DOUBLE elimination. Added pressure; check!
Contestants are heading to a mystery location for today’s challenge. They’re at an empty warehouse.
Challenge Brief: They must convert the warehouse into two pop-up restaurants. They must plan a four-course menu, shop for everything- the food, décor and construction tools. They have to also buy appliances, cutlery and decorating implements. The judges will decide who wins based on popular opinion.
Red Team: Kylie (Captain), Mindy, Julia, Ben, Beau and Alice.
Blue Team: Audra (Captain), Amina, Andy, Wade, Jules and Debra.
Conditions: No reward today, except avoiding a massive double elimination.
Progress: They begin to devise plans. Kylie has a vision for a Mexican restaurant for Ben to shine. He comes up with a ceviche dish, among others. The blue team want to have an Asian/ Middle East theme with spices. They then go on their massive shops. It’s like The Block.
When they get back, it’s set up time! Day one comes to an end.
The next day, they now have to set up the actual restaurant and prepare their dishes. Kylie seems very composed, but admits she is nervous. Their restaurant is called Casa Del Rojo. They will be doing a King Fish ceviche, popcorn prawn soft taco, beef cheek and a Cajeta, the latter being the dessert.
Audra is doing well in her restaurant, Sanuk. They will be doing chicken prawn cakes, kingfish salad which Andy is doing, beef rendang and coconut ice-cream.
It’s a hectic few hours, and Debra is annoyed when she is asked to arrange furniture half way through her dessert preparation. The first crack in the blue team! Luckily, Jules is available to take over while she does it. Audra says she doesn’t want to be aggressive to Debra, suggesting she could be!
The judges are concerned that Debra’s bad mood could be off-putting to service, but the red team are different. Kylie and Alice help set up together and have a good time doing so. Debra is overwhelmed by the furniture.
The red team hit a snag- their oven was not on and their beef cheeks were not cooking. They can’t afford any more mistakes. Their beef cheeks are now way behind cooking and may still be on the boil when service begins.
There’s not long to go and Amina and Debra are still setting up. They have different ideas and Debra is now acting quite twitchy. Wade comes out and is not impressed. Meanwhile, the blue team also suffer cooking delays.
People now begin to arrive and service begins. Alice does well integrating their customers. On the other hand, the blue team have NO customers. Audra quickly goes out to spruik. Tensions continue to rise in the kitchen where Wade and some of the girls argue over plating. They’re a lively bunch tonight!
Again, the red team are STILL killing it. Alice is doing so well; I’m rather impressed! The judges now taste.
First up is the blue’s prawn chicken cake AND UNLABELLED SIDE GOODY! They call it more dessert-y. George doesn’t get it. To the red team’s Kingfish Ceviche Slammer and it seems much more fun. Matt absolutely loves it, calling it balanced.
To the entrée and first up is the blue team’s Thai Kingfish Salad. They don’t like the salad: dressing ratio and are blown away by the chilli. George loves the fish, as does Matt. Matt wants more sweetness. Popcorn Prawn Soft Taco as made by the red team is next, and this looks to be another winner. Matt loves the popcorn prawn and Gary gives it two thumbs up. Nothing more to say.
Meanwhile, something burns for the red team. It’s the pressure cooker. Those beef cheeks that weren’t cooking are now burnt. Don’t worry; the blue team have no service process for their main, also creating havoc. But before long, each team finds solutions to their problems and main service begins.
Time to taste the blue’s Beef Rendang and Gary is looking forward to this. Matt calls it absolutely textbook. The judges notice red restaurant customers looking over in envy. Time for the Braised Adobo Beef Cheek from the red team. George is happy that it has been cooked and Matt calls it beautifully braised. He isn’t sure it is Mexican and Gary thinks it isn’t his best Adobo attempt.
Dessert time now, we’re getting close! Before we hear the results, Debra is pissed off over everything and begins to slag off Amina. She felt the dessert was neglected. Audra tries to apologise. Andy is just annoyed that they aren’t pumping out desserts.
Time for the blue team’s Coconut Ice-Cream and they think the plating is generous but clumsy. Gary doesn’t think it is the best and he calls it eggy. To the red’s Cajeta Parfait and a much better response is given. Gary says it fulfils all of his dreams and Matt says it is clever.
Time is all up, and service is done. Thank goodness; that was tense. Time for the results.
Results
Pretty straight forward, the losing team heading into the double elimination is… The Blue Team.
MasterChef Australia next airs Jul 5 at 7PM on TEN.
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