Episode 11 Instant Restaurant

Two rival amateur cooks are converting their homes into restaurants.

They have been given just one day and a budget of up to £200.

I think I might just about achieve it.

I think.

The oven is not hot enough.

And there's nothing...

I can do about it.

-20 strangers will be judging the results.

-Good evening, ladies.

It will be entirely up to the diners to decide how much or how little they pay.

Phenomenal!

-Proper nice.

-And I made the wrong choice.

To be honest I would have sent it back.

So can the cooks deliver the goods and will either of them make a profit?

Hello and welcome to Instant Restaurant,

the ultimate test for home cooks.

But today's rivals reckon they've got just what it takes to create

a memorable dining experience for one night only and make some money.

First up, 63-year-old Lily Forbes from Bristol, a retired nurse,

originally from Malaysia, who is going for fusion food.

The theme of the restaurant is Euro/Asia and I've called it that.

It reflects the food, which is European with Asian flavours in it.

She may have retired, but this lady is not one for taking it easy.

I love being creative, you know around the house and in the garden.

I just need to be occupied all the time.

I suppose the day I stop is the day I give up on life.

So keep going while I have still got life and my mother's saying was

make every moment count and that's what I'd like to do.

Also in Bristol is her rival, 38-year-old Saida Joseph,

a Californian lawyer, who's settled here three years ago.

The concept for my restaurant is French, with some Mediterranean influences,

kind of rib-sticking food,

yet hopefully exquisitely presented and delicious.

No pressure then!

She's never cooked professionally and wants to find out if she's got what it takes.

The name of my restaurant is L'Amuse-Bouche, which means to tease the mouth, or tantalise the mouth.

It's the name of a little appetiser that sometimes comes out as a freebie,

it's an offering and it is something to whet the appetite and really get the gastronomic juices flowing.

But this challenge is about more than the food, it's about creating the whole restaurant experience.

Saida has been gutting her home on the inside, but not

yet on the outside, so her diners might be in for a bit of a surprise.

Through the door there are wooden floors, white linen table cloths and candles aplenty.

The cooks are allowed some help.

So Saida has called in two and a half friends -

the pregnant Kate and Natasha, who clearly loves her food.

Let's have a great evening.

I'm not drinking at the moment, because I have an extra consideration on that front.

Back at Euro Asian flavours, Lily's also expecting, though in this case she is expecting

husband Steve and daughter Rowena to be responsible for turning their home into a restaurant.

Ever since I was a kid, Mum and Dad have been entertaining.

It was really what we did at weekends.

Dad in particular is good at the entertaining side and mum's really good in the kitchen.

So I think it all works out quite well.

And it's not just the house that's getting a make-over.

Maitre d', Steve, is determined to look the part.

Feeling well dressed, apart from my sandals.

Yeah, the socks and sandals kind of spoil the look,

but the poor love's got a bad foot and can't wear shoes.

You look lovely.

Come here you.

-Don't sound so surprised.

-Good luck.

-You too.

-Thank you.

So will Lily be as happy with the dining room?

We've got that, we've got that.

Lovely. We've got the elephant.

We've got the incense sticks and we've got the Chinese ladies.

Everything is well set up, I think.

They have managed to transform it really quite well.

I'm not sure a sari, an elephant and four Oriental figurines

is a complete transformation,

but it's what the diners think that really matters.

Both cooks have been given an allowance of up to £200.

Saida decided she needed a healthy £130,

so needs at least £13 from each diner to break even.

In contrast, Lily asked for less than half that,

so doesn't need much at all the before she goes into profit.

So we have got an American legal eagle up against a pensioner with

a thirst for adventure, and they are both putting their spin on European cuisine.

For Saida, dining is all about quality and quantity.

I just want everyone to have as much as they want and so,

yes, that would be an issue if people didn't have enough.

While for Lily it is much more about giving herself a culinary challenge.

I think have taken more than I can manage really, it's because I'm

producing so many different things in such a short space of time.

The aim of the game is to make a profit.

But of course it's up to the diners how much they pay.

If they're not happy, they could leave nothing at all.

At 6:30, ten food-loving diners begin to descend on each of the restaurants.

But Saida's house isn't quite what some might have been expecting.

I was a bit worried about the shattered front door, thinking crikey, what have we come into?

I was a little alarmed by the outside appearance of the house.

And I wondered what on earth we were coming into it and I think we both felt like that.

-Hello.

-Hello.

Welcome to the micro restaurant, L'Amuse-Bouche.

Actually we had a lovely, lovely warm welcome and the place inside is great.

-Good evening, ladies.

-Hello.

Welcome to Euro Asia restaurant, do come this way.

-OK.

-At Lily's, the diners get a taste of what's to come in the form

of jasmine tea infused with ginger, lemongrass and honey.

Hello. All right?

Kat and Kate.

It was nice, because it was quite cold outside and when we were sat outside it did warm us up.

I'm hoping they're enjoying the jasmine tea because that is something I made up myself.

The Jasmine tea was probably packet, I could be wrong.

Perfume personified in a drink.

I didn't like it.

So plenty of tea, but not much sympathy.

However, at Saida's the guests are barely seated before there is a bombardment of amuse-bouche.

There is foie gras and grapes.

There is a spoonful of foie gras and grape with onion relish to accompany

either the chicken liver parfait or the white bean pate.

And these aren't even the starters.

I do hope her diners are hungry.

-I love red onion.

-It looks delicious, I'm worried I don't

-eat too much, because we've got three more courses to go.

-This is just the nibbles.

They are liking it I think, there is people saying, "I like the pate"

And things. So fingers crossed.

We find out what they really think in the privacy of the diners' den.

The amuse-bouche was fine. I thought having such a lot of nibbles was extremely strange,

because by the time I had the nibbles and the amuse-bouche, really I had had my meal.

You know I think just too much to start with.

But I can't criticise what I ate, because I thought it was lovely.

But foie gras is pretty controversial.

I'm not going to eat mine.

Generally speaking, it's made through animals being force-fed and that's just not my thing.

But I did eat mine! Oh God!

Meanwhile after taking tea in the garden, maitre d' Steve leads people into the restaurant proper.

It all seemed quite cramped when we went in, but there was nice music in the background

and there was incense burning, so that kind of set up the whole Asian theme quite nicely.

And it just felt like somebody's home.

Lots of trinkets and ornaments and things like that, as opposed to like co-ordinated and...

I guess it, I would expect it to be a bit more minimal for a restaurant.

-Though the decor may not have bowled them over...

-Choice of each course.

..the tuxedoed Silver Fox clearly has.

'Steve, we love Steve. Steve was the best. Steve was the best part about the whole night.'

There is something quite old world about a man in tux with a little thing over his arm.

I think the sandals helped as well.

-The sandals definitely helped. He hurt his foot, so...

-We'll let him off.

I thought he was cute. You know, he tried.

Fresh turtle claws. That sounds nice. With a tiger bite.

The Scotch eggs and the poultry for me, please.

While the ladies swoon, Lily's very own Daniel Craig takes their orders.

Is it free-range chicken, actually?

-It is, from the local butchers just up the road.

-Great.

We have our orders. Table two, the foursome, is quite straight forward.

They are having two of each starter and two of each main course.

Four are having chicken and two are having salmon.

Everything's fine. Everything's fine.

Ooh Steve certainly looks the part, but neither restaurant has exactly got off to a cracking start.

I'm not sure it was a good idea for Saida to serve ALL these nibbles.

I do hope her diners don't peak too soon,

because there is a long way to go yet. So what's lined up for starters?

Lily's kicking offer her Euro/Asian fusion with a

Cornishman in Kuala Lumpur, a spicy pasty filled with potato and peas

served with a sesame seed salad.

Her other option is Scotch eggs with a tiger's bite.

Dainty quails' eggs packed in a coating of minced tiger prawns,

spring onions and chilli, served with a home-made sweet chilli sauce.

The Scotch eggs I experimented with,

my mother's recipe, it's a little prawn recipe that she had.

And I played around with the spices a bit.

Fascinating, I mean I think

that Cornish pasty and the Scotch egg, you know are terribly British.

I don't know that they are high end kind of restaurant food.

So depending on the execution it could either be wonderful,

or it could be terribly pedestrian.

I hope you're not suggesting the great British pasty is boring, Saida.

Determined not to make dull starters, it was mid-morning

when Lily got cracking on a filling

for her delicate pasties, in her best Artful Dodger-style hat.

It's really a secret recipe, but I'm giving this away now, aren't I?

Just a scant teaspoon of chilli powder.

I like spice, but I don't like it hot.

And I know the English now have developed a love for spice, but I'm going middle range with my spices.

So it's not too hot, but you get the spice, the beautiful spices.

So I'm cutting back on my chilli quite a bit.

Don't cut back too much, heaven forbid if they end up boring.

Her other starter is her Euro/Asian take on the Scotch egg.

Very delicate these quails' eggs.

Into the boiling water gently.

Once the eggs were done, Steve was put on peeling duty,

while Lily moved on to the second stage of her Malaysian delicacies.

These pasties that I'm making are called curry puffs in Malaysia.

And you have hawkers, the stalls set up around 4 o'clock in the evening,

and they will make them and fry them in front of you, hot,

and people will queue up to go and buy.

No matter how much they make, it all gets sold and every evening. Even I...

I make these, but when I go to Malaysia I don't make them, I just go down to the hawker stall and queue up

like everyone else, and have my half a dozen pasties, hot off the stall.

Oh tasty. Really lovely.

Let's hope your diners remember them as fondly as you, Lily.

The next job was the tiger prawn and breadcrumb coating for all these quails' eggs.

At this stage,

I'm adding 24 tiger prawns and just basically chuck it in.

By 7 o'clock, when the diners are seated, the two are combined and ready to cook.

That's our chilli sauce.

Sweet and sour chilli sauce that we made at the last minute.

One pasty.

The miniature Malaysian pasties seem dainty enough for a starter, but has Lily got the spices right?

I got two of each. Fair enough.

Thank you. That looks lovely. Keep your hands off.

And are a few salad leaves enough to elevate this street food to restaurant standard cuisine?

It was an East meets West mix, but to begin the Scotch egg was a Scotch egg with a little bit of chilli.

So I couldn't really see the mixture there. So I was thrown by that.

Mine isn't runny inside.

I think because

they're potentially quite rich starters, it would have been nice to have a salad on the side

to make it look a bit, maybe possibly look a bit more healthy.

-Because they were both deep fried.

-Make it look a bit more restaurant.

-A bit more restaurant, yes.

I don't know if it's meant to be spicy, but it's not that spicy.

It was quite fun, the names, but they didn't actually,

the dishes weren't executed the way that the names came across.

I could have bought my Scotch egg that tasted better in the garage.

That's very nice.

Quite spicy, but very nice.

'I had the Scotch egg. They were spicy. I liked the spicy sauce.

'I was less keen on the actual Scotch egg itself.'

So Lily may have dropped a clanger in the kitchen...

CUTLERY FALLS

..and pretty soon even smooth Steve does the same in the restaurant.

Let's hope things go better for Saida at L'Amuse-Bouche.

-I think I shall have the steak.

-You always have steak.

For her official starters, she's offering roast fig in prosciutto ham

with a dollop of dolcelatte blue cheese served on a bed of leaves.

Or a large mixed tomato salad with mozzarella, peaches and fresh mint.

There's nothing better than fresh tomatoes straight from

the garden, warmed by the sun and the peaches and the mint

give a twist to the classic tricolore salad to make it more interesting

for people and kind of fun.

They both look great but tomatoes with mozzarella, fine,

I'd do that, but to have peaches and mint

and tomatoes and mozzarella is something I wouldn't do.

It's quite a lot going on on one plate.

I think Lily could be on to something.

It's an awful lot of food and an awful lot of flavours.

Both salads will be assembled once the orders are in,

but there was plenty of prep to keep everyone busy.

So, whilst assistant Natasha sliced up a mountain of mozzarella and

a ton of tomatoes, Saida prepared the figs.

A knob of blue cheese was packed inside and wrapped in the ham.

However, Saida soon discovered a small problem.

We've had a slight malfunction already.

Which is, the person that cut my ham...

..didn't cut the proper amount of slices.

So, we therefore have to hope that only five people

order this starter, or we would do... You only get two.

I reckon two figs are more than enough for a starter.

Three is more like a main course.

At 7:30pm, the orders are in and with just four people going for the figs, they will each be getting

the full complement of three each followed by a collective loosening of belts.

With 10 diners waiting, Saida's on fire.

Problem is, the kitchen looks as if it might be as well.

There goes the smoke alarm!

CHEERING

But no need for the fire brigade and I doubt this lot here would budge anyway.

It's only smoke, so while Saida fixes the alarm, the figs are left to sizzle away.

There's no damage done.

Although after that little drama, Saida hits the bottle. Don't worry.

It's only water.

Which I do buy by the case.

With three slightly charred parcels filling each plate,

it makes for an enormous starter -

and that's on top of the appetisers, and there's still two courses to come.

The tomato salad is also pretty hefty.

Nobody's going to go hungry here.

Look at that.

So, on close inspection it looks lovely.

Smells lovely.

But does it taste lovely?

We don't smell food enough. >

Very generous proportions. There's a lot of it.

I think it's tasty, it's very colourful.

It's definitely more than I would be used to as a starter.

I'm not very good at leaving food cos it's impolite, but that's far too much.

I love my salad.

Tomato with mozzarella, and I liked having mint on it as opposed to

basil which I guess would be traditional but it was lovely.

I really enjoyed it. The portion was far too big.

Fig here.

And do the diners give a fig about the slightly fire-damaged fig?

Mm. We ate so many on holiday.

-Are the figs cooked?

-Mm. They're warmed.

The figs were really nice, but I must say, when the starters came out

they were huge.

I was like, oh, my God, it was like a main course size.

One would have been wonderful.

One would have been enough. Two would have been plentiful.

But I felt rather out faced by just looking at it, because it seemed so much.

Having said that, I ate all of it.

I am hearing again...

nice, murmuring noises. I think...

As far as I can tell everything seems to be going down well.

I think they left a lot because there was so much to start with, not because they didn't like it.

It's quite a lot of food to chomp your way through.

Even after chomping, there's still some left to throw away.

It looks like Californian Saida hasn't quite got out of the

habit of American-sized portions, and it sounds like Lily's guests could do with a bit more spice.

So hopefully she can pep them up a bit as we head into the main courses.

At Lily's Euro-Asian restaurant, it's approaching service time.

She's offering her diners some fabulous sounding dishes.

There's a choice of Poultry up a Palm Tree, a mild chicken

and coconut curry with spicy rice and lemon-blanched beans.

Or Fish out of Oriental Water -

a puff pastry parcel packed with salmon, rice,

dill, spinach and spring onions,

served with seasonal veg in a soy and sesame dressing.

I wonder if these two dishes will make up for the lack of spice in the starters.

Rowena helped me come up with the names for these dishes

to reflect both the Asian and European flavour in the food.

I've never cooked these dishes before and I'm using my favourite spices

to create more of a subtle flavour than an overpowering one.

These dishes sound like they would appeal to a broad range of people.

You have salmon, you have chicken,

not overly spiced or complicated.

They sound like they can be cooked to order.

So, Saida thinks it's all a bit easy,

but I'm not sure Lily would agree.

Six hours before service, she was hard at work on the salmon.

The fish dish got a spoon or two of fragrant rice and a dollop of cream.

A little bit of cream, double cream, this is the trickiest of the lot.

Of the whole day in fact.

Is getting the salmon parcel right.

I think, generally, she thrives on challenges.

It is easy, in a way, to get her going.

If it was all too slow for her, she would be a little bit more nervous about it.

As it is she's really getting into her flow, so...

I think I might just about achieve it.

I think. Quietly I'm hoping I will achieve it.

But we'll see.

I'm not over-optimistic.

But I'm trying not to panic.

I'm trying to keep myself calm.

And she did, making short work of the parcels, so the salmon was soon

getting a coating of egg wash, so it would brown nicely in the oven.

By 7:45, the pastry parcels are cooked and the diners are ready for their main course.

So Rowena's on hand with hot plates.

But I-love-a-challenge Lily is starting to buckle under the pressure.

-Let me know when you need help plating.

-Fortunately Rowena's not.

Beans were with the salmon, weren't they? I'm getting myself all...

No, Mum, beans were with the chicken.

Beans were with the chicken.

-All right.

-Yes, beans with the chicken, not the salmon.

Get them moved.

Yes, beans with the chicken and the rice.

-Now, what else?

-The salmon parcel goes with the stir-fried veg.

OK, and the rice.

No, the rice goes with the chicken.

Oh! I keep mixing it up. Sorry.

It is just a little bit stressful.

Come on, Lily, the salmon gets the stir-fry and the rice and beans go with the chicken, see?

I've read the menu!

-OK? Shall we go?

-Yeah.

That's two tables done.

No it's not, it's the first table.

-First table, sorry.

-It's four chicken and two salmon, isn't it?

Wow! Thank goodness for Rowena.

-'The main course I had Oriental Fish Out of Water.'

-Enjoy!

It was quite nice. I did enjoy it.

It was quite rich having salmon and rice and then filo pastry.

I think it needed a bit of a kick to it.

Looks amazing. I had the Oriental Fish Out of Water as well.

If it's supposed to be East meets West, I'd definitely say it was more West.

I get the impression they might have held back a little bit

on the spiciness to sort of please everyone.

I had the salmon which was basically salmon en croute.

There was nothing fancy about it.

My goodness, that's huge.

I think it could have been Birds Eye.

We've got Chicken Up The Tree, haven't we?

It looks delicious. I must admit.

I can't wait to taste it.

Unfortunately the main course was quite mediocre.

It was the kind of thing I probably would have got out

the freezer if there was nothing else to eat and I was feeling lazy.

Poultry Up A Palm Tree.

Oh, right, OK, fine.

I would expect a lot more kick in a curry.

It was very bland, very simple,

and I dread to say it, almost the sort of thing I could do myself.

But not everyone agrees.

Proper nice.

Once again it's high praise from some diners, but not from them all.

Let's see if Saida can do any better.

For her main course, Saida's offering crispy duck confit

accompanied by creamy potato Dauphinoise and braised red cabbage.

Or a French cut of beef called a bavette steak,

served with Bearnaise sauce and garlic frites - that's chips to you and me.

I think the duck confit speaks for itself

and nothing's better than something slow-cooked in its own fat.

And the bavette steak is actually a cheap cut of meat,

but cooked quickly and presented in a good manner.

Um, it seems rich and luxurious.

They both sound lovely but they are both tricky to get right on the day

and I wouldn't take that gamble.

You've got to be in it to win it, Lily.

Although I have some concerns about that bavette steak myself.

-You all right, Kate?

-So far, so good.

Once again, much of Saida's menu needs to be cooked at the last minute.

However, the confit of duck could be prepared in advance.

To confit is to slow-cook

the meat in its own fat, keeping it moist and sealing in the flavour.

The potatoes for the Dauphinoise dish were thinly sliced

then laid in ramekins with butter, cheese and cream.

It's not known as a low fat dish.

Now let's have a good look at this steak.

Bavette is a cut from the skirt or flank of the cow and it's cheaper, but also tougher.

So it benefits from longer, slower cooking.

By using economical ingredients such as the steak but then using

premium ingredients such as the butter,

I believe we can make the steak taste like a million-dollar steak.

But will it work? We'll soon find out.

Or maybe we won't.

With the main course service fast approaching, Saida discovers a big problem.

She didn't turn her Aga on early enough and it's not cooking fast enough.

The Aga's just not hot enough.

I'm used to the Aga being

400 and some degrees.

And it's just not there, so it's not cooking things.

And there's nothing...

I can do about it. Yeah.

Well, there is actually. She swaps the duck from the Aga to a

frying pan to crisp it up, and the garlic frites into her gas cooker.

The chips are not hot enough, so we'll just wait and get the food out as quickly as we can. It's a plan.

I'm pretty sure no-one's going to starve.

They seemed fine. They had quite a lot of food to start off with,

so it's quite nice to have a bit of a break.

But there's no rest for the cook.

She's out in the garden powering yet more cooking equipment.

We're going to see if that's going to work. If not, I don't know....

Finally at 8:30, the duck is ready, so leaving Natasha in charge,

Saida heads outside to start cooking the steaks al fresco.

She's no quitter, is she?

Two, maybe I'm being a bit of a perfectionist.

I just want people to have a great meal.

But the fact that it's running late and people aren't getting exactly

what they wanted and what I had envisaged for them,

is actually a bit gutting.

Hopefully, the food will be worth the wait.

And as the duck arrives, 40 minutes late, here's hoping it is.

-Look at that.

-Amazing. Looks delicious.

Thank you very much.

It looks absolutely fantastic.

That does look absolutely lovely.

I've almost never been so keen not to wait for my wife's meal to arrive.

What's yours is mine, and that crispy bit there is mine!

Smells good. I hope I can eat it all.

The duck was cooked really well.

If I had to make any comment, it would be

the comment about the Dauphinoise potato being in a dish on my plate.

It made it awkward to eat. But I really can't be too critical. I really enjoyed it.

Mine was absolutely...phenomenal.

It was absolutely wonderful.

I loved the combination of tastes.

I, for one, like the way it was presented. And it was great.

And I made the wrong choice.

Medium?

And that choice was the bavette steak - but did Saida

make the wrong decision with this unconventional cut of meat?

-Thank you.

-There you go, madam, enjoy your meal.

I need something green on my plate.

It's lacking something green.

'I was actually pretty disappointed in the steak.

'It was tough.'

It wasn't the steak in my mind. And to be honest I would have sent it back.

I didn't eat it, but I would have sent it back.

It was not a steak to my mind.

Sadly, he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Looks like Saida's attempt at economising didn't come off.

It's a very coarse grain.

I don't know whether it's the cut of the meat,

but it's not pleasant to eat to be honest.

And she learns a painful lesson about having the kitchen so close to her diners.

I think he was a little bit disappointed in the steak. Yeah.

But you win some, you lose some.

A big comedown. You work really hard and really try something.

I would have liked things to go a little more smoothly. Sure.

Hmm. Sounds like that skirt of beef has

wrong-footed Saida and some of her guests are as tough as that steak.

And maybe some of Lily's dishes weren't quite as intriguing as their names.

So there's everything to play for as we head into desserts.

At Lily's Euro-Asian restaurant, for her first dessert,

she's serving something she calls a Brute of a Sorbet.

A frozen blackcurrant and cassis dessert dusted with

cardamom and mint and doused with a splash of sparkling wine.

The other option is the poetically titled Seasons of Mist and Fruitfulness.

Warmed pears and blackberries are served in a saffron batter

with Tia Maria ice cream in home-made ice bowls.

The sorbet with the champagne being poured round it

lights up everybody's eyes.

And with the second dessert, the hot and the cold,

the cold Tia Maria ice cream is something everybody loves.

The sorbet sounds fabulous.

Cardamom and mint together,

I love it.

I would order it and I imagine I would enjoy it.

The second pudding with the Limoncello and Tia Maria in it,

those don't belong on the same plate

and that frightens the heck out of me.

Oh, don't be frightened, Saida.

It's Lily who will be out of pocket if her diners agree with you.

It was mid-morning when Lily started work

on the blackcurrant Brute of a Sorbet.

It's a beautiful rich colour.

The fruit was poached with water and sugar and lemon, blended and sieved.

Add a splash of alcohol.

-Quite generous with this.

-Then it was into the ice cream maker.

In it goes. Switch that on, switch that on, switch that on.

Forget that now for about 20-30 minutes.

Then I put it in the freezer and that's the sorbet done.

Ha-ha. I'm getting there.

Nine hours later and out it comes from the freezer.

The blackcurrant sorbet gets those finishing touches that give it a hint of eastern promise.

Just a sprinkle of cardamom, just to release the cardamom aroma.

And then Rowena whisks it out to the diners.

Next to go out, the Tia Maria ice cream is served in

home-made ice bowls decorated with garden flowers.

Let's hope it tastes as good as it looks.

The diners, I'm hoping, will be impressed with it because it looks impressive, to me, it looks delicate,

and like a lot of thought has gone into it to produce something just to hold a bit of ice cream in.

For me, personally, it was the best part of the meal. I just thought it was really nice.

With the sparkling wine on top I just thought it was delicious.

The dessert was the best part of the evening, actually.

The way it was presented and the way it tasted, it was nice and refreshing at the end.

Sorbet served with champagne, which following the curry,

seemed a very strange idea, actually was very nice.

There was a good kick to the sorbet and I think it was the nicest thing we had this evening.

So, the sorbet's a smash, but how's the other dessert?

I had the pear and blackberry.

The saffron in the dessert was very overpowering, with a very metallic tone so I passed it on to John.

I tried it. I found there were an awful lot of tastes in there.

I preferred the sorbet I had before.

I also found the Tia Maria ice cream too overpowering.

So I would definitely stick to the sorbet again.

Over at Saida's, she's determined to cook everything to order, even most of her desserts which,

after her main course steak proved such a big mistake, means she's really up against it.

You know, give someone a bit of a wow factor I hope.

For her dessert, Saida's serving home-made strawberry ice cream topped with a tangy balsamic syrup

and accompanied by lavender biscuits.

Her other option is a rich chocolate cake served with an unusual sea salt

caramel sauce and a topping of whipped creme fraiche.

I mean you can't really go wrong with chocolate cake on any level.

And I paired it with a sea salt caramel,

which is a particular favourite of mine.

And the strawberry ice cream,

local, seasonal, sustainable, and it looks like sunshine in a glass.

They both sound brilliant

and I think I've got some competition here.

You'd better believe it.

Saida knows she's got to pull it all the stops on this course.

We have so much we have to get on.

Despite her preference for fresh cooked food, one item had to be made in advance.

I am making just like an absolutely fabulous

rich, dark chocolate cake.

Saida melted dark chocolate and butter and added ground almonds.

She also adds a more surprising ingredient.

I like to put in a little sea salt with any kind of chocolate.

Really, it helps the flavours bloom.

And then also vanilla really helps the flavour of chocolate come out.

So, I always add a little bit of vanilla.

And finally, the mix was whisked into beaten eggs.

The chocolate cake may have been prepared in advance, but nothing else was.

So, now, Saida has to put Steak-gate behind her and focus on a fantastic finish.

I sort of see that as being positive.

I'll think about that for now.

And stress the positives.

It's going to take more than positive thinking to get the desserts out on time.

Saida is not only cooking her lavender biscuits to order,

but she's also making a strawberry ice cream at the last minute, too.

She's got a secret family recipe that should turn out top-quality ice cream in a matter of minutes.

I don't know where she got it but it's my mum's recipe.

We were on the phone the other day and I said,

please give me that recipe and so she gave it to me and I wrote it down.

Let's hope it works.

Lashings of double cream added to a mixture of sugar, lemon juice

and ice cold strawberries - hey presto.

Instant ice cream.

It's a clever short cut, but will it taste any good?

Mm. Brill.

To complement her chocolate cake, Saida's making caramel sauce,

heavily flavoured with her unexpected favourite ingredient.

The caramel sauce has sea salt in it.

Again, putting that salt in with the chocolate.

This is quite a trend in cookery at the moment.

I hope Saida's diners are suitably trendy.

The instant ice cream looks attractive in pretty pastel cups.

I hope her diners have left room for dessert as the portions are, again, enormous.

Ice creams first.

Tuck in before they melt - they are freshly made.

The strawberry ice cream is absolutely fantastic.

And these lavender cookies are extraordinary.

-It's like eating fresh lavender out of the garden, isn't it?

-Really lovely.

Mmm. That is delicious.

Having just come back from Italy, where obviously,

the ice cream was outstanding, this is really very good.

High praise indeed, but what do the diners make of that chocolate cake with salty sauce?

Really enjoying it.

Caramel sauce,

great, not too sweet.

A bit of cream. Yeah, it's good. Good combination, actually.

Wonderful combination.

The salt and caramel really works together.

I don't understand why it does but it's absolutely gorgeous.

And the salt somehow cuts through the sweetness of the chocolate cake

and the caramel, and just makes it lovely.

It's thumbs up so far, but there's always one, isn't there?

And in this dining room, it's him.

This is not caramelised. It needs to change

to make it into the salty caramelised bit which gets you.

This is just a salty syrup.

And it's not pleasant.

After hearing that I bet Saida's ears are burning.

Mostly good. Mostly really good.

I think one guy's got some issues with his caramel, hasn't he, but everyone else... Yummy.

It's the same gentleman who had issues with his steak.

That particular customer does seem to be a voice in the wilderness.

Look at that - they couldn't have got it much clearer

if they had licked it.

It's absolutely delicious.

More satisfied customers.

Both our cooks have given this challenge their best shot

and now it's up to the diners to decide

how much or how little they want to pay for their restaurant experience.

Lily spent a mere £63 on her ingredients, so doesn't need

much at all from each diner before she goes into profit.

But what did they think about their Euro-Asian evening?

There was lots of love and lots of kind of attention,

but just not quite enough attention to detail for my liking.

It was really nice. Lovely evening.

-Nice food. Good Steve.

-THEY LAUGH

-Lovely.

-I've had a lovely evening. Really enjoyable experience.

-It's been a brilliant night.

Delicious food. Yeah, really good.

-Lovely host.

-Yeah, really nice.

I just didn't consider it to be anything that I would actually

go and order and pay for in a restaurant.

With the guests packed off home, Lily's team decide to treat themselves.

So we deserve a little celebration at...

Woah!

LAUGHTER Cheers!

Cheers, my helpers.

That was the Euro-Asia restaurant experience.

Certainly was. Thanks, love.

Well done.

Saida spent twice as much as her rival, shelling out £130.

So she has to take at least £13 per person before she makes a penny.

Did her diners enjoy their evening enough for her to make a profit?

Good night.

Actually, it was a very interesting thing to do in terms of meeting some lovely new people.

Yeah, it was really unique and I would definitely do it again.

-It was great fun.

-Yeah, I thought it was great fun.

And you wouldn't know when you look at the outside of the house just

what's hidden behind there, would you? I thought it was great.

Really good evening. Great fun.

I suspect, the whole aspect of this, coming here, not knowing

what to expect, I didn't think it would be anything like this.

This is way above expectations.

Would you do it again?

-I wouldn't do it for the fun of it.

-No.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Glad that it's all over and I'm a little elated.

I think it went reasonably well, so I'm feeling OK about it.

Oh! You've got to the end, guys.

You survived it. Some people had a fabulous time.

-Did you have a fabulous time?

-We did at the end!

Not during the time.

-Really?

-I was too focused on getting everything done.

You were quite separated from your guests because the kitchen was quite far away. How did that feel for you?

I was happy with that,

-very happy with that.

-I would've been.

That certainly wasn't the case for you.

I have to say, that would have been my worst nightmare, having them so close.

Being able to smell them, see them.

What was that like?

I could hear all the comments people were making, so when the comments were fabulous, it really invigorated

me and my team, we felt wonderful about the food we were putting out

there and when the comments were not so nice, it was kind of devastating.

I think a lot of people loved the food, but a couple of the comments

came back that they were expecting it to be a lot spicier.

Ah. Well, I was being very careful not to make it too spicy.

That is why I wanted it Euro-Asian, rather than just Asian.

I bet you'd like to know how much money you've made, if any, would you?

I suppose so.

I'm going to start with you, Lily.

Now, you spent £63.

That is nothing.

That is so controlled.

£63. Your diners donated £162.

-Which means you made a profit of £98.44.

-OK.

So that's brilliant.

Not for how much your feet ached the next day.

-I know, I know.

-There you go.

And Saida, you spent £129.

That's my kind of girl.

Your diners donated £200.50.

So, you made £71.

-Thank you very much.

-How do you feel about that?

Fine.

OK, guys, maybe as not as much as you hoped for, but let me tell you,

not everyone in this series makes a profit.

So thank you and thank you, and I'll see you next time on Instant Restaurant.

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