Episode 17 Instant Restaurant

-Two amateur cooks are converting their homes into restaurants.

-Good luck. Let's do it.

-Bring it on.

-They've been given just one day and a budget of up to £200.

We're just starting to lose the edge.

20 strangers will judge the results.

If that's what the gentleman wants, that's what the gentleman gets.

It will be entirely up to them how much or how little they pay.

I need to re-book. Really good.

I thought a child had put it together.

So can the cooks deliver the goods and will either of them make any money?

Hello and welcome to Instant Restaurant.

So how would you manage,

turning your home into a restaurant for one night only

and then being judged by paying guests?

Well, that's the challenge our two rival cooks are facing today.

Will either of them be able to make a profit?

First up, 48-year-old police inspector Steve Gallant who lives in Felixstowe on the Suffolk coast.

Tonight's menu is really trying to celebrate local produce

and the stuff you can buy without importing it in from miles around.

And you don't get any more local than food from your own back garden.

If you want food to taste good, you've got to get good ingredients.

Steve does have previous catering form.

I have served food to some people I don't know, but it was through a cell window.

Not the best catering in the world!

No, but at least those diners couldn't walk out on you, unlike the ones tonight.

He is cooking against 34-year-old senior administrator Dina Mistry from Manningtree, Essex,

whose hens will not be on the menu tonight.

She's called her restaurant "Phood" with a "ph" as she believes a menu should have balance.

Fresh naan bread is better. You can't reheat them.

My menu is about bringing people together, it's a traditional Indian way of eating,

everyone joining in and trying different foods.

Her love affair with cooking started young.

I watched everything that my mum did. I picked little bits up along the way.

That's what makes me the cook I am, experimenting and trying things.

The cooks don't just have to deliver good food.

Assisted by two helpers, they must transform their homes into enticing restaurants

and getting that right could mean the difference between a profit or a loss.

Steve's theme is clean and simple with a little nod to the day job to keep his diners honest.

The restaurant tonight, we've called it Pips,

a reference to the insignia worn by police inspectors.

We wear two pips on our shoulders, so that gives us the name.

What we're trying to make it feel like is fairly relaxed.

It's a little bit more bistro-like, really.

-We're not really doing gimmicks.

-No.

Just good quality produce, served professionally.

Patrolling the dining room is fellow copper Darren.

Darren's working hard at sorting out the front of house

and making sure everything is clean and laid out lovely.

I've got some flowers for you to arrange, darling.

It's a new challenge. I've never served people before.

I'll treat them how I think I'd like to be treated and we'll see how it goes.

And second in command is fellow inspector Jim.

-Work harder.

-Clearly following a command structure. We'll do as we're told all day long until we crack it.

On the clean theme, our boys in blue have gone all white for the night.

-I think it's Gordon Ramsay that's given him the idea.

-I don't know what you're on about.

-Done!

-Done!

Over at Dina's, she's hoping her softer pink theme

and 75 quid's worth of decorations will seduce her diners.

Nice, big table. Everyone's going to be sitting on one table together,

everyone trying all the different dishes.

I'm going to have some lighting and material on the walls.

And to give it a bit of an "Indiany" theme, it's going to be everybody together and just comfortable.

I'm trying to work out where to put my dangly bits.

The colour theme is pink cos I love pink.

I've got some shiny candelabras and candles and lots of lighting.

I like lots of little candle lights everywhere to brighten the place up.

For help, she's keeping it in the family with big sister Sarita in the kitchen.

We get on really well and I think we'll work well in the kitchen together.

-Sometimes we agree to disagree.

-Well, I am the eldest, so...

-Here we go.

'She's always been the boss. That's what she likes to think and I like to make her think she is the boss.'

Between me and you, you know, it kind of works both ways.

Her other helper is husband Midge to knock it all into shape.

Midge is my secret weapon, yeah.

I think he'll be the ideal person, really. He'll pull it all together for me.

My role is going to be watering tonight, serving all the food and drinks,

and running round, whatever she wants me to do.

No, that's too much.

-It's almost a bit Barbie, isn't it?

-For God's sake!

-No, it's not Barbie.

-Well, for Essex.

-Yeah.

-We're in Essex.

-It is very Essex.

Barbie's Essex Collection perhaps?

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

Dina's decided to spend £154 on her restaurant,

so she needs around £15 a head to break even.

Steve asked for less than half that, £68.

He's gambling that simple, home-grown food

and minimal decorations will pay off.

He only needs £7 a head to be in profit.

So it's Bollywood Barbie versus The Boys In Blue,

Dina's taste of India with a modern twist

versus Inspector Steve's good, honest, locally sourced food.

We'll be fine. We can do this.

Good luck. Let's do it.

Each restaurant will be judged by ten hungry strangers,

all living locally and bringing full purses and empty stomachs.

Get it right and Steve and Dina could be looking at a tidy profit.

Get it wrong and they could be left looking at nothing but a sink full of dirty dishes.

-Thank you.

-Come in.

-We've got a reservation...

Darren leaps into action to say, "Evening, all."

As Darren settles the diners, Steve and Jim keep to the safety of the kitchen.

I think Darren's under a bit of pressure.

I'm tempted to go out there and help him, but I think I might just get in the way.

He's doing fine, but it's the diners' opinions that count. First impressions, anyone?

-I think it's cool.

-Very nice. Very homely.

-It looks very nice.

-It's nice.

-Can we offer you some water?

-There's a nice, friendly feel when you walk in first of all.

It looks lovely. The tables look really good. Hopefully, the food is as good as the tables look.

Oh, yes, let's hope so, but will Dina's guests be just as taken with her pink palace?

Good evening. Come in.

-Yeah, the beads are really nice and all the candles as you come through the door were very nice.

-Yeah.

-Very nice and lit up.

-Yeah, it's lovely.

-Absolutely beautiful.

As I just explained, there's ten of you tonight and only one table, so you can sit wherever you like.

-Does anyone need any drinks opening?

-Have you got a bottle opener?

-Sure have.

You can sit anywhere you like.

When we came in, the little candles, everything was pink.

-It looked really nice, really welcoming.

-Really nice decoration.

The guests are all in now. They seem like a good bunch, so hopefully they'll get on.

-All smiling and laughing, so we'll see what happens.

-Bring it on.

So Dina's Barbie Bollywood sparkle seems to have gone down well with her diners,

whilst it's more softly, softly with Steve's police squad.

But how will their starters fare?

Steve's creating a chef's plate, a selection of locally sourced hors d'oeuvres -

grilled and marinated vegetables, stuffed pomodoro peppers

and a tomato and feta salad.

Or grilled figs with goat's cheese and a home-made relish.

My favourite will be the chef's plate.

That gives the diners an opportunity to really sample some good quality local produce.

The starters look lovely and to be honest, I am a bit worried.

Team Steve was pounding the kitchen beat

a full four hours before the diners arrived.

Peppers were lovingly stuffed with soft cheese, onions and mushrooms mercilessly sliced

and the chef's plate came together.

That's good. That's good.

The centre piece to this dish is a tomato salad with heavy emphasis on the tomato.

I want to do just a tomato and feta salad and you don't want all these seeds in it,

so I'm hoping I can use these to hold a bit of salad on and that'll look pretty on the plate.

Or it might look like Red Nose Day has come early! He's stuffing them with feta, onion and basil.

Someone famous said, "First, feed the eye." If things don't look good, you don't want to eat them.

I think they'll be OK, but the diners will tell.

Yes, they will indeed and as Darren takes the orders,

Steve puts the finishing touches to what he hopes will be a tomato-flavoured triumph.

It's looking full. It's looking really pleasant.

Steve wants to make the grilled figs and goat's cheese just as pretty.

The grilled figs will sit in the middle of this.

We've just got a bit of olive oil, dressed rocket, a few walnuts.

These tiny tomatoes add a little bit of colour to that.

Two on there.

A drizzle of balsamic and the first starters are on their way.

This is Table 2, one figs, one plate.

Beautiful. Thank you very much.

So what do the diners make of Steve's big red starter?

The only thing, any criticism at all was the big tomato in the middle.

No need for it. Most of the flavours were there in the starter.

It's just that tomato. I'm going to have nightmares about that tomato.

I had the chef's plate. I thought it lacked a bit in presentation.

There was too much plate and not enough food.

Oh, dear. What else are they saying in private?

I had the chef's plate

and I thought a child had put it together.

Oh, that's mean! Does he realise everything he says may be taken down and used against him?

While the tomato has fallen foul of the diners, in the kitchen, things are starting to fall apart.

No, disaster! Just dropped a fig.

After some emergency fig surgery, Steve pops it under the grill.

A bit of a disaster. Dropped the fig.

We're sorting it out now, but we're just starting to lose the edge here.

But with hungry diners waiting, Steve's soon back on the case.

These are the rescued figs, as it were, so we've had to cook them again,

which has caused a bit of a problem, but we got there in the end.

-Happy?

-Yeah.

-Looking good. Gordon would never have done that.

Or if he had, there might have been a lot more swearing.

But now it's out, will the diners give a fig about Steve's second starter?

The first taste was lovely, but then as you got into it, it was very, very rich.

And before I got to the end, I'd had enough.

And I had the fig with the goat's cheese

which was, on first impressions, really, really nice.

But as I got halfway through the second fig, I'd had enough. It was a bit too sweet.

So not a great start for The Boys In Blue.

Can Dina do any better with her Indian-inspired starters?

She's offering spicy prawns wrapped in pancakes

or courgette fritters with tomato and coriander chutney.

My starters are really easy and I really like the prawn pancakes.

They're packed full of flavour and I know the diners will love them.

I think the pancakes sound really nice.

I've a feeling that the courgette fritters may not be too popular. It doesn't sound inspiring.

Let's see, shall we?

Dina started just after lunch by collecting eggs.

So I'm going to use these fresh eggs that have just been laid today for the starter,

for the egg pancakes with the prawns.

Nice, fresh eggs, I know exactly where they've come from.

These are going to be cooked to order.

I'm going to add the prawns in once I know how many people are having the prawn starter.

The pancake filling was also made in advance - fried onions with Dina's special mix of spices.

A bit of garam masala.

There's a twist on the...

When you go to an Indian restaurant and you get the prawn puri, the fried bread with prawns on top...

I thought rather than doing that, this is a healthier option with the thin pancake with the eggs.

It's my take on an Indian restaurant, but it's a healthy option.

Dina's other starter is fried courgette fritters made from grated courgettes, carrot and onion,

mixed with cornflour, spices and water.

The diners will get three each, so Dina tries to get ahead by making a batch in advance

with sister Sarita taking on a supervisory role.

-If eight people want fritters out of the ten...

-Yeah.

-Three times eight is... I know that's a bit difficult.

-24.

-Good.

-How many are we going to have made?

-For God's sake!

You can always count on a sibling to wind you up when you least need it.

You've been to an Indian restaurant.

Fortunately, Midge IS being helpful front of house.

Indian restaurants here are actually Bangladeshi restaurants.

The food we'll serve you tonight is Indian food, what we eat at home.

Dina is busy preparing the egg pancakes, ready to be filled when she knows how many.

The biggest thing is making sure the food goes out steaming hot.

The last thing you want in a restaurant is cold food.

-Would you like that door shut when we dish up?

-Yeah.

-It'll go cold.

It's all right now. Let's wait for the orders.

Leaving them on the side with the door open, maybe not the best idea.

-Two courgettes and the rest prawns.

-Yeah, eight.

-Eight. That's right.

Give me numbers. Don't say, "Two courgettes and the rest prawns."

I'm no good with numbers. Everyone OK for drinks?

So that's eight spicy prawn pancakes that need to arrive piping hot as quick as you can.

-That's fine.

-So you've got one more to make?

-Yeah.

-Can you just tell me that it's all got the same amount? Are you all right?

-Yeah.

The pressure's on. Dina is the lean, mean rolling machine and Sarita the garnish queen.

Now it's up to Midge to deliver.

But can they serve them fast enough?

We wanted to get everything out hot and all at the same time, so that was a bit panicky.

Maybe we could have had a better way of dealing with it, but we'll see, as long as everyone's happy.

-All OK?

-Yeah, it's lovely.

They're eating their starters now and everything's OK.

The comments are, "Very nice, lovely, thank you very much." So hopefully that's all right.

But what do the diners really think behind closed doors?

'I had prawns in egg pancakes.'

The spiciness was nice, the prawns were lovely, but the meal was cold. The temperature was quite cold.

'Yeah, I agree with that exactly. It was slightly cold.'

It almost tasted like a cold omelette wrapped around lovely, tasty, spicy prawns.

It could have done with being a little bit hotter, although it was really nice and I loved it.

Oh, dear, cold food isn't good.

What about the courgette fritters?

-They were lovely.

-Tasty. For a courgette. It's surprising what you can do with a courgette.

Well, not exactly a flying start for either of our cooks today.

Dina's guests weren't wild about cold food

and remarks at Steve's about child-like presentation and giant tomatoes

weren't what he was hoping to hear either. Maybe things will get better.

For his mains, Steve's serving Suffolk-reared pork medallions

in a cream and mushroom sauce with caramelised apple

or Felixstowe fish stew finished with garlic and parsley.

This fish stew that we've put together, the flavours in that enhance the flavour of the fish.

I'm sure the diners will love it.

I wouldn't order either of these main courses

and I think the pork might be a bit rich and a bit heavy.

At Steve's, once a police inspector,

always a police inspector - team briefing.

It's half past four. We've got two hours to service. We've got to make sure all the final stuff is done.

I've got the meat and fish to prep, but we need to make sure we've got everything where it ought to be.

I think we're almost there, guys, so, brilliant day so far.

And the important bit is still to come. Thank you.

They burst into activity. The power I have is amazing, isn't it, eh? What a briefing!

Briefing over and Steve stops acting like a police officer and starts acting like a celebrity chef.

Felixstowe fish stew.

We've got some lovely fish, fresh out the sea. I'll trim this up into nice bite-size pieces.

He even has his own TV chef tips.

It's easier to pull the skin and hold the knife.

Someone clever told me that. I think it must have been someone on telly.

How long would you cook this for, Gordon, sorry, Steve?

Even though this is a fish stew, it doesn't mean it has to be stewed for hours. It's going to be great.

I might have some myself.

I'm not sure if Steve's cooking this meal or auditioning for his own show! Let's hope it tastes nice.

We're making the garlic and parsley which is what we'll use to finish the fish stew.

It doesn't get cooked, the garlic, so it's a big wodge of parsley...

and a good glug of olive oil.

Raw garlic garnish? Let's hope there are no vampires in tonight.

With both mains cooked to order,

Steve has a lot of last-minute work.

I've asked you a hundred times, but how many of each am I doing?

-We are doing four stew and two pork.

-OK.

-Have you got that now, Chef?

-Thanks, Chef.

-OK.

We've got the fish stew just starting, so we've got stock in there, some tomatoes,

red peppers, onions, paprika.

Blimey, that's a lot of paprika!

We've got the pork starting to come together here.

We've got the pork medallions in there, frying off with mushrooms and shallots.

Some double cream in there, starting to make the sauce. It's already got sherry and white wine.

The alcohol will be burnt off, so we won't be getting anybody drunk.

And Steve's new book The Naked Copper will be out soon(!)

This is that mixture of garlic and parsley that we whizzed up earlier on.

This just gives a lovely garlicky finish to it.

As the plates head out, Steve stops being Gordon and comes over all Rick Stein.

If they're coming to the seaside, they ought to be prepared to eat some seafood. That's what I think.

If they can just give it a taste, I think they'll love it.

-Ready for that one.

-One pork, one stew... Two stews. Easy.

Let's hope so. After all that talk, it's down to the diners to have their say.

I had the fish stew. It was OK, but it was overpowered by the garlic. There wasn't enough fish in there.

Not so much of a stew. A little bit disappointed. Too much garlic.

Couldn't taste the fish. There was fish in there, but... Only other criticism, no seasoning.

-Any feedback?

-No bad feedback.

Not much good feedback either!

-Empty.

-Empty. Good.

That's good, empty plates. Either they liked it or they threw it on the floor.

I'm calmer now. I'm glad that we're getting into a bit of a routine.

And things are kind of coming together.

Getting the timing sorted, everything should be all right.

No complaints so far, so it's good.

-Service!

-The second lot of fish stews head out, this time with added paprika.

Looking good. I thought that looked nice. Looked tasty, appetising.

Lovely colours. I'm happy with it. Hopefully, they'll enjoy it.

I do hope so. Shall we see?

-It's very hot.

-Oh, dear! What about Steve's unhappy diner from the first course?

Wow, that's hot! No, thank you.

-No?

-It's hot.

-Hot as in...?

-Spicy.

-Spicy.

Still not happy, but this time he goes one better and sends it back to the kitchen.

-He says it's too spicy.

-No problem.

It's a curry. It's a fish curry.

Don't ask me to talk.

It really was far too hot and overall, I have to say, as a dish,

I'd put it down as very average and probably very amateurish.

-He can do it less spicy.

-Let's go for it.

Unfazed by the criticisms, Steve keeps his cool, unlike some who tasted the stew.

It's not to everyone's taste, so I'll just spice down one for him

and get that out as quick as I can, so he's not waiting too long.

Actually, all you're getting is just heat.

-Herbs and spices are supposed to bring out the actual flavour of the food.

-That's just killing it.

It might be bland for my taste, but if that's what the gentleman wants, that's what the gentleman gets.

Yes, the customer is always right, especially this one.

-'I don't think they put that much thought into it.'

-That's fine.

Let's face it, it was just...

Well, I'm living with an excellent cook

and no, it just didn't cut it for me.

No, not enough preparation, not enough thought.

Will the pork go down any better?

'I had the pork medallions and they were very, very nice.'

The pork was cooked extremely well and the sauce that went with it was absolutely fantastic.

The apples are really nice. 'I had the pork. It was lovely. I have no complaints.'

The sauce was really nice. Absolutely lovely.

Phew! It looks like the pork may have saved Steve's bacon and calm has returned to the kitchen.

The stress levels are back down again. They peaked a little bit as we were cooking those main courses.

One came back, a little too spicy on the fish stew, but hey, that's the way things go.

So, ultimately, back where we ought to be, feeling good.

You just can't keep a good man down, can you? Let's hope Dina is feeling as chipper.

Continuing her theme, she's offering her diners a selection of Indian dishes,

made from her own recipes.

A mutton curry, chilli paneer and a spinach and potato curry

with home-made naan bread and fresh boiled rice.

The guests are invited to fill their own traditional platters.

These dishes are some of the dishes that we would eat at home.

They won't be familiar to my diners, but they'll enjoy the new tastes and flavours

and be really excited with the different choices.

I love Indian food and that does sound like a really nice meal.

But will the diners be prepared to pay a premium for an Indian meal?

We'll find out soon enough.

To ease the pressure later on, Dina cooks the dishes in advance

and stores them in re-heatable foil trays.

Maybe it was tactical for me to say, "All my dishes are out on the table, they're ready to go."

She's cooking mutton, not a meat some of her diners will be used to.

The mutton is on the bone, really important because that is where the flavour comes from.

It'll be stewed for several hours in a mixture of softened onions, garlic, ginger and chillis

that have been cooked with tomato puree and a unique blend of spices.

We've got the famous garam masala which has been made...

This one has been made by Sarita's mother-in-law

and it's a blend of lots of different spices

like cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamom pods, all those bits...

They're all blended down to make this famous secret recipe, garam masala.

Every family has their own recipe.

The chopped meat is added to the sauce.

I'm going to add some water to that and I'm going to put the lid on.

I'll put it in the oven for a good three hours

and let all the spices and all the flavours infuse.

Serving an unfamiliar meat on the bone is doubly risky if she ends up with picky diners.

She's also making a chilli paneer made from Indian cheese,

something else that might be a new experience for her paying guests.

It's pretty tasteless unless you add something to it.

It's probably got the consistency of tofu.

Tofu is a bit softer. This is quite hard.

The paneer is coated in spices and stir-fried with onion and peppers

and cooked in a light sauce of tomato puree with fruity and soy sauces.

I'm going to let that chilli paneer... Just leave that there and put the lid on it.

And again give it some time to cook.

Her third dish is sauteed new potatoes cooked in spices

and popped into a takeaway tray lined with spinach and kept warm for later.

She even cooked her rice in advance, so she shouldn't be under too much pressure.

Yeah, tonight should be fine because of the fact that... It's all in the preparation now.

As long as they're organised and get things done now, tonight should be a doddle. Should!

Famous last words?

With all her dishes already cooked, Dina just has to make the naans.

Fresh naan bread is better. You can't reheat them.

The dough is all ready to go. I just need to roll them out.

-Sounds easy.

-A bit ambitious, but hey!

When you take it, just stretch it a bit.

I think what's happening is they're just springing back.

The perfect naan should be nice and chewy.

Get it wrong and it could end up dense and doughy.

Fortunately, all that's left to do with the main course is serve them up.

Here's hoping they're red-hot!

Coriander on the top to garnish.

As many dishes may be unfamiliar to the diners,

Midge gives them a guided tour of what they're about to eat, complete with a health and safety warning.

You've got rice, which is the obvious one. That's chilli paneer and you've got mutton curry.

The mutton curry has got bones in, so don't crunch right into it.

It just tastes better.

Good work, Midge, though not apparently good enough for Dina who has a few suggestions of her own.

Say things like, "Help yourselves, don't be shy."

-Just say that there's loads more.

-Yeah, I have done.

But Midge is doing pretty well on his own.

Your little pomegranate...

It's definitely better coming here than going to a restaurant. The service has been brilliant.

He's really welcoming, friendly and he's always got a smile on his face, checking that we're OK constantly.

But Dina keeps up a steady flow of food and instructions from the kitchen.

-More naan? Shall we do some more naan?

-Yeah, they've just taken one.

You just need to keep there, Midge, so that if the rice needs filling up or anything like that...

But what do the diners make of Dina's efforts?

I wasn't that keen on the lamb because it was on the bone, but he said that gave it more flavour.

It just could have done with being on a warmer plate because it was on a silver platter.

It looked nice, but it got a bit cold quickly.

I loved the mutton, but I was very uncomfortable.

There was quite large bones in some of the pieces of meat.

We were warned that there would be bones,

but I still find it surprising when you've got bones in a curry.

'The mutton curry was nice.'

-However, I know a lot of people found it difficult cos they had...

-Bones.

-It was on the bone.

I sort of managed not to get any of the bones, so it was really good for me.

And were the home-made naans worth the effort?

'I liked it all. There was nothing that I didn't like.'

The naan bread was a bit doughy.

The naan bread was a bit doughy, but I'm only used to stuff you buy in the supermarket.

-We're doing well.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Are they going to pay the full whack? That is the question.

And what about the chilli paneer?

'I ate all of the choices and the cheese was quite interesting.

'I would normally steer clear of a paneer because you think a curried cheese won't be very interesting,

'but it was fantastic, actually.'

It was one of the best dishes there.

The best thing there? Result! That should raise some smiles in the kitchen.

The feedback from dinner is really good. I'm really happy about that.

Midge is whistling and quite happy. It's the last one. I'm just waiting for the last one.

-And yeah, I think we're doing quite well. We're OK, Midge?

-No, we're doing very well.

There we go. There's your answer.

At least Midge is still whistling, but sometimes it's hard work keeping all your diners happy.

Dina's mutton bones didn't go down well and poor Steve had a bit of a struggle with his fish stew,

but you have to admire his efforts to keep everyone happy.

He's putting his best foot forward.

For his last course, he's offering individual autumn puddings

or a trio of cop pots -

a chocolate orange pot, a lemon posset and a sherry trifle.

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello!

I think the signature dish amongst the desserts is the trio of pots.

That gives the diners an opportunity to taste three really delicious desserts.

I'm sure that'll be a great hit.

The trio of pots sounds absolutely lovely, but I wouldn't want all three together.

They could be quite heavy and quite rich.

So his guests leave with a sweet taste in their mouths,

Steve started preparing his desserts first thing.

We'll serve our trio of pots in these little shot glasses,

so we'll have one with lemon posset, one with a chocolate cup in it,

then we'll have a miniature sherry trifle in there - a bit challenging to get all the stuff in there.

So it's got that in here now.

All we need is 600 millilitres of double cream.

We're going to add into that some caster sugar, the zest of two lemons.

Whisk it all up. The acid in the lemon juice will start to set that cream up. Lovely.

I like it to cool before I pour it in the pots cos otherwise, you get a bit of separation.

You can't have runny bits at the bottom of your pot. You just wouldn't pay for it, would you?

-You're right. That's the name of the game.

-One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

This recipe has never failed, but I've never tried to run a restaurant before.

There's a first for everything, except perhaps making that grumpy diner happy.

We'll add the chocolate.

Steve tackles his chocolate pots with a rich mix of cream, egg yolks, Cointreau and plain chocolate.

It has to be good chocolate because you'll taste it.

Next on the dessert conveyor belt...

We're just doing some little sherry trifles. Again we'll make them in the pots.

Finally, there are individual autumn puddings,

packed with blackberries, apples, pears and stale bread.

Any TV chef tips, Steve?

I'm using really cheap, really stale, shop-bought white bread. It's the best thing for it, really.

You can... Everything else just falls apart, really.

I've got one missing, Jim.

-No, you haven't. Six.

-No, I've got one round thing missing.

-What are you like?

-I must have eaten it.

Steve, don't eat the profits,

but do these desserts taste as good as they look

and will they make up for that slightly disappointing course that went before them?

They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating,

so let's find out, starting with the autumn pud.

It's actually tasteless, isn't it?

-There's no taste to that.

-Isn't there?

-No.

It's apple rather than blackberries or blackcurrants and redcurrants.

Thankfully, there's a hung jury.

I've ordered the autumn pudding and it's very, very nice. Yeah, it's very nice.

And the grand finale - what do the diners make of the trio of cop pots?

Two of them were really nice, but the chocolate was far too bitter for my liking, so I didn't eat it.

I had the cop pots and they were absolutely lovely, scrummy.

The chocolate was a little bit thick, but it had something very nice in it which made up for that.

The trifle had something very nice in the bottom as well, so absolutely delicious.

-So the booze did the trick.

-I can't fault it. I would definitely have it again.

I need to re-book. Really good.

On that evidence, I think Steve can rest his case, but will Dina's desserts go down as well?

She's serving shrikhand, a blend of curd cheese, yogurt with saffron, pistachio and almonds...

..and a carrot halwa, served with pistachios and silver leaf.

Desserts aren't traditional on an Indian menu,

but I wanted to experiment with some simple flavours and I think they'll love them.

I've never tried either before, but I just wonder how they'll go down with the diners?

Again, Dina prepared her desserts earlier in the day to make her evening as stress-free as possible.

Sarita made the shrikhand, a mix of curd cheese, yogurt and sugar.

It goes in the fridge. We'll bring it out probably half an hour before we're going to serve it

and put on the saffron,

the cardamom and some chopped nuts.

I'm sure Midge will be back by then and willing to taste it

or if he's found out we've already made it, he'll be in the fridge tasting it himself.

The time is now...4.30.

It is final pudding time,

which is the carrot halwa,

which I have only made once before, so fingers crossed.

The carrots are cooked in clarified butter before adding cardamom, evaporated milk and sugar.

Sarita's also offering backseat cookery advice, whether Dina wants it or not.

Why don't you use caster sugar? It's so gritty, that sugar.

-I've only got brown caster sugar.

-It doesn't matter. Sugar's sugar.

-No, you can taste the difference.

Sarita may be full of advice, but as long as Dina's got the spoon, she calls the shots.

I'm going to serve it with cream today, just a little drizzle of cream,

just to add and make it more unctuous.

I'm always chief taster.

And as predicted, Midge can't resist a little taste of the shrikhand just to make sure.

For the diners' sake, obviously!

I'll have to taste that again in a few hours because the sugar can dissolve and we can add some more.

Now it's time to get the desserts on the move, if Dina doesn't throttle her sister first!

-Why did you put the cream on first?

-Midge told me to.

-No, I didn't.

-I'd stay well out of it, Midge.

-Where's your nuts?

Blimey, I'd definitely stay out of it!

-..You won't tell me.

-I thought I did last time.

-That's what I started doing.

With the sisters having a bit of a domestic, Midge delivers the first plates.

After a few finishing touches, the rest go off to join them.

But how will the diners react to these weird and wonderful desserts?

As they wait for the results, even the sisters have stopped squabbling in the kitchen.

I didn't actually like the dessert. I'm sure it's lovely, but it's not to my taste.

The suspense is killing them, so they resort to a bit of earwigging.

What do they say about people who listen at doors?

I personally didn't like the dessert because of the cardamoms. I'm a chocolate lover, unfortunately.

It was nice. Yeah, I enjoyed it.

I probably wouldn't order it again, though.

LAUGHTER

You could be a politician!

You didn't say that, did you? >

Not a great finale for Dina's Bollywood bistro, but she still gets an encore for her efforts.

He made it. He was brilliant. LAUGHTER

And there was one big star of the evening.

Thank you very much for coming. I hope you've had a lovely evening.

Steve put in a strong finish, but will it sway the diners?

You're welcome to stay as long as you want, but if you stay past midnight, you're washing up!

So, have Dina and Steve done enough to make a profit?

Their fate is now entirely in the diners' hands.

It's up to the guests to decide how much or how little they want to pay for their evenings

and neither cook has any idea how much that might be.

Steve only spent £68 of his £200 allowance,

so he needs £7 a head to steal into profit.

And he's pretty confident he'll do it.

Yeah, I think we've definitely turned a profit.

How much, that's a little difficult to say, isn't it?

People sometimes are very nice to your face,

but behind your back, they're going, "I didn't rate that."

A fantastic meal. I thought it was definitely restaurant quality and I would like to come again.

I thought the meal was absolutely fabulous.

A very enjoyable evening, apart from the main course. Apart from that, great.

-The food was average.

-One of the worst meals I've ever had.

I hope you never get pulled over for speeding!

Potentially, I may do this again, but I'm never giving up the day job to run a restaurant.

Dina spent more than twice as much,

a chunky £154 on her restaurant,

so she needs just over £15 a head to break even.

So will her diners pay that much for their Bollywood night out?

All the food was excellent. The main courses, being able to try each different dish was excellent.

The starters were really good, the service was brilliant, so a very good night.

A very good meal, well worth it.

I had a lovely evening. They've looked after us so well. I was a bit let down by the pudding.

It was lovely, a wonderful evening.

How do we look?

That kind of gives you the answer of how we're feeling!

-A bit tired.

-Yeah, my feet are killing me.

-But very happy.

-Yeah.

Wow, what a night, guys! You both did absolutely brilliantly.

And Dina, I loved your Barbie Bollywood restaurant!

You spent £75 on that. Money well spent?

I loved every minute of it. I loved the way it looked.

I loved the pink and the shine and everything else.

Yeah, really happy with it.

-What would have been your "super sweat moment"?

-Getting the starters out.

Because I had to make them there and then, I was really concerned they weren't going to go out hot.

My husband was trying to juggle all these plates. Making sure they all went out hot was my biggest concern.

-Oh, you've got a lovely husband though!

-Very.

-Oh, he's handy!

-Yes, very good.

Dina, you were listening to what they said about your desserts. How did that feel?

Slightly upsetting, but slightly what I expected as well.

They were experimental dishes that I wanted to try and see what people thought of the flavours and tastes.

But I'm glad that everyone tried them.

-How was it for you, Steve?

-I'm glad it's over.

It was certainly a good insight into why I don't want to run a restaurant, really.

So, Steve, how do you feel about Mr Paprika Man?

As they say, the customer is always right.

The guy sent it back because it was too spicy.

I couldn't find any spice, so I left the paprika out and cooked it again.

It must have been a bit bland the second time, but there you go.

Now, Dina, because you are a Barbie girl, you spent £153.99.

And your lowest donation was £15.

Your highest was £30.

-So your profit was £82.

-Excellent.

So, Steve, you spent £68.09

and your profit was £139.65.

-There you go.

-Brilliant. Would you like the money?

-I wouldn't mind.

-That's yours.

-OK.

-And Dina, there you go. Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank YOU, Dina.

-Excellent.

Thanks, guys. You did absolutely brilliantly. Incredibly brave. Well done.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much. Congratulations.

-And to you.

-Thank you.

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