Episode 9 Instant Restaurant

Two rival amateur cooks are turning their homes into restaurants.

I don't know how it's supposed to taste.

People complain it's taking 20 minutes.

It couldn't have gone any quicker.

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

I haven't enough.

We're one short on the pigeon.

The spaghetti is a bit of a disaster.

Twenty strangers will be coming to sample and judge the results.

It was light, refreshing. I thought the starter was superb.

After the main course, I wanted to send out for pizza.

It'll be entirely up to the diners how much or how little they pay.

The lowlight of the evening was going to the toilet and seeing a pair of pants on the radiator.

So, can our cooks deliver the goods and make any money?

Hello, and welcome to Instant Restaurant.

Now, having friends over to dinner is one thing.

Allowing ten strangers to roll up, pass judgment,

and then decide how much they think your meal is worth is quite another.

But that's exactly what's about to happen to our two rival cooks.

So, will either of them have what it takes to make a profit?

First up, 47-year-old financial services trainer Anne Everitt

from near Selby, North Yorkshire.

Anne's instant restaurant is about all things home-grown

with veg from the garden.

The meat comes free too, thanks to hunter-gatherer husband Will.

When I speak to people initially and say my husband shoots,

we get, "That's not a very nice thing to do."

My theory is that it's a lot nicer

to have shot something that's been free and healthy

than get something that's been stuck in a cage for its short life.

Best-case scenario is that maybe they try something a bit different

and go away thinking, "That's really nice."

We'll find out soon enough if Anne's strategy pays off.

First she needs to create the right ambience to snare her diners.

We've thought it through. We've not just thrown mats at a table.

We've thought through the colour scheme, everything on that table.

It's not over-fussy, it's not over-cluttered.

They'll walk in and think,

"That looks like the sort of place I'd like to spend the evening, definitely."

Let's hope her diners find it as agreeable.

Each cook can have two helpers.

Anne's lined up husband Will and son Sam to shine in front of house,

even if Sam's still got his L-plates on.

-What are you going to be doing with the black pepper?

-Do it like that.

-Not on the carpet.

Anne's rival is 22-year-old Leeds fashion student Rhiannon Rowlands.

The name of our restaurant is Art House

because all the people, and me, we all live in the same house and we're all really creative and arty.

And two of those arty types will be helping her today.

She's recruited housemate Harry to schmooze the guests.

He's very outgoing. He's a singer in a band. And he tends to talk a lot.

I'm no stranger to knives and forks, and I like saying hello to people. I'm sure it'll be fine.

And friend Jess, who'll be second in command in the kitchen, is every bit as confident.

She's not panicked.

The whole run-up to this evening

has been very calm and collected.

Rhiannon's on a mission to prove that students really can cook.

I didn't want to portray a normal student.

I wanted to make people see that students don't just eat rubbish.

So the concept for everything was to have it quite traditional and quite simple.

And, in contrast to traditional Anne,

she's dreaming up an arty vibe to transform her student pad.

I'm going to have, on the walls, those different-size frames.

Make it feel a bit cosy, a bit vintagey and a bit creative.

Both cooks have been given up to £200 to spend on their instant restaurant.

Thanks to free veg from the allotment and meat from rod and gun,

Anne's only needed £66,

so the diners must part with £7 for her to go into profit.

Rhiannon's decided to spend

nearly half as much again,

so her diners will have to pay £11 each to make her any money.

So it's the battle of Anne's catch- and kill-of-the-day menu, courtesy of husband Will,

versus Rhiannon's sassy student grub with an arty twist.

But which will impress the diners the most?

-Welcome to our restaurant.

-Thank you.

Each cook will be judged by ten strangers who live nearby.

-Can I give you a menu to read?

-Thank you very much.

They're here for one thing and one thing only:

a memorable night out.

But if Anne or Rhiannon don't come up to expectations, they could be heading for a loss.

So, how's Anne's game menu going down with the guests?

Pigeon, trout, venison. It's like something out of the Middle Ages.

A bit different. It's not anything I've had before.

I've not had wood pigeon before but... looks good.

It's a bit out of the ordinary,

but I don't mind cos I like trying new stuff, so it's fine.

But the traditional decor is not to everyone's taste.

Like somewhere you'd take your nana.

Over at Rhiannon's, things are going with a bit of a swing.

Her neighbours are providing the music

and the guests are settling in,

though she's rather wishing they weren't.

I'm really stressed. Nothing's completely finished.

I've not had time to get changed. I'm really hot and...

I don't know what to do.

But Harry looks as though he knows exactly what to do.

-Obviously, what you don't pay for I'll just be sneaking out.

-THEY LAUGH

Harry, the waiter, I think he's top bananas. He's a great guy.

He's hilarious. I like him.

Everyone seems really happy.

I need to introduce myself to the last table or it's gonna be really rude.

Guys, sorry. I'm Harry.

Ooh, Harry, you little charmer!

He's gonna be a bit of a star turn for Rhiannon.

I'm not sure how Anne would feel about being told

that her restaurant's a bit like a tea room you'd take your nan to.

But the diners have only just pulled their chairs up to the table

and now it's all about the food.

So, what's for starters?

For her entrees, Anne's making wood pigeon burger with homemade spicy chutney and crab apple jelly.

Or there's a trout mousse served with home-grown beetroot and balsamic dressing.

Wood pigeon is something that's readily available

so I tend to make quite big batches of these.

I make them for my friends, put in lots of spices and fresh flavours,

and they do enjoy them.

They sound really fancy but I'd like to try them.

Ah, that's sporting of you, Rhiannon.

Anne's starter preparations began with the trout mousse.

She's using rainbow trout caught by Will, the man with the licence to kill.

The trout's already been baked, so now it's just about turning it into a mousse.

A straight trout mousse wouldn't be for me.

It's just a little bit too fishy.

But this one I've fiddled about with, and this one suits me.

I'm looking for ways to use my husband's produce.

The flaked fish is combined with cream cheese, egg yolk, lemon juice and minced prawns before baking.

The mousse will be left to cool before being served.

And we'll put them in there for about 30 minutes.

Anne's second starter is a burger.

Not any old burger, but a pigeon burger.

It's been bagged by Will on one of his shooting adventures,

which always ends in the garden shed.

I know there's dead things in there

and things ladies aren't supposed to see.

Blimey! Sounds gruesome.

That's all I know, really.

HE UNLOCKS THE PADLOCK

-Have you been allowed in?

-Oh, yes, we've wormed our way in.

In here is where I lock myself away when I get some game birds.

We've got two ducks at the present, which I shot last night.

And I'll dress 'em in here. I've got a Formica table.

I stick 'em on here, dress 'em, pluck 'em, get 'em all cleaned up.

Obviously now we've put 'em...

I've got this little freezer which is a game freezer.

We've got some trout. Quite a nice fish.

Duck breasts. We've got a hare all done and dusted in there.

Pigeons. Pheasant.

There's a canard... duck.

I've still got plenty of pigeon.

Crikey! It's a one-man abattoir in here!

In the kitchen, the pigeon's landed alongside sausage meat, egg and a bit of seasoning

to make its debut as burgers.

They'll be cooked to order later when, hopefully, diners will be adventurous and give them a go.

Right.

Anne's son Sam is under starter's orders.

-Sam?

-Yeah?

-You're not exactly Memory Man, are you? Take that.

SAM MUTTERS Obviously the one table.

Come on, Sam, let's have a spring in your step!

-Have you decided what you'd like as starters?

-Yeah.

Come on. I'm the chef here. I need to get cooking.

-I'll have wood pigeon burger.

-Yeah, I'll have that as well.

-Um... How many pigeon burgers have you got?

-As many as you want.

-There's one trout, nine pigeon burgers.

-No problem.

Nine orders for pigeon! Wow!

Looks like Anne's posse of diners are game for her food philosophy.

But there's a hitch - only eight burgers.

See if anybody was veering between trout and pigeon.

-Why?

-Cos I haven't got enough.

You're joking! You haven't done ten for ten people?

So, who's going to tell the diners?

I'm not doing that.

-I'm not doing it.

-We're in a dilemma here, aren't we?

We'll have a sit-in, shall we?

-God, it's embarrassing, innit?

-Yeah, it is. I'm not doing it.

-I think the chef goes in.

-Thanks, chaps(!) So it looks like Anne will be shooting from the hip.

Anybody ordered a pigeon burger that might be swayed towards trout?

-We're one short on the pigeon.

-Go on, then. I'll have the trout.

-You get extra portions and everything.

-Oh, thank you.

Well, that's that in the bag.

Well done.

-Set of wimps.

-Quite, but there's a sympathy vote.

I think it's a bit unusual in this restaurant. They've plainly not got a full staff.

There'll be a lot of stress and pressure behind the scenes, and I can sympathise with that.

But my tummy's rumbling! I'm hungry!

I starved myself today for this.

-Hang on in there. They're on their way.

-Lovely. Thank you.

So, will the pigeon pass with flying colours?

For my starter, I had the wood pigeon burger.

It was pretty damn tasteless, to be honest.

-I'll swap you my pigeon.

-No!

There is no way I would eat a pigeon.

The fact that I've had it all is more a reflection of how hungry I am rather than how tasty it is.

I went for it more to try it than anything. I've never had it before.

I'm a bit disappointed. I thought it'd be tasty but it seemed bland.

I can see why it's not on most menus.

Just the chutney and the balsamic vinegar would have been nice, without the jelly.

Looks like the solitary diner who ducked the pigeon

may have made a wise choice.

I was glad, when it came, that I had the trout.

I enjoyed it. I snuck a bit of Sophie's burger and it was...

I'm glad I went for the trout. It was delicious.

Anne's pigeon may not have been a soar-away success

but at least a couple of diners appreciated the chance to try something new.

-Empty dishes, Mum.

-That makes me feel good, confident. That's how it should be.

I wonder if Rhiannon's student starters will earn better marks.

She's hoping to tempt her diners with asparagus with sun-blushed tomatoes and homemade pesto.

Or good old leek and potato soup.

Soup was the first thing I ever made,

and I made it in primary school.

And the asparagus was when I used to work at a restaurant

and they always served it there and it was really yummy.

I love the sound of both of those.

That's definitely something I would do as well.

Just chopping the garlic and basil.

Rhiannon's homemade pesto mayo for her asparagus starter

was one of the first jobs of the day.

Parmesan, garlic, basil and pine nuts are whizzed in the blender...

BLENDER WHIRS

..with a bit of extra help.

BLENDER WHIRS

I think that's the idea of what we want.

I never made it before but I think that's what we're aiming for.

Never made it before?

Good luck!

Hm.

I don't know how it's supposed to taste.

Hm. I'd keep that to yourself if I were you.

Maybe Jess knows better.

Whoa! What's it got in it?

-Has it got chillies in it?

-No.

-It's got a kick.

Well, hopefully the diners will get a kick out of it.

Wow. Yeah, that tastes good to me.

That's ready to be covered and put in the fridge.

Next up, the potato and leek soup.

It's a recipe she knows very well.

I remember doing it in primary school.

And I've done it a few times with my mum.

So it's quite dear to me, maybe.

So she should know how this one should taste.

It's a simple blend - leeks, potatoes and stock.

That needs to just sweat a bit more so they're a bit softer.

There's nothing wrong with simplicity but,

if she's hoping to show her diners that students can cook,

this dish will have to dazzle.

After cooking, the soup needs blending.

See how it's really thick?

I'm going to put loads of pepper and salt, season it,

and then some milk.

Yeah, seasoning is definitely a good idea.

So, ready to go, then.

Just give me a shout if you need anything.

Harry is oozing charm and efficiency.

-How was everything?

-Chilled. Everyone's just gonna get drunk.

-What are you gonna do about the Post-it notes?

-I'm just gonna keep them over here.

-If we're gonna be true professionals.

-Well, that is the general idea.

Out go the starters, but in his haste, Harry's forgotten something.

Guys. The dudes.

You guys OK for drinks? You need anything?

-Yeah, of course! I thought we were just gonna use the hands.

-LAUGHTER

Yeah, spoons will definitely be helpful.

I'm having the potato and leek soup for my starter, and it's lovely.

Once we got a spoon, it was brilliant.

Ooh! Someone likes his seasoning.

Smooth soup. I like more pepper in than they flavoured it with, but that's the only comment.

So the simple soup's slipped down nicely enough.

But what about the asparagus?

I didn't really like the asparagus.

It was too al dente for me. Very crunchy.

Not my thing, really. It needed a bit more flavour.

Chalk and cheese. I thought that was very nice.

Simon likes his asparagus cremated.

I really enjoyed the fact that it was al dente and fresh.

The pesto sauce I expected to be very heavy, very green,

and it was light, refreshing.

You could taste all the flavours. It was superb.

Really nice garlic flavours, with the sun-dried tomato.

-I really enjoyed it.

-It did look appetising.

Very nice starter. Really enjoyed it.

It was beautiful. Really tasty. I'd expect that from a restaurant.

But I didn't expect it tonight, so I was very impressed.

Looks like Harry wants to share the good news.

One person said they'd never had as horrible asparagus as just now

and they were gonna go home now,

-and they were gonna come in here and kill whoever was responsible.

-RHIANNON GIGGLES

But, apart from that, it's fine.

You are a little scally, aren't you, really?

A scallywag indeed.

Wow! Rave reviews for Rhiannon -

apart from the diner who likes his asparagus cremated.

But we won't worry about him.

And it looks like Anne's got a tricky customer or two.

It's gonna take a lot to please them.

But will her main course be her salvation?

Anne's offering game casserole fresh from the field

with sage, onion and bacon dumplings.

Or venison steaks with country pate and button mushrooms wrapped in puff pastry,

all served with lashings of veg straight from the allotment.

The game casserole is typically what Will shot this week

and what's left in the freezer.

So that all goes in there.

Typically as well it's vegetables that are in the allotment at the moment

and what Will brings home.

The venison... I went a bit more mainstream

that maybe people are used to on a menu in a restaurant.

There's a lot going on.

It sounds really rich and fancy.

Rich and fancy? We'll soon find out.

This is the roasted roots.

So we've got in here butternut squash, swede,

and we're just putting this in with oil and balsamic.

I'm just gonna leave that.

-Just give me a couple of carrots for colour, Will!

-Yeah.

As well as her freshly shot meat,

Anne's other secret weapon is her home-grown veg.

We've got some parsnips, which we've dug up already and done,

we've got potatoes and lots of onions,

that's cabbage, Brussels sprouts,

which are all on our menu.

So, basically, we haven't needed to get any veg.

It's taken months to grow and lots of hard work,

but Anne's hoping veg straight from the ground will help to reap a profit.

Even something as simple as a potato.

You buy your potatoes and make your mash

and you don't realise what a difference a lovely, fresh, home-grown potato can make.

Anne's spent most of the afternoon on her two main courses.

First, the venison Wellington.

And this time, Will hasn't dragged a deer out of the shed.

We've got venison striploin here,

and it's absolutely the best cut.

It's from the farmers' market in York

and it's absolutely gorgeous stuff.

She splurged nearly £40 - around two-thirds of her total spend - on venison from the market.

Hope it's worth it!

After she's fried the meat, Anne lays it on a base of button mushrooms and country pate

before wrapping it up in puff pastry to be baked to order.

It's something that's probably a taste they're a bit more familiar with.

But we want to encourage them, get them to have a go.

That's why there's no cop-out option of not having any whatsoever.

Let's hope the diners DON'T cop out because her second main is game casserole

straight from... guess where!

For the game casserole, we've got rabbit, pheasant, some deer we got given in cubes.

When you're hanging the meat, it can give it a gamier flavour.

The longer you hang it, the gamier it tastes, basically.

So if you like it really strong, you tend to hang it a bit longer.

Ooh! I wonder how strong tonight's dish will be, then.

A lot of people don't like strong flavours in the game,

so it hasn't been hung too long,

but you should be able to taste the different types of meat in it.

-Hopefully.

-Well, let's see.

Just hope those flies aren't on the menu too.

Back in the kitchen, Will's pigeon, venison, rabbit and pheasant have been browned

and are heading for the oven with a glug of red wine and some mushrooms.

Stick that in the oven till it's done.

Perfect.

Anne's diners are patiently waiting,

but 20 minutes after starters were cleared there's still no sign of the mains.

A bit longer than I'd like to wait.

Use your organisational skills. Cracking the whip.

People are complaining it's taking 20 minutes.

-SAM:

-You shouldn't tell her that.

-It's not a quick-food restaurant.

They'll have to wait.

I'm quite hungry now. My appetite's been whet by the starter.

And there's nothing worse than a fed-up diner - especially this one.

We're a bit out in the sticks here, and I realise that time goes at a different speed,

but my tummy's rumbling and I'm getting a bit fed up.

But now it looks good to go.

About... eight minutes.

Ah, well. NEARLY good to go.

Are we going to have the same length of wait for the dessert?

I think we're in for the long haul here.

Blimey! They are disgruntled!

But the food is on its way.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Can I get anybody any drinks?

If the food is worth the wait, then I might forgive them.

Now they've got it, how is the casserole slipping down?

The meat was very tender, the sauce was spot-on.

Hurrah! Sounds like Anne's pulled it off.

The only downside to it was, the vegetables were really cold.

And he's not the only dissatisfied customer.

The casserole itself was lovely, quite tasty, nice and warm,

but everything else on the plate was really cold.

Cold plate, cold vegetables.

It's such a shame.

Did the venison do any better?

I felt that, after the wait, it weren't as good as I expected,

to see how long they had to prepare it or get it ready.

And what about Keith, he of rumbling tummy fame?

After the main course, I wanted to send out for pizza,

-but it might've hurt the chef's feelings.

-Anne might offer to order it for you, love.

Cold mash. Didn't get it out quick enough.

-I didn't serve it quick enough.

-It couldn't have gone any quicker.

Poor Anne! Her downfall: cold veg and a long wait.

Can our student, Rhiannon, hang on to her top marks

with another triumph with her mains?

She's serving spaghetti and meatballs with homemade pasta.

Or traditional fish fingers and chips.

Spaghetti and meatballs was one of the first dishes Harry ever made me

and it was good, simple food that's quite delicious.

The same with the fish and chips.

I didn't want to be overcomplicated.

Yeah, I love both of those as well.

Both typically simple home food.

Sounds lovely.

Sounds like Anne would quite like to be a guest at Rhiannon's.

Her meatballs a la Harry were started two hours before her diners arrived.

My meatballs are basically pork,

and I'm gonna mix them with basil and egg and breadcrumbs and garlic.

So that'll be minced pork?

Ah. No. Sausages.

I feel that, cos this is already compacted,

it might be a bit easier.

I am a student, so easy is better, really, for me.

Well, it's a novel approach, and sausages aren't the only short cut.

-I don't really know why I'm not using my own breadcrumbs.

-Cos you're lazy.

-I am lazy.

It's true. I'm a student and I'm cooking. It's hard for me. I think that's enough, really.

So you keep telling us.

But helper Jess certainly wouldn't have taken the lazy route.

I use beef and pork mince,

and I do the same, put egg and breadcrumbs in,

but I use bread - real bread.

Maybe the diners won't notice, and Rhiannon's putting plenty of effort into the accompanying pasta...

-I make a well in the middle.

-..which she's making from scratch for the very first time.

I'm trying it. I am trying it.

If it is good enough to serve, then I will,

but I don't want to serve something that's not very nice.

So far, so good.

You just do one egg per person

and 100g of flour per person.

It's using a special flour called 00 flour,

which I think is funny cos it reminds me of James Bond.

So that'll make you Miss Moneypenny.

It seems quite easy now.

I suppose, when you've got a pasta maker, it's really easy.

I'm unpacking the pasta maker.

I have no idea how it works. I'll have to read the instructions.

It's in Italian.

Hm! Funny, that.

I don't think this is right at all.

Wow!

I thought this was supposed to be the easy bit!

It might need a bit more flour in it.

Jess dives in.

-Oops.

-I think they're in for a long afternoon.

It's not looking very nice.

I might have to abandon this idea. It's too stuck-together. It's rubbish.

Might not be a bad idea.

But Jess does have a rescue plan.

If we re-roll it into strips like we've just done,

but this time cut it into tagliatelle-style,

I think it might work a little bit better.

With the pasta taking up so much time,

the rest of the main course prep is left till the last minute,

which means Rhiannon's diners are in for a long wait.

I wouldn't want to go to a restaurant and wait half an hour for fish.

But consummate host Harry has a cunning plan to divert the diners' attention.

Because we're really arty and young and crazy kids,

we're gonna ask each of the diners

to paint a little something on a canvas we've got.

A bit of DIY artwork

to unleash the "crazy kids" in their souls.

-Help yourself.

-I think that's a really cool idea.

-Thank you.

I loved the canvas thing. It was brilliant.

-Do you want to take your shoes off?

-No.

Because they've got the name the Art House,

we imagined this creative environment that's a bit wacky,

and it's been some of that.

Believe me, it's getting pretty wacky in the kitchen.

7.15, and Rhiannon has only just started her Bolognese sauce.

I'm just stirring it all up now.

Onions, garlic and basil, plus a bit of tomato sauce.

Oh, and a glug of wine and a sprinkle of chilli.

It's disgusting.

OK, that's ready to simmer now.

Now, what about that homemade pasta?

It's been chilling in the fridge for an hour.

All that needs doing now is to cut it into fine strips of spaghetti.

It's gonna be the thickest pasta in the world.

Oh, no.

-NADIA GIGGLES

-It looks more like a doner kebab to me!

Why is it not working?

Hurray! Look at that.

One strip down, just another hundred or so to go.

It's going quite well. We put it in the fridge to cool the pasta down

and it seems to be going through the machine a lot easier.

We're doing it in smaller lumps as well.

What are they doing?!

Next thing you know, I'll be chopping my ear off.

LAUGHTER

I wonder how long it'll be before the budding Van Goghs notice

that there's still no sign of their main course.

Hopefully that'll be a nice little memorable thing

and it'll distract them from perhaps their food taking way longer than it should do.

-But I didn't say that.

-Yeah, but where is the food?

At 7.55, Rhiannon's diners finally get served

and Harry's back on official waiter duty.

-Harry, can you just put a spoonful of tartare sauce on these plates?

-Whereabouts?

-Just on the side.

Phew! Fish and chips are out the door.

Now there's just the... homemade pasta.

SHE GASPS Look at this.

Oh, no. It looks awful.

-The spaghetti's a bit of a disaster.

-Yes, you could say that(!)

The pasta's not good at all.

I wish I hadn't made it. I wish I'd just used dried pasta.

But there's no time to cook packet stuff now.

It's just gonna have to do.

-So we've got two more fish after these, yeah?

-Yeah.

To be fair, it tastes lovely.

Ah! So, all might not be lost, then.

Ooh! Nice moves, Harry!

Thank you very much.

So, what's the verdict? Fish and chips going swimmingly?

I haven't quite worked out if I like it or not.

It's not bad. I wouldn't say it's brilliant, but it's not bad.

Ooh, I like a man who knows his mind(!)

It's not mind-blowing, it's not wow, but it's OK.

And the, uh... pasta?

For my main I had the meatballs

and homemade spaghetti.

-Which looked like cabbage.

-Which looked like cabbage.

It wasn't brilliant pasta,

but I was impressed that they'd attempted to make their own.

I would never try that.

Parts of it were quite stodgy and stuck-together.

You could have used it to build a wall.

The pasta - I've just bitten into it and having a cheeky taste.

And you can see it's dry inside.

The thing is, a lot of people, I read, prefer pasta to be a bit raw in the middle.

JESS LAUGHS No, you're completely lying!

Such an idea.

Thank you, though.

Now, Rhiannon's mains may have let her down a bit,

but getting her diners to paint was a really clever ploy.

They've hardly noticed how long they've had to wait for their food.

And poor Anne! There is no pleasing that Keith.

Pizza rather than game casserole? I know what I'd prefer.

But cold plates and cold veg could let her down too.

So now it's all about the desserts.

Anne is offering a bramble crumble

with rhubarb, apples and berries from the garden.

Or molten dark-chocolate pots

served with homemade vanilla ice cream or creme anglaise.

Crumble is a family favourite,

using the brambles, the apples,

things that are in the hedgerows in the garden.

And the chocolate dessert, that's always a crowd-pleaser.

You can never go wrong with chocolate.

I'm not too keen on the chocolate pot,

but the bramble crumble sounds really good.

Mmm, it certainly does!

And I like the sound of the chocolate too.

Anne packed plenty of free, home-grown ingredients into her crumble.

These are picked from the bushes.

Anybody can go pick blackberries. They're there for free.

Blackberries were sprinkled on top of the apples and rhubarb

before being topped with the crumble.

Meanwhile, son Sam is on custard duty.

As well as being a novice waiter, he's got his L-plates on in the kitchen.

I don't know how long to simmer it for.

Until it becomes a custard and coats the back of the spoon.

-Let's have a look.

-It's frothy.

-It's all right.

I would turn that off and just keep stirring for four or five minutes.

The eggs have cooked and thickened, so that's a nice texture.

So, heat off and keep stirring for a while.

It's still boiling.

Simple enough, so surely nothing can go wrong.

-Ah.

-I have to do another one because my son's failed and let me down.

He's back to washing-up duties.

The hob was too hot.

It caused the egg to cook too quick and it curdled.

It scrambled. So now I've been sacked.

So, Sam's sacked, the custard's down the drain and Mum has to sort it.

I'm doing another custard cos Sam didn't quite get it right earlier.

This is to go with the dessert so they've got a choice

of either custard or ice cream.

So, once we've got this ready, we can chill it in the fridge,

and then we can warm it through tonight when it's time to serve.

Talking about service,

are Will and Sam as polished as Harry over at Rhiannon's?

Here's one creme brulee and ice cream.

-It's not creme brulee.

-Isn't it?

-No, it's chocolate.

-Molten chocolate.

-Molten chocolate pot? Is that the one?

-Do you want that?

-No, that's not mine.

-No? No, no?

-It was on that table there.

-I'll take it back.

-No, leave that.

-OK, yeah, take it back.

-Yeah? No? Yeah?

Come on, guys. Get a grip.

So, now everyone finally has the right desserts,

what's the verdict?

I've got the chocolate fondant one,

and it's beautiful.

I was scared it would be like cake in the middle, but it's not.

It's really nice and beautifully melted in the middle. It's brilliant.

I've got the chocolate pot. It's absolutely lovely.

The top is crispy, inside gooey. It's absolutely lovely.

It's absolutely delicious. It's the best course of the evening.

Almost as tasty as you.

Eugh. Thanks for sharing that.

-And the crumble?

-Is it what you imagined?

The crumble's fantastic, and the fruit in there is really nice.

There's some lovely rhubarb in this.

The fruit, sometimes it's raspberries and it's quite bitter.

But it was spot-on, really nice. The ice cream's delicious as well.

And, Keith, still want a takeaway?

-Oh, you finished yours, Keith.

-That was the highlight of the evening for me.

Absolutely gorgeous. The best thing of the day.

It was nice and hot, it was tasty, it was flavoursome.

I could do with a second portion, frankly.

Ooh, pass the smelling salts! He's happy!

So happy, he wants a second pud.

Hot chocolate molten pot. What does he want with that?

I'll just see if he wants this. I'll get a spoon for him.

We'll not charge him extra for it.

-That's right, Will. Keep him sweet.

-Thank you very much.

-I think he'd like ice cream with it.

I'll see if there is any.

Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the crumble,

but I was told that the chocolate was even better.

So I've decided to try it by having an extra portion.

It's called "greed" in Yorkshire.

And?

-Delicious.

-Beautiful.

So, after a shaky start, things are getting better and better for Anne.

Everyone - even Keith - loves both desserts.

I wonder what Rhiannon can pull out of her satchel.

She's serving a dark-chocolate brownie with cream or passion fruit.

Or a mixed-berry pavlova.

The chocolate brownie is a favourite of mine.

The fruit pavlova is just a fruit alternative,

and I've never made it before.

Yeah. I love the sound of either chocolate or berries.

They tick all the boxes for me.

Let's hope they do the same for Rhiannon's diners.

Her chocolate brownies are a tried and tested recipe

made with butter and melted chocolate mixed with flour, eggs and sugar

before baking for half an hour.

Oh, it's really gooey, and good.

I was worried it was gonna be really hard, but it's not.

Let's put it back in the fridge now.

Hang on, Rhiannon. Won't that make it more like rock cakes?

Next up, Rhiannon's debut with a pavlova.

She's a brave girl having her first bash at meringues.

Remember the pasta?

Oh... I've got to start again.

Stage one, splitting the egg yolks from the whites, is proving tricky.

Oh, no! SHE LAUGHS

I've done it again!

Once she's finally cracked that, now the all-important whisking.

"Till soft peaks are formed" - until today I didn't know what that meant.

And now I know what it means.

Most students' kitchens don't generally stretch to fancy gadgets,

so it's elbow grease all the way.

Hm. Interesting technique. I might try that sometime.

Until last night, I didn't even know that the middle was supposed to be gooey.

I just thought the outsides were hard and it was hard all the way through.

After the addition of a little cornflour and white wine vinegar,

the meringues are popped in to the oven.

Just get it all out.

And in it goes.

And, come service time, it's looking promising

with a very gooey, creamy berry concoction plonked on top.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

Harry's on a final charm assault to woo the diners.

-Which would you like?

-I'll have the pavlova.

-You guys can have a nibble of each other's.

-Can I have a stick to beat her off mine?

Both of them are mine, I have to tell you.

Are Rhiannon's tried and tested brownies living up to expectations?

I enjoy a brownie if it's crisp on the outside and soft on the inside,

very chocolatey in flavour,

and this was chocolatey-ish.

I thought it was quite dense. Not a bad taste,

but it was seriously hard just to cut into.

The fork was nearly giving up.

So no brownie points there, then.

Can her first-time meringues sweeten her guests?

The fruit was lovely in the pavlova but I needed a bit more meringue.

A pavlova should be crispy and soft in the middle,

and it was fairly soft and gooey.

So... a bit average, to be honest.

So not exactly a resounding success.

And two of Rhiannon's diners have another cause for complaint.

The lowlight of the evening

was going to the toilet and seeing a pair of pants on the radiator.

Sorry, but that is a lowlight.

I never go to a restaurant and see a pair of pants in the bathroom.

But the highlight for me - I was slim on those scales.

Have Anne and Rhiannon done enough to make a profit?

It's now entirely up to the diners

to decide how much or how little they want to pay for their experiences.

And neither cook has any idea of how much that might be.

Anne spent just £66

on her gamey menus.

To make a killing, she'll need her diners to pay £7 a head.

So how do they feel about their wild night out?

Really nice meal, really nice ambience, well worth it.

All in all it was a very nice night.

I was disappointed.

I don't really approve of wild things being shot.

I think we will have made a profit at the end of the day,

because all the produce we've used for free.

Rhiannon needed £109

of her £200 budget.

So she's hoping her diners pay at least £11 each

to put her into profit.

CHEERING AND CLAPPING

-Great evening.

-Very good.

-Very good. Really good entertainment.

Big tip for Harry. He was excellent. £5 for Harry. It was a great night out.

It was a lovely, lovely evening.

An education to see kids doing so well, so I had a great night.

It helped that we'd got a very smooth waiter, who got an extra £5 out of me.

Looks like Harry did the business.

And, in true thrifty-student tradition,

Rhiannon's already planning what to do with the leftovers.

So we can all have meatballs with that tomato sauce.

-With some dried pasta.

-Yeah.

Definitely dried pasta.

Phew, guys! You did it!

Though at points it may have seemed you would never pull this off, you both have.

Was it fun, Anne, any part of it?

-About 10.30 was really fun.

-The end.

-The end.

When everybody went, yes.

How different was the experience from what you expected?

Very different. I'm used to cooking for friends and being with friends and being involved,

and I felt completely separate from everything in the dining room.

So I think that was the bit that I wasn't prepared for.

You had quite a tricky customer - Mr Keith.

We did notice a couple of them were probably not gonna get invited back again.

NADIA LAUGHS

-Nothing seemed to make Keith happy.

-No.

-But your puddings did.

-Despite all his criticism, he did come back for seconds.

-Yeah, he had both puddings!

Rhiannon, was there any point where you just wanted to put your head in your hands and cry?

When I tried to make my own pasta. That didn't turn out well at all.

Maybe it was a crazy thing to do on the first night of owning a restaurant?

It didn't turn out well and I wanted to do dried,

but I thought I'd give it a go and it didn't work out but... oh, well.

One customer described it as a bit like concrete.

THEY LAUGH

That's amazing!

I knew it was awful when I was sending it out. I just couldn't do anything about it.

And Harry! Every home should have one. What a charmer!

Everyone loves Harry. They always do, at work and everything.

He just talks and talks and everyone falls in love with him.

Well, I'm sure you'd both like to know whether you made any money.

Anne, you spent £66.

That's got to be one of the lowest.

Your diners donated £190, which means you made a profit of £124.

-Wow.

-That's fabulous.

-Thank you.

-Are you pleased?

-I am.

-I'm surprised the diners put that much in.

-Well done.

Rhiannon, you spent £109.

Your diners donated £217.

Oh, that's so good!

-So you've made £108.

-Thank you! This is a lot to me. I'm a student.

You both did brilliantly. Fabulous restaurants, amazing food.

Thank you so much. I think your diners had a fabulous evening.

Well, almost all of them.

And thank you for watching.

I'll see you next time on Instant Restaurant.

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