South Australian best friends Alisha and Deanne lived up to the name of their Hot Mess Instant Restaurant on MKR on Monday, surviving smoke alarms, a collapsed dessert and a table-side clash over their colourful plates to finish with 68 points.
Their menu featured Seared Scallops with Burnt Butter and Cauliflower Puree, Lamb Backstrap with Crispy Potatoes and Salsa Verde, and Sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce.
Trouble started with the entrée when Alisha lost track of which scallops had been cooked, but the biggest reaction came from food stylist Jane, who was unimpressed by the colourful melamine plates.
“As a food stylist, presentation is key and it detracted from what could have been a beautifully presented dish,” Jane said.
She argued a white ceramic plate would have been “absolutely beautiful”.
“The plate itself bothered me a lot.
You can’t plate on something like that and know what you’re doing.”
The criticism sparked a wider debate about whether presentation should influence scoring.
Lucy suggested Jane would be better suited to an interior design judging show if she was assessing the entire aesthetic, prompting Jane to describe that attitude as “really naïve”.
When challenged, she added: “Yeah, a little bit.”
Judges Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge were more focused on the food.
Manu called the entrée “a very enjoyable mouthful” and said the flavours worked together, although the scallops were inconsistently cooked.
He scored the dish 5/10, while Colin awarded 6/10.
The chaos continued during the main course when smoke from the grill triggered the alarm.
Deanne used the interruption to take a swipe at the waiting diners.
“We heard that your conversations were so boring that we had to set the fire alarm off.”
The larger plastic plates used for the lamb also reignited Jane’s concerns.
“This plate to me was an absolute hot mess.
Images of fruit on a main course.
It was like sitting at the kiddy’s table.”
Despite the presentation debate, the Lamb Backstrap proved the strongest course of the night.
Manu praised the perfectly cooked, well-seasoned lamb and tangy salsa verde, while Colin enjoyed the punchy salsa and crispy potatoes.
Manu scored the main 7/10, with Colin awarding 8/10 — the first eight of the round.
The night then took another turn when Alisha’s sticky date pudding collapsed, spilling batter onto the kitchen floor.
“We literally have a hot mess in the kitchen now,” Deanne declared.
The setback hit Alisha hard because the dessert was based on her nan’s recipe.
“It’s just turned to an utter disaster.”
The pair recovered enough to get dessert to the table.
Manu said the pudding delivered what he expected from the classic dessert, describing it as soft, moist and humble.
Colin felt it needed cream or crème fraîche to balance the sweetness.
Manu scored dessert 7/10, while Colin gave it 6/10.
Looking back on the service, Alisha summed up the night.
“We had smoke alarms.
We had cakes on the floor.
We had flour parties.
But we done it.”
The judges awarded 39/60, with Manu contributing 19/30 and Colin 20/30.
The competing teams added 29/50. Angus and Simon scored 7/10, Krysten and Lucy and Mary and Golden each gave 6/10, while Jane and Shane and Tiffany and Giancarlo each awarded 5/10.
That left Alisha and Deanne on 68 points, behind Angus and Simon on 70 and Krysten and Lucy on 72.
Next up are Tiffany and Giancarlo, who are set to serve Italy on a plate after a surprise detour to Japan, with a kitchen catastrophe threatening to derail their night.
