My Kitchen Rules

The best of times, the wurst of times

Six teams advance to Kitchen HQ after shock elimination

Tonight on MKR, married Germans Robert and Andrea were eliminated from the competition after their Instant Restaurant scored just 46, landing the couple at the bottom of the final round two leaderboard.

Modern Italians Simone and Viviana, fussy friends Mike and Pete, kitchen queens Janey and Maddie, mother and son Caz and Fergus, loved-up couple Hannah and Lawrence and competitive brothers Rob and Liam advanced to Kitchen HQ to continue their quest to become MKR champions.

Robert and Andrea put their heritage on a plate, wowing their fellow contestants with the setup – but not the food – at Unser Bayerischer Hof (our Bavarian yard).

Serving up the riskiest menu ever seen on MKR, Colin called the entrĂ©e of Leberknödel Suppe (Liver dumplings in broth), “a polarising dish, but I love that you’ve taken your heritage to us, that’s what MKR is about.” He praised the “texture of the dumplings and clear beautiful stock” however both Colin and Manu agreed the dish was too salty, scoring a five from both judges.

Accepting the critique, Robert acknowledged: “It wouldn’t cross his mind that it’s too salty, that’s the German way.”

The pressure in the kitchen intensified as they prepared the main course: Fleischkaese Bratwurst with Potato Salad and Red Cabbage. Robert hit a snag trying to get the sausage meat into their skins. The skin kept breaking at a crucial point, costing time and the fear the sausage meat would dry out. After serving their main, Robert’s greatest fear come to fruition, the sausages were dry. Most guests struggled to finish the dish, giving loved-up couple Lawrence and Hannah hope they might stay in the competition.

Delivering his critique, Colin admitted: “Sometimes I don’t like my job. The meat in the sausage is too dry, I don’t know if that is the stress of the competition, or we don’t have the right equipment. For me it was a fail.”

Robert admitted their hiccups in the kitchen resulted in the meat sitting outside for too long and drying out but was not making excuses. Manu agreed: “The sausage was dry, the potato unseasoned. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in the kitchen for you.”

Devastated, Andrea and Robert put on a united front back in the kitchen hoping to redeem themselves with dessert. Andrea took charge with the Black Forest Cake, based on her grandmother’s recipe, but dessert didn’t sweeten their score. Manu thought the ratio for cream versus biscuit was off, Colin agreed “the cake is a little bit dry. You’ve panicked and put extra cream on to moisten it.”

Departing the competition Andrea admitted they were “disappointed in ourselves today. We still love each other, and we will cook the same dishes again and we know we can nail it.”

Robert agreed it was not their night in the kitchen: “we do better on a daily basis, we do better every day.”

Judges’ Scores EntrĂ©e Main Dessert
Manu Feildel 6/10 2/10 5/10 13/30
Colin Fassnidge 6/10 2/10 5/10 13/30
Total Score 26/60

MKR Team Scores
Mike and Pete 4/10
Janey and Maddie 3/10
Lawrence and Hannah 3/10
Caz and Fergus 4/10
Simone and Viviana 6/10
Total Score 20/50

Round Two Final Leaderboard
Simone and Viviana 104/110
Caz and Fergus 72/110
Mike and Pete 70/110
Janey and Maddie 65/110
Hannah and Lawrence 53/110
Robert and Andrea 46/110

Tuesday night on MKR: Across three thrilling nights in Kitchen HQ, MKR’s six remaining teams compete in epic challenges. In the first battle, teams take on the dreaded pick-a-fridge challenge where the weakest team will book a spot in an elimination cook off.

At the start of this season, we were told that in another MKR first, guest teams would reveal their scores directly to the cooking team. That still had not eventuated with two rounds of instant restaurants having been completed.

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Coming up next week

Monday 21 October
The teams battle it out in Kitchen HQ to avoid being sent to an elimination cook-off, and to win a massive reward from judges Manu Fieldel and Colin Fassnidge.

Tuesday 22 October
At Kitchen HQ Rob and Liam wield their judges power, and three teams battle it out to avoid elimination.

Last night in the pick a fridge challenge, Simone and Viviana (which had the highest instant restaurant score) got to choose first to cook either main or dessert, the first pick of the fridge, and allocate main or dessert to the other five teams. The team with the lowest score from this round would go into next week’s elimination cook-off.


Simone and Viviana - chicken roulade with duck fat potatoes and mushroom sauce
Hannah and Lawrence - crumbed lamb rack with pea puree
Janey and Maddie - beef cheeks in red wine sauce with carrots and polenta


Caz and Fergus - ricotta fritters with blackberry sauce
Mike and Pete - chilli chocolate tart with raspberry coulis
Rob and Liam - mango and gin pannacotta with passionfruit foam

Manu said all three desserts were better than the three mains. Caz and Fergus’ ricotta fritters was named dish of the day. The worst dish was lamb rack made by Hannah and Lawrence, as the lamb came out raw with time running out.

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Looks like this season will be longer than the other 2 rebooted seasons. Currently at 13 episodes & still 6 teams remain.

Last season was 15 episodes. 12 eps of instant restaurants then it was straight to quarter finals, semi finals and finals.

The season before that it was 16 episodes. 12 eps of instant, 2 last chance cookoffs, semi final & final

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Is it? It’s only been airing twice a week this year. Most years it’s 3/4 week so maybe it only feels longer.

I think they might bring back the ultimate instant restaurants, where each guest team would reveal its score to the cooking team. Last night, I rewatched on 7plus the preview at the start of episode 1, in which Mike and Pete told their score to Rob and Liam. I noticed that their clothes were different from what they wore for the brothers’ first instant restaurant to kick off this season.

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Makes sense & they did say more instant restaurants that ever before.

So maybe after next Tuesdays elimination, they go for 5 for instant restaurants & comeback to HQ again for semi finals & final.

That way it’s another 4 weeks of 2 episodes after next week & season ends at end of Nov with around 22-23 episodes

Also coincides with the end of Rate the Plate viewer competition on November 24.

Season 14 premieres on TVNZ 2 in New Zealand this Sunday (October 20) at 7pm, continuing on Monday and Tuesday nights.

The synopsis for next week episode says that it’s the start of the ultimate instant restaurants

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Last night’s episode was again divided into two rounds. Caz and Fergus made the best dish in the previous challenge and were sent into round two.

In round one, the four remaining teams had 60 minutes to make a delicious entree. Simone and Viviana made the weakest dish and joined Hannah and Lawrence in the elimination cook-off. The other three teams joined Caz and Fergus in round two, in which they had to cook a signature main dish in 90 minutes. Rob and Liam won the round with their wagyu sirloin dish and received the reward of a one off judges’ power.

Tonight’s Woolworths family favourite challenge would be over two rounds; in round one 3 teams had to create a main course in 75 minutes inspired by family, the weakest team will be sent to the elimination cook off with Hannah and Lawrence and Simone and Viviana. In the second round the bottom 3 teams have to cook a Dessert in 75 minutes inspired by family, the team with the weakest score will be eliminated.

As guest judges, Rob and Liam would walk around the tables, provide comments, sit along side Colin and Manu at the tasting table and taste the dishes, and help decide which team would be sent home.


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Loved-up couple Hannah and Lawrence eliminated

MKR teams feel the heat in Kitchen HQ

After a tense cook-off in MKR’s Kitchen HQ tonight, loved-up couple Hannah and Lawrence were eliminated from the competition. Manu and Colin also dropped a bombshell on MKR’s remaining top five teams: they will all be heading around the country again for the Ultimate Instant Restaurant Round!

The competition intensified as the threat of elimination loomed across three nights of epic challenges in Kitchen HQ, with teams who cooked the weakest dishes fighting for their lives in tonight’s elimination cook off.

Rob and Liam were not only safe from elimination but joined judges Colin and Manu after winning the Ultimate Judges Power on Monday night. In both rounds of tonight’s challenges, they patrolled other teams’ benches, tasted their food, scored it, and most importantly helped eliminate one team from the competition.

The elimination round saw three teams – modern Italians Simone and Viviana, fussy friends Mike and Pete, and Hannah and Lawrence – serve a family favourite dessert.

They were scored out of 10 from judges Colin and Manu and guest judges Rob and Liam. In the elimination cook off, Hannah and Lawrence’s Honey and Ginger cake scored the lowest with a total of 19 out of 30. Mike and Pete’s Pavlova scored a total of 21 – just two points shy of elimination – while Simone and Viviana redeemed themselves with a near perfect Crostata Ai Frutti Di Bosco (Mixed Berry Tart) scoring a total of 27 out of 30.

Departing MKR, Hannah said: “Honestly, we gave it everything we could. We worked our butts off to get to where we are now. I’m just proud of how far we came.”

Lawrence added: “The only thing that I know for certain is I’m going to marry this girl.”

Monday night: MKR’s top five will travel the country again for the Ultimate Instant Restaurant round, where teams must cook two entrees, two main and two desserts! First up are brothers Rob and Liam, will they have a target on their back after their stint as judges?

Continues 7.30pm Monday and Tuesday on Channel 7 and 7plus

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Synopses for next week

Monday 28 October
It’s round 3 and the first Ultimate Instant Restaurant where Rob & Liam must fight to survive as the competition takes on a new twist.

Tuesday 29 October
In our second Ultimate Instant Restaurant mother and son team Caz and Fergus are up for a night of high stakes and high drama, with fallen champions Rob and Liam out for blood.

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Colin Fassnidge told TV Week that the twist that each team had to reveal its score to the whole table at each ultimate instant restaurant was good, because it “wakes people up a bit”.


According to Woman’s Day, the producers want to add a third chef to join Colin and Manu as judges in 2025.

The producers are reportedly digging into any past feuds between the duo and other chefs, hoping to hire someone who’ll create genuine tension.

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I don’t think that’s a good idea to create tension between the judges. I would prefer to see them be professional as judges, a bit of banter or humour is okay though.

Leave the tension to the contestants.

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Open scoring opens wounds in MKR

Ultimate Instant Restaurant drama delivers ultimate burn

Tonight, MKR’s Ultimate Instant Restaurant round kicked off as Rob and Liam’s dinner party dished up ultimate drama, while a shock twist left contestants floored.

In the end, the brothers from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula scored a disappointing 57 out of 100: a fall from grace given their last appearance in Kitchen HQ as guest judges.

The pressure was on for Rob and Liam, tasked with serving two entrees, two mains and two desserts before guests choose which they would eat. With eyes on the MKR title, contestants admitted their menu choices were based on strategy. Mike and Pete chose the riskier dishes, wanting to score honestly despite potentially harsher reviews; while Janey and Maddie picked what they thought was the best food to see who their best competition is.

Colin scored his entrĂ©e of Beef Cheek Tacos with Smoked Cheese Sauce and Pico de Gallo a seven, noting the chewy taco shells didn’t work. Before the judges had critiqued the tacos, Janey’s left Liam fuming after she interrupted service asking: "why did you give us two tacos each and compromise on the quality of the tacos?”

Janey continued, admitting the shell was “like trying to eat cardboard.”

Liam acknowledged: “Immediately I kind of just saw red. Have some respect.” Janey doubled down: “We are here to judge the food. It’s not a personality contest, it’s about the food.”

The second entrĂ©e of Morcilla Spring Rolls with Red Pepper Sauce and Charred Chorizo Crumb scored a six from Manu, who observed: “something was missing on the plate.”

Rob and Liam’s main dishes were hit and miss with an “inconsistent cook” on the Peri Peri Woodfired Chicken with Chargrilled Corn and Garlic Aioli leaving Mike with raw chicken. The second main dish – Sticky Pork Ribs with Charred Sprouts and Chimichurri – was praised by Colin scoring an eight out of 10 despite lacking in sauce.

Rob and Liam’s downward slide continued with dessert. The Passionfruit Bavarois with Lime Sorbet and Tequila drowned with an intense sour lime flavour scoring a five from Colin. The Churros with Pistachio Mascarpone Cream and Liqueur and Chocolate Sauce was “not well executed” and scored a lowly four from Manu.

At the end of the night, Manu and Colin revealed a shock twist leaving some contestants squirming. It was open scoring; meaning contestants revealed their scores at the table in front of their competitors for the first time. Liam admitted: “We get to hear everyone’s scores and if they lowball us, we are low balling back.”

Rob and Liam thought their score of five was fair from Caz and Fergus and Mike and Pete but declared Janey and Maddie’s five “unfair” given “they got all the best dishes of the day.”

Rob reflected: “Hopefully we get to cook again and bring it back up to where it needs to be."

Judges’ Scores EntrĂ©e Main Dessert
Manu Feildel 6/10 6/10 4/10 16/30
Colin Fassnidge 7/10 8/10 5/10 20/30
Total Score 36/60

MKR Team Scores
Mike and Pete 5/10
Janey and Maddie 5/10
Caz and Fergus 5/10
Simone and Viviana 6/10
Total Score 21/40

Ultimate Instant Restaurant Leaderboard
Rob and Liam 57/100

Tuesday night on MKR: Mother and son team, and competition dark horses, Caz and Fergus host their Ultimate Instant Restaurant.

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MKR’S ultimate round gets down and dirty

Spicy table talk and scoring strategy

Tonight’s Ultimate Instant Restaurant saw mother and son team, Caz and Fergus, dodge the drama at the table and take on their most difficult cook so far.

Serving two entrees, two mains and two desserts, they ended the night with a total score of 62 out of 100. The pair were deflated, but happy to be safe from elimination, with three more teams yet to take the ultimate challenge.

Tonight’s menu included Scallops Squared or Chicken Liver Parfait with Fig Chutney for entrĂ©e, Slow Roasted Duck Massaman or Steak Frites with CafĂ© De Paris Butter, Bone Marrow and Green Salad for main and dessert of Strawberry and Mascarpone Meringue Cake or Little Blackberry Puddings with CrĂšme Anglaise.

Manu chose the parfait for entrĂ©e and praised the dish, scoring it a seven, but noted it needed more salt. Colin’s scallops were “perfectly cooked” achieving their highest score of the night: an eight.

Caz and Fergus took a risk serving their duck massaman on mashed potatoes which confused the judges and guests. Colin praised the “beautifully cooked” duck but criticised serving it alongside mash as, “there was no texture.” Manu’s main of steak frites was a disappointment: an overcooked steak with no crust bringing his score down to a five.

Dessert was a mixed bag; Colin’s blackberry pudding fell short in the creaming of the eggs. Manu praised the flavour of his mascarpone meringue cake but needed a crispier meringue.

The table talk got spicy when contestants addressed the MKR -first open scoring. After brothers Rob and Liam’s last Instant Restaurant saw their scores crash and a major clash with Janey, Liam confronted her. Rob and Liam felt Janey and Maddie were strategic with their score. Simone and Viviana agreed Janey and Maddie’s score was low, while Pete told Janey she can be “abrasive.”

The mother daughter team stayed firm on their scores for Rob and Liam. “It’s only one point really. You need to get over it,” Janey retorted.

Tonight, all teams scored Caz and Fergus a six, aside from Rob and Liam – who maintained their Instant Restaurant food was superior and scored a five – which didn’t go unnoticed by Janey and Maddie.

“Interesting that Rob and Liam at the start of tonight accused mum and I of strategically scoring. Look who’s being strategic now,” noted Maddie.

Judges’ Scores EntrĂ©e Main Dessert
Manu Feildel 7/10 5/10 7/10 19/30
Colin Fassnidge 8/10 7/10 5/10 20/30
Total Score 39/60

MKR Team Scores
Mike and Pete 6/10
Janey and Maddie 6/10
Simone and Viviana 6/10
Rob and Liam 5/10
Total Score 23/40

Ultimate Instant Restaurant Leaderboard
Caz and Fergus 62/100
Rob and Liam 57/100

Monday night on MKR: Modern Italians Simone and Viviana’s Ultimate Instant Restaurant will be their most ambitious menu yet. With high expectations, can they soar into the history books once more?