(egg banging)
(egg cracking) (egg sizzling)
- Hello, and welcome to SORTED food.
Now, it's been a while since
we've done one of these takeaway challenges,
and the landscape has changed significantly.
So what better time to support local restaurants,
eat delicious food, and buy me lunch.
You've got 50 pounds each.
You have a different food delivery app each.
Jamie, you have Uber Eats. (till rings)
Barry, you have Deliveroo.
And I'd like you to purchase my lunch
in three categories.
- This is a lunch and a half.
- It's a 100 pound lunch for Mike, firstly.
- Yeah, it's great.
- In what other situation could you say this?
"I'm going to the bar, mate, would you like a drink?"
- Yeah, please, but on three conditions.
(all laugh)
- So round one is story.
I'm looking for a restaurant or dish
that has the best story.
Round two, Instagramability, you eat with your eyes.
So you'll be taking a photo of your dish,
and we'll put it up on Instagram,
and let the community decide
which is their favourite.
And round three, originality.
I'd like a dish that I've never seen nor heard about before.
Now it goes without saying, all of these things
have to look and taste delicious, regardless.
- That's a challenge.
- Fried chicken off the menu then.
- I'm loving this, because I'll be judging,
I'll be eating.
- It's really painful, but I was in that position last time.
And it's a fantastic position to be in.
- Ah, I'm jealous.
- Yes, it's a very blessed position to be in,
and I will make sure that I'm aware of that.
You have some time for some research, let's start now.
(upbeat music)
- Mike's an incredibly picky and tricky customer
to try and please.
- [Barry] He's not gonna make this easy for us.
- Mike's not just judging this on how good it tastes,
or how good it looks.
He wants to know the backstory.
He wants to know everything about it,
and that's where I fall down.
- I'm most nervous about the Instagram battle.
It's something that I should be good at,
but I'm losing it over and over again.
- You lose it on a daily basis,
'cause Ebbers is so much more popular
than you are on Instagram. (Barry laughs)
I think we're gonna have to search pretty hard
to find something Mike's not tried or heard of before.
- He's got quite a short term memory though.
So just do something from a couple years ago, might be safe.
- [Jamie] Mike, round one, story time.
- [Mike] Oh!
- What you have in front of you is Arepa Pollo Frito
with Yuca and Guasacaca sauce.
- [Mike] Well, it looks great.
- Dig in and let me tell you all about Arepa & Co.
Created by husband and wife team, Gus and Kathe,
with the mission to make Londoners fall in love
with arepas, Venezuelan food,
and putting on the Latin fiesta whenever they can.
(Barry laughs)
Plus, they host, what sounds to me like,
the most amazing sounding nights imaginable,
drag bingo.
- (laughs loudly) Oh, okay.
Right, all that aside, does it taste nice?
- It is very, very delicious.
The sweetcorn moosh...
- [Jamie] I would probably call that a corn puree.
- It really adds to the whole dish.
Fried chicken, excellent,
Cassava fries covered in this amazing spicy seasoning.
The sauce is like nothing I've had before.
Really delicious.
- So have you had a arepas before?
- No.
- They are small savoury corn cakes
that can be topped or filled.
They offer tonnes of traditional fillings.
- You've done very well here.
- Before you get carried away, mate,
don't forget this is one of six courses.
So easy on the bread.
- Story time with Baz. - Story time with Baz.
- Oh, this is so Barry Taylor.
- Yes, it is (laughs).
- [Mike] What have we got?
- So in front of you you have some miso glazed aubergines,
as well as deep fried cauliflower,
and green tahini.
- Sounds great.
- These two dishes have come straight from Amber,
(camera clicking)
the place is absolutely buzzing,
and the food is out of this world.
Aubergine is one of their stand out dishes,
miso glaze on top, and then the deep fried cauliflower
with tahini on top, quite a nice light lunch.
- Deep fried cauliflower?
- [Barry] Apart from the deep fried bit.
- Yeah, healthier.
- So the name Amber comes from
the ancient trade route of amber
from Sicily right through to the Baltic Sea.
The food itself is inspired by the Mediterranean flavours,
but it has a Middle Eastern style.
- They're both spectacular,
the deep fried cauliflower, look at it,
it tastes as it looks, and it's really delicious.
The aubergine is so complex
with the green tahini and the yoghourt,
and then the pomegranate seeds.
You literally just do get everything.
You both picked delicious dishes,
and you've both done your research.
This is gonna be really tough.
Story-wise, I feel like I'm going to give the point
to Jamie.
(whooshing) (bell rings)
I've never eaten Venezuelan food before.
(record scratches)
- He's got quite a short term memory though.
- Arepas is really crispy (finger clicking)
on the bottom, and then it's still
really fluffy on the inside.
It's amazing, you get the best of all the textures.
And I like the story of people bringing
their culture, cuisines,
to a new place and sharing it with others.
- I think what he means is he likes my story
of bringing cuisines and cultures to London, but not yours.
- Yeah, okay.
Next round, bring it on.
- Round two, Instagramability.
Baz and I have each taken a picture of our dish,
uploaded it to Instagram.
You are now voting on your favourite one,
and we're gonna let Mike taste them, try them,
see what he thinks, before we reveal the actual winner.
- What, that is the least Jamie looking dish I've ever seen.
- I absolutely agree.
- I tried to go Barry Taylor. (Barry laughs loudly)
- It's got edible flowers, you've gone for Ebbers.
- The menu description is burrata on charcoal sourdough,
rosemary roasted cherry tomatoes, balsamic vinegar,
fresh greens, pink beetroot sprinkle, and olive oil.
- [Mike] The pink big beetroot sprinkle
on the burrata is cool.
- The charcoal sourdough?
As good as it looks, it doesn't look very charcoaly.
- [Mike] It's more char-grilled I would say.
- Yeah.
- [Baz] Would you ever order this for yourself?
- I would do, money being no option,
there was a side of ham or bacon,
I'd add that as well.
But it's worth pointing out, it came in a box.
It is as it came.
So this has come from the Clean Hearts Cafe.
(camera clicking)
They say that they're the one-stop shop
for all things coffee and organic.
- Burrata is really nice and creamy.
The tomatoes are fantastic, they're really sweet.
They almost tastes like jam,
and they add a really nice sweetness to a very savoury dish.
It looks great, and it tastes great.
Baz, your turn.
Oh, wow, okay.
(Mike laughs)
- In front of you, Michael,
you have raspberry croissants
and a Nutella croissant as well.
- Oh, a Nutella. - A Nutella!
- [All] Nutella!
- It's not old-tella, it's new-tella.
- These jumped out, well, for obvious reasons.
- That has more than delivered what I was hoping for.
- I've never seen croissant, stuff it,
that are beautiful.
- Look how filled that is.
Nutella or raspberry.
- I'll go for some raspberry please.
- I'll try both.
- Tuck in.
These croissants are from Oree,
a French patisserie and boulangerie in London.
Elizabeth and Laurent, the founders,
they wanted to take the food they loved
growing up in France,
and have a London twist on them.
Everything is made onsite freshly baked.
And these are one of their signatures.
- They are not just looks, and no substance.
They're exceptional croissants.
I mean, you can see the flaky layers, and they are flaky.
And they're filled with a proper like conserve.
- When getting them delivered, they're very expensive.
When you go to the shop itself, they're half the price.
We'd love to find out how they colour it.
- You didn't look into how they did it?
- I couldn't find a video.
- That is why millennials get such a bad reputation.
I feel like ample time has passed
to let the audience decide.
If it were up to me, I'd pick these,
because I think they look fantastic,
but they also do deliver on flavour, taste.
They're exceptional.
Your dish, Jay, tasted amazing.
- I think that's fair.
Yours is a bit more unique.
- But it's not up to me.
The final results are in.
- Oh no!
This has not gone well for me recently.
- Mike's Instagram, so what did those five people vote for?
- Well, it is,
in my opinion,
surprisingly close.
There is 4% in it.
(Barry gasps)
And with 52% of the vote...
- Oh, no, it's 52/48!
(Barry gasps)
- And therefore the winner is
Barry Taylor's croissants.
(Jamie claps)
I say Barry Taylor's...
- [Barry] Oree. - [Mike] Oree's croissants.
(Mike claps)
- But I will take it, thank you.
- We are tied, (bell rings)
and going into the final round with a cliffhanger.
(bells ring) (liquid bubbling)
(magical music)
(fire alarm blasting)
(sirens blaring)
- Round three, originality,
find a dish that Mike has never had or heard of before.
- All to play for.
- As it's so delicately poised, full transparency,
I'm gonna make you work for it.
- I'm also going to make you work for it.
Lift the cloche.
- Okay, you are.
Wow! (sniffs)
Oh, it smells amazing.
I can see something that looks like an organ.
- In front of you, you have Mao Xue Wang probably.
This is a dish that originates in Chongqing,
(camera clicks)
a major city in the south west of China.
So Mao... - Can I stop you there?
Can I drink this, please?
(Barry laughs)
- Go ahead. - What is it quickly?
This is spicy and it's on my lips, what is it?
- Feel free, that's a soybean drink.
- Fine (Mike gulps)
That's tasty.
- So traditionally it's made of duck blood curd,
tripe, chicken gizzard, and other organ parts,
simmered in a broth that is made of peppercorn,
and I don't know if you can see any in there, chilies.
- It's tough to see the wood for the chilies.
Is this the boiled blood?
- Yes.
- It's more texture than anything else.
I can't really taste much to it.
It's very gelatinous, but you have to bite into it.
What have I got here? - Could be a heart.
- I've gotta go for it.
- [Barry] Good.
- That is delicious.
- So this is from the Old Street Chinese Restaurant.
It then has its real name, (camera clicking)
which is Chongqing, the name of the city.
And it serves authentic dishes from the city.
And the city is a really famous city in China
for its cuisine.
- Flavours are all there.
Very spicy, very oily,
therefore lots of fat, lots of flavour.
And you get that sort of sweet and sour edge to it as well.
It's great, and I would never, ever, ever
have picked this on a menu because I wouldn't have the guts.
Pardon the pun!
- We talk about food waste.
Nothing has been wasted from the animals
that have gone into that dish.
It's just our palates and our tastes are unfamiliar
with those types of ingredients.
Have we been sheltered?
- Ah, yes. - Yes.
- Yes, look at us.
- What a privilege to be able to experience this
without even having to travel.
You've done very well. - Strong start.
- My lips are on fire,
and I'm in physical pain because of you,
but you've done very well.
Barry, please tell me you got me gelato.
You've gotta go somewhere to beat that.
- I can guarantee you that mine is just as delicious,
and probably less painful.
- I've had sliders before.
(Barry laughs)
- In front of you you have some sliders
and some lettuce cups from Brigadiers.
- Barry, the brief was something he's never had before.
- Let's go to the lettuce cups first.
Now, don't you hate it when you're thinking,
"What should I have tonight, Indian or Chinese?"
Here, we have both.
These are Indo-Chinese paneer lettuce cups.
- Okay, so it's paneer cheese.
- You've got spiced paneer cheese
with crispy onions and yoghourt on top, in a lettuce leaf.
It's a little starter.
(Mike hums)
Brigadiers is an Indian restaurant
(camera clicks)
inspired by a lot of the military bars in India.
You can go there to watch sports, play pool, cards.
They've got lots of bar snacks,
as well as some amazing Indian dishes as well.
- Cor, they're really tasty.
- But the focus really is on the sliders in front of you.
- Now, I don't wanna ruin the game, Baz,
but I have had sliders.
- These are goat kebab sliders with a fenugreek chutney.
- I hope you don't mind but I'm going to discard this.
Jamie's ruined that for me.
- It's a true Peshwari delicacy,
with its name derived from the Pushpdant word, Japal.
These goat tikkis are a mainstay on the Brigadier's menu.
- Definitely never had a goat slider.
I've had sliders, I've had goat, but never altogether.
So, yes, as a dish, this is completely new.
- When it turned up earlier,
what I loved about this as a takeaway,
all the elements were apart,
which allowed you to construct it yourself.
- The goat is so amazingly spiced,
and the fenugreek just comes through the whole thing,
and sort of just adds a dimension.
- Also, what's bonkers in the UK,
goat is not one of those things
I would look to buy in a supermarket.
So when you look into get takeaway,
it jumped out at being a little bit different.
Even though it's one of the most
highly eaten red meats in the world, not in London.
- And I do think there's some comfort in the fact
that it's encased in a delicious shiny bun.
(all laugh)
- It's like taking you outside of your comfort zone,
but there's still a little rope around you
to pull you back in.
- Okay, I have some questions
before I make my final decision.
Baz, what made you pick this dish?
- I wanted to go for something that was
familiar with us to start off with,
like a cuisine that we understand.
And then try and find something new within that cuisine.
- Spaff? - Shock value, ain't it?
- Yeah, it was obvious, you just went...
- Do you know what, it's not dissimilar to Barry's,
taking your preconceptions of Chinese cuisine,
and then completely throwing them out,
and going, "No, what we get in the UK as a whole
"isn't generally traditional Chinese cuisine."
And there is a place just up the road that will deliver you
traditional authentic Chinese dishes.
And I bet you've never tasted anything like it before.
- No.
This is really hard.
This is tough, because everything I've eaten today
has been amazing.
So firstly, the restaurants have you picked,
awesome. (all clap)
- London, well done.
- But I'm not judging the restaurants,
I'm actually judging your choices.
So therefore the winner of this round,
and the winner overall is
Jamie. (Jamie grunts)
(bell rings)
And that's purely because I would never order that dish
in a million years,
because I'm a narrow minded, little idiot.
And I wouldn't have got to taste it
had you not chosen it for me.
So fantastic, it was outstanding.
Round of applause for you, Spaff,
well done. (Mike claps)
I'm not a chef, so I can't give you a badge,
and why would I do that?
Because I'd lose out on that.
Tell me about price.
How much did you spend?
- So for my Arepa, Yuca, the burrata on sourdough,
and the Chongqing-style boiled blood curd,
48 pounds 95 pence. (till rings)
- [Mike] Basil?
- So for the aubergine and cauliflower dish,
three croissants, lettuce cups and the goat burger,
it was 48 pounds 20. (till rings)
Either way, it's a lot of food, isn't it?
- It's a lot of food,
and we've got a lot left over for all of us to eat.
So I've won twice.
- So close to a clean sweep.
We know who Mike's winner was, was your winner the same?
And which of those dishes would you have ordered and why?
- Also, which of these dishes do you think
we should make onscreen in the future?
Let us know by commenting down below.
(Mike gasps)
- Don't say that, you know what they're gonna pick.
- Oh, no!
(magical music)
(bleep)
You would suit black in drag, just putting it out there.
- It's worth a try.
- Yeah. - Yeah.