In what has been described as the meltdown of the century, Mandurah’s Conrad and Liam felt the burn of the judges Monday night’s episode of The Hotplate.
Dubbed the king and queen of criticism, their sassy and confident comments meant it was a monumental task for the couple to impress.
But while the Duck Duck Moose owners proved they could talk the talk, they fumbled when it came to walking the walk during the show’s first round of private dinners.
With burnt pork buns, a blaring fire alarm, overly smoked salmon, incomplete relish and a missing salad, it seemed nothing could go right for Conrad and Liam.
But ultimately, the Mandurah contestants put it down to disorganisation and pressure.
“As soon as that fire alarm went off, in my head it was my cue to run and don’t look back,” Conrad said.
“I wanted to evacuate.”
“We still have no idea where that salad went,” Liam said.
“We might need to take out a full page ad in the Mandurah Mail for a wanted sign.
“All I can say, that it was a dinner for the history books.
“There was the Amelia Earhart salad and the Joan of Arc salmon.”
Stuck in a culinary nightmare, the Mandurah couple failed to impress fellow contestants and judges – British food critic Tom Parker Bowles and Melbourne restaurateur Scott Pickett.
With a combined score of 36 out of a possible 90, Conrad and Liam received the lowest score of the competition so far.
However, the pair proved they can not only dish it out, but they can take it as well.
Standing by their initial aim of improving the standards of the food industry, Conrad and Liam have taken the criticism, using it to their own advantage.
“The criticism which mattered most to us was the judges,” Conrad said.
“And we implemented some of this almost immediately.
“They’re not there to beat you up; they’re there to make you grow.”
“We’ve been in the industry long enough to understand the value of good food and good service,” Liam said.
“You always get bad days but at the end of it, you just need to wipe the slate clean and start again.”
