The Restaurant Experience at Masterchef Live

One of the best parts of Masterchef Live is The Restaurant Experience, where you can try small plates from some of London’s top restaurants. This year at Olympia Roast, Blue Elephant, The Luxe (Spitalfields), Theo Randall at the InterContinental, Café Spice Namaste, Nin Jiang and the Malaysia Kitchen were all there. There was even a Masterchef restaurant, with dishes from some of Masterchef’s winners. It’s a fantastic way to taste some of London’s best flavours all in one day without splashing the cash or ending up feeling like you’ve eaten for two (or three…or four). 

After you have exchanged your pounds for Dining Currency – which is available in mixed denominations - all you have to do is peruse the huge menu and decide which dishes you would like to try. This takes some time as you are utterly spoiled for choice. You then go to each restaurant’s stand and exchange your currency for small plates of their specialities. Prices range from 4 to 6 pounds per dish. (Dining currency is on par with GBP, so a pound buys you one unit of dining currency, five pounds five units, etc.) 


The Restaurant Experience was sponsored by Hardy’s and there are wine selections in the show guide to go with each dish. However if you had a glass with each selection I think you might struggle to stay upright! My husband and I each chose a wine we liked and just had the one glass to accompany all the various dishes.  My husband chose the lovely Nottage Hill Pinot Noir and I had a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc.

Although the plates are small, you don’t need a lot of them, and in the end we had to go back later in the day to make sure we tasted everything we wanted to. The first dish I chose was Grilled Angus Sirloin Beef with Green Papaya Salad from Blue Elephant. I was given not only the dish, but also a leaflet with a recipe, a sachet of Chili Paste and a coupon for £10 off should I decide to visit the Blue Elephant itself. I thought this was a very nice touch.

The Green Papaya Salad had a refreshing kick to it and was a wonderful foil to the meltingly tender strips of sirloin, perfectly grilled to medium. The contrast of hot and cold, and the kick of the sharp dressing on the salad was really refreshing on the palate. 

My husband’s first dish was the Corn fed Chicken Green Curry with steamed organic red rice also, from the Blue Elephant. What can I say?

It’s not pretty, but it sure did taste good. (We each chose our own dishes, but we shared everything.) It had just the right amount of spice and the chicken was tender and delicious. The red rice had a fantastic flavour to it as well.

From there, we both chose the Slow Roast Wicks Manor Pork Belly from Roast. Neither one of us was sure we would be able to share that, and it was a good thing we got two portions. It’s the kind of classic British dish Roast are famous for, and they do it to perfection. It was accompanied by a sage, garlic and applesauce with a port reduction and root vegetable mash. I can't imagine why I don't have a photograph of it - except if it's because we ate it too fast. It was seriously yummy.

From the Masterchef Restaurant I chose Claire Lara's Crispy Skinned Sea Trout with Apple, Leeks and Watercress. The gorgeous pink sea trout was beautifully set off by the mild flavours of the other ingredients.

My husband's choice from the Masterchef Restaurant was Dhruv Baker's Ballotine of Chicken and Pork with pomme puree, Savoy cabbage and Madeira sauce. 

The presentation was beautiful and it tasted as good as it looks. The pork was spicy and delicious and really accentuated the mild flavour of the chicken.

When it came to desserts, we returned to Roast for their Mulled Spices, Bramley Apple, Sultana and Cranberry Crumble with Vanilla English Custard. 

It was divine. Sadly Roast did not provide recipe cards so I will be spending some time this holiday season attempting to duplicate this ambrosia. It’s the perfect Christmas dessert, with all the season’s traditional flavours wrapped up in a comforting, traditional crumble with custard.

And then there was Paul’s Blueberry Cheesecake with Lemon Curd from The Luxe. 

I don’t know who Paul is, but thank goodness he provided a recipe card because I seriously would have begged for one. This was one of the best cheesecakes I have ever had – and in fact we returned later in the day for another portion of it. The cheesecake itself was light and delicious, with just the right amount of blueberries in it. The homemade lemon curd provided a combination of sharp and sweet that was simply mouthwatering.

It’s worth visiting Masterchef Live for the Restaurant Experience on its own, but there are also so many other shows, including presentations by celebrity chefs and the Masterchef Live team, displays from specialist food, wine and spirit producers, masterclasses, the latest in kitchen appliances and gizmos and lots of things to try and to buy as well. Masterchef Live is at the Winter Good Food Show in Birmingham next week, and if you can get to Birmingham, I definitely recommend a visit!