Professional Liverpool chefs battled for glory on Come Dine With Me: The Professionals tonight.
With the series filmed all over the country, each episode sees three restaurant duos take it in turns to host the others over a three-course dinner, serving up an evening of food and entertainment. Fun and drama is at the centre of the secret scoring to bag the £1,000 cash prize.
Tonight's episode featured Liverpool's Lu Ban Restaurant, Bold Street's Italian Club Fish and Crosby’s Seafood Kitchen. Italian Club Fish, owned by married couple Rosaria and Maurizio, kicked off the evening providing their guests with a proper Italian night out. They offered scallop with burrata to start, followed by spaghetti with lobster and chocolate cake for dessert.
READ MORE: The Chase's Paul Sinha pens sweet message to Gogglebox fans after rare appearance
Next up on the Channel 4 show was Crosby's Seafood Kitchen, owned by Vicky and Ashleigh. They wowed their guests with a seafood platter main course followed by a chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream.
Finally was Lu Ban, which is situated in Cains Brewery Village and is run by general manager Dimitri Prassinos and executive head chef Dave Critchley. They said that they offer "modern Chinese food". Dave added: "I'm still in training now with one of China's top chefs and we are trying to showcase real flavours that I saw out in China."
They served fellow restaurateurs a menu of Tianjin inspired dishes starting with a traditional Chinese Yin and Yang hot and sour soup, a main of Szechuan grilled lobster followed by a Cherry Blossom dessert of ruby chocolate, Morello cherry and apple blossom. Guests were also treated to a traditional Chinese Lion Dance.
Italian Club Fish were announced as the winners and received the £1,000 cash prize but Lu Ban didn't want their Come Dine With Me experience to end there. They are now offering the same menu to future guests at the restaurant. It is available for pre-booking on Thursdays and Fridays at £49.50 per person on the website.
Chef Dave said: "We went into the competition to showcase Liverpool as a brilliant place for visitors, to highlight independent restaurants and our stunning restaurant. Congratulations to Italian Club Fish and Seafood Kitchen, they did themselves and the city proud. We're very happy that we got to showcase great Chinese food and entertainment, plus we managed to have a lot of fun along the way”.
Receive newsletters with the biggest and breaking TV and showbiz news by signing up here
READ MORE:
Spain beach rules: Laws that could see you fined up to £2,500
Rare 50p coin sells for £225 with thousands more out there
HMRC taxpayers given £1,382 warning over their incomes
Love Island fans floored as Gemma Owen connection to Casa Amor contestant uncovered
Coronation Street fans spot familiar face as new character 'rises from the dead'
