Restaurant Revolution-Brisbane

Since we have moved to Australia we have really enjoyed the cooking reality shows.  Our favorite had been My Kitchen Rules, which picks pairs of friends, lovers, or family, to compete with their cooking against like pairs.  It starts with having them make a "restaurant" in their home, and all the other contests then come and vote.  The competition gets harder and harder as it goes.  Well this new show has taken it to a totally different level.

Restaurant Revolution on the other hand picked groups from Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Perth (all the major cities in Australia besides Tasmania).  They all were given shipping containers placed in iconic locations in their city.  The picture above is the group and restaurant from our town, Brisbane.  The Brisbane group is a mother, daughter, and daughter's partner.  The couple went back backing through Central and South America to only fall in love with the food and the atmosphere.  So their restaurant is "east meets west."  It is Central and South American food mixed with their heritage to give the Asian twist.

The different city groups are all competing to see whose restaurant is the most profitable and has the best ratings.  Throughout the competition they have food critics come and taste the food. There is a really neat twist though, the public also becoming food critics.  They have a feedback booth in each restaurant where the diners can go in and tell their thoughts on the food and service.  Everyone becomes a critic!  I love how this reality show really makes everyone feel a part.  You watch the people, food, and restaurants on television, and then you can actually go inside the restaurants and see it all first hand.

We had ice tea, chips and pico for appetizer, wings and pibill for main, and toffee pear and mango ice cream for dessert.  

Now, the ice tea, wings and mango ice cream were our favorite food of the meal.  The thing we LOVED about this restaurant was the amazing service.  In Australia service is not something that restaurants really do.  So, when you have a restaurant that really goes out of their way to make you feel special, it really stands out.  We had the best server/greeter/front man.  He even took time out of his schedule to come to our table and talk about his recent travels to the USA after he noticed our accents.

Didn't they decorate their shipping containers so cute?  I hope we get to make it to some of the other restaurants before they close.

What is things that stick out at restaurants to you?  What is your favorite reality show?

-EAT