Takeaway Titans – the search for Ireland’s best takeaway
Ireland’s takeaway scene has exploded over the last few years – traditionally a space for fish and chips, Irish customers can enjoy delicious food from every corner of the globe in their very own sitting room.
Takeaway Titans is the show that seeks out the best takeaway talent and puts them to the test to see who comes out on top.
Hosted by James Kavanagh and Carl Mullan, top takeaway chefs from Ireland’s best Chippers, Asian, Indian, Pizza and Burger and Chicken joints, come to the Takeaway Titans Kitchen to cook up a storm for our discerning judges.
Irish chef and renowned critic Dylan McGrath and takeaway expert and winner of Britain’s Best Home Cook Suzie Lee Arbuthnot, will judge the takeaway teams based on their creativity and skill – they are looking for delicious food and nothing less will do.
Top Irish celebrities join the judges to taste some of the food – guests include Deirdre O’Kane, Hugh Wallace, Norma Sheehan, Jake Carter and Rory O’Connor aka Rory’s Stories.
The six-part series is made up of 5 heat episodes and one final. Each themed heat will see three takeaway teams cook their best selling dishes, some fantasy takeaway dishes and a judges mystery challenge to keep them on their toes.
At the end of three challenges one team will make it through to the final.
The five final teams return to the Takeaway Titans kitchen and must choose one dish from there menu and cook not just for Dylan and Suzie, but for the toughest judges of them all – the public.
Who will deliver the most delicious food? Takeaway Titans starts on the 8th of September at 9.35pm on RTÉ2.
Episode 3 – Asian
In the third episode of Takeaway Titans James and Carl meet the first three contenders for the Takeaway Titans title- Nabi Korean Kitchen in Co. Kildare, Janet’s and Summer Inn in Dublin. Who will win a spot in the final? Judges Dylan McGrath and Suzie Lee along with guest judge Norma Sheehan put the chefs through their paces.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE TAKEAWAY CONTESTANTS IN EPISODE 3.
NABI KOREAN KITCHEN (ST KEVIN’S GAA, STAPLESTOWN, CO. KILDARE)
CONTESTANTS: JOE LEE AND CHRISTINE GRACE
Joe Lee runs Nabi Korean Kitchen, with the help of his wife Sarah. Christine, his challenge partner, often helps front of house but has a lot of experience in cooking and loves nothing more than to roll up her sleeves.
Nabi serves up Korean, Japanese and Irish crowd pleasers from St. Kevin’s GAA club kitchen.
When Joe was living in Seoul he used to have his own restaurant, and even took part in a cooking competition on TV in 2006, winning it!
Before meeting Sarah, Joe had lived in Ireland briefly to learn English. He returned to Korea around the same time Sarah flew over to teach there for a while.
After having their second child they decided that they would move back to Ireland, for the sake of their children’s education. Their daughter, Sine is 14 years old, and their son Tuan is 11 years old. They moved back in 2012.When Joe came to live here, at first he was a stay at home Dad, and then he became a tour guide.
When Covid hit, and Joe found he was out of work, he started to think about moving back into food. Originally he was going to buy a food truck, but when the opportunity came up to use the kitchen in St. Kevin’s Joe seized it.
Sarah says that the best thing about running Nabi Korean Kitchen, is that Joe is happy, feeling valued and finally feels part of the community. Joe had accepted that he was always going to feel like a stranger in Ireland. But since opening Nabi, the GAA community have welcomed him, and his food, with open arms. Christine plays with the local ladies team also.
His Katsu Curry is very popular, as is Joe’s spice bag, and his St. Kevin’s Burger. But his Bulgogi has a loyal fanbase. The chairperson of St. Kevin’s has said that he’s addicted to it.
JANET’S (EATYARD, CO. DUBLIN) )
CONTESTANTS: JIANAN LIU (JANET) AND XIN YI CHEN
Janet’s is owned by Janet Lui. She opened her takeaway nearly 3 years ago and operates out of Eatyard by the Bernard Shaw pub in Drumcondra.
Janet is from North China and moved to Dublin to study when she was 20. Janet said she likes the Asian food in Dublin but when she tried dumplings it was not the taste from
her memory. She said they need to be home cooked, like her Grandma used to make.
She decided to set up Janet’s as she wanted other people to taste her grandma’s cooking and to share Asian culture with the Irish people.
In North China, dumplings are traditionally fried and salty and in South China, dumplings are typically boiled and sweet. Janet has combined elements from North and South to make unique dumplings that you won’t get in other Irish Asian takeaways.
There is also a Korean and Japanese influence on Janet’s menu. Where she is from in North China is bordered by Korea and Japan so there are a lot of Japanese and Korean people living in her hometown. She has popcorn chicken on her menu which is one of most popular street foods in her country.
Janet says it is very important to work with likeminded people and customer service is very important to her. Her and Xin Yi have a real parks. She appreciates the close connection you have with customers in a takeaway and she particularly likes to see children enjoying her food.
Xin Yi, is studying Microbiology at Trinity and has been working at Janet’s for a year. She serves the customers, takes orders and makes the chicken sauces. Cooking is her passion and she has been doing it since she was little. Xin Yi is an only child and her favourite thing about working at Janet’s is that it feels like a big family. She says Janet is like a big sister to her.
SUMMER INN (MULTIPLE SITES, CO. DUBLIN)
CONTESTANTS: XIAPING HE (CHRIS) AND KAR LOON LAU (ALAN)
The owner of Summer Inn Asian Food is Xiaping He (Chris) and he is joined by his executive chef Alan.
Prior to moving to Ireland in 2003, Chris worked as a chef in China. He took over Summer Inn Asian food in 2014. He now owns 7 Summer Inn Asian Food takeaways across Dublin, and two chippers called the Amber Grill. Together Alan and Chris want to make Summer Inn Asian Food as popular as Tesco.
One of their exclusive dishes is the Wrappo. This is a fried wrap filled with chicken curry and rice. Chris and Alan are incredibly proud of it. The Wrappo has featured in many Instagram and TikTok videos. Alan says that a lot of work went into perfecting the Wrappo. They make 80/ 100 fresh every day and sell out every day.
Alan really admires Chris’s success and work ethic. He also says that the boss (Chris) is the best thing about Summer Inn Asian Food.
Chris believes Summer Inn Asian Food is the best, because of its exclusive dishes on the menu, the quality of food, and their consistency of their food.
Alan and Chris say that this current time is the most challenging period in their experience of running a takeaway. But Chris is determined not to let the customers down by increasing prices, so is willing to take a hit on their profit margins.