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 4 – Pizza
In the fourth episode of Takeaway Titans James and Carl meet the three contenders for the Takeaway Titans title- Pizza Guyz in Belfast, Pizza Pod in Mayo and Dublin Pizza Company. Who will win a spot in the final? Who has the best crust and goo-iest cheese? Judges Dylan McGrath and Suzie Lee along with guest judge Jake Carter put the chefs through their paces.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE TAKEAWAY CONTESTANTS IN EPISODE 4:
PIZZA GUYZ (BELFAST, CO. ANTRIM)
CONTESTANTS: CIARAN KELLY AND CRIOMHTHANN MURTAGH
Ciaran Kelly grew up in the fast food industry. His mum and dad had a fish and chips business and he has now been in the pizza business for 22 years.
He has always been fascinated with pizza. He started in his mum’s garage with a pizza oven, selling pizzas to his neighbours. He thought his mum was going to evict him so he decided he better get his own place! After 8 years they opened a restaurant but Ciaran decided to go back to a takeaway as he preferred the business model.
Cre has been with Pizza Guyz for five years. He came in with zero experience and couldn’t even wash a dish, and he’s worked his way up to manager. Ciaran says Cre is an inspiration for the youth that come through the door and says he’s a great leader. Cre says he would describe Ciaran as a friend rather than a boss, he calls him to chat on his day off. They believe the best thing about having a takeaway is you can contribute to so many more peoples dinner than in a sit in restaurant.
They both say that the success of Pizza Guyz is down to good systems and their amazing team. 95% staff started with Pizza Guyz are still there. They only close on Christmas Day and do a lot for their community. They provide food for the homeless, and bring in children with special needs to learn how to make pizza.
According to JustEat stats, they have the highest percentage of customer reordering in UK across all take away platforms.
PIZZA POD (FOXFORD, CO. MAYO)
CONTESTANTS: SUSAN WALDRON AND TONY MCCREADY
Husband and wife, Tony and Susan started Pizza Pod in 2021 after lockdown. Tony is from Newcastle, England and Susan is from Mayo. They met when they worked together in London. Tony said he fell for her in a heartbeat. Tony works in child protection services and Susan is a mental health nurse.
When they returned to Mayo, they couldn’t find good quality food that they were used to in their local area so they decided to open their own takeaway. The pod is an outlet for their creative side, as both have emotionally taxing jobs. Susan was against the idea initially but when she realised how happy it could make Tony, they went for it and now she loves it. Although all the money they were saving for a new kitchen in their house, got invested into the Pizza Pod so Susan is still waiting on her new kitchen.
Tony is obsessed with the science behind the dough. They love experimenting with the recipes which has led them to create some exciting flavours and textures from Goats chesse and black pudding to Clive’s black pepper and chilli sausage, fior de latte, Kearney blue and jalapeño and mushroom.
The Pizza Pod are heavily focused on sourcing and using Irish ingredients in their products. Susan sources the ingredients and promotes the product but gets her sleeves rolled up when needed! Tony also coaches his local under 13 football team in his spare time.
They work well together but they can also butt heads. Susan says Tony is a perfectionist and he says she drives him mad with the way she cuts the onions. Their children come with their friends and build the pizza boxes in exchange for free pizza at the weekend.
DUBLIN PIZZA COMPANY (DUBLIN CITY CENTRE, CO. DUBLIN)
CONTESTANTS: MICHAEL RYAN AND GODWIN IYERE
Mick Ryan opened Dublin Pizza Co on Aungier St in 2016. He now has a second unit in Dundrum. Mick was a bartender for 20 years and was doing food pop ups. He always loved working in restaurants which gave him a window into the kitchen. Although he’s not a trained chef, he’s an enthusiastic cook and he thought if he could just master one thing and get it right, he could get a food business out of it.
He loves pizza and with the help of his friend, built a pizza oven. His head chef moved in with him and they kept cooking until they perfected their pizza. There was flour everywhere! But they felt they were missing something so they went to Naples to train with the best.
Godwin is Mick’s head chef and has trained in Italy, and particularly fell in love with making pizzas and experimenting with them. He says if you think about the idea of Italian food, they have the same dishes but in each locality there is a nuance to each dish.
He thought if he was to look at Ireland as an outpost Italian town, combine the best of Irish products with some undeniably important Italian products like tomatoes and marry them with traditional pizza making techniques, he would have a unique thing which would be true of Ireland.
Six years ago, the landscape for Neapolitan pizza was very different. There were no hatches onto the street – it was a unique element, the inclusive nature of chefs working on a hatch, the fires blazing, you can see produce being made in front of you. You know it’s fresh, that really drew people in.