Great British Menu ™

Lisa Goodwin-Allen scored this an 8. Lisa said: "I love the bowl of hummus. They had great texture. The pops of acidity came through from that maple vinegar gel. The pumpkin crumpets were light, fluffy, and the pumpkin seed miso spread was delicious. I liked the pumpkin and shiitake tea, but it needed more pumpkin flavour and a little bit more depth. I do not think that the [theme] came through enough. You need to work on your storytelling and have fun with it." 

FINALS JUDGING -- Changes: Pumpkin broken down smaller for quicker cooking and more char flavour in the hummus. 

PROBLEMS: Crumpets failed -- doughy, flat and heavy, not light or aerated. Accidentally added spiced pumpkin oil to miso spread; tried to bulk it out with extra pumpkin seeds. Cut finger during prep. Ran 2 minutes over time. Finished each dish with a leek ash logo. 

Tom: "Flavour wise, it's proper punchy. Kind of like a brutal assault of savoury salty." 

"The crumpet is a little doughy. It's not quite aerated enough." 

"I feel myself being quite excited about this dish, but still, there's still work to do on it." 

Phil: "It's like being kicked in the face by Batman... but with flavour." 

"The miso spread is a bit gritty." 

Lorna: "These two elements [hummus and tea] are very good. The textures of the nuts and the little sweetness. And I like the spice. The flavour of the shiitake is great. I just think that the miso spread's too salty and the crumpets are doughy." 

Debbie: "They're [hummus and tea] the best bit about it." All judges agreed the shiitake tea was excellent. 

Phil: "Don't even talk to me till I've had my shiitake tea."

BANQUET FINAL: Jack kept the chilli oil in the hummus and miso butter (originally a mistake that worked), added fermented quince, gave the shiitake tea a harder reduction, and fixed the crumpets after his heat collapse. Confy pumpkin shaved into a veil over the dish; offcuts and barbecued pumpkin into the hummus.

Reception at the pass. Cieran: "That hummus is really delicious, isn't it? The crumpet's a bit better this time." Tom Kerridge: "Although it is more aerated, and it's much better crumpet to eat. Still not quite got that toasty crisp on it. It's a bit spongy this time." Phil Wang: "The miso spread's really nice. It's smoother this time around." Marli Siu (guest): "I really like the pecans." Tom: "Pecans are great." Lorna McNee: "I love the crunch of the pumpkin seeds. I like the flavour of it." Tom on the whole: "There's lots of really good things going on, but I'm not quite sure they're all connected. The tea's got great flavours going in it, but then almost against each other." Lorna: "I also thought it was a little bit colder. I would like a little bit warmer." Tom: "Is it a perfect dish? I don't think it is, but big improvement."

Final result: 5th place. Marli Siu: "I loved your dish. The shiitake tea was delicious, so you should be super proud." Jack: "It was a definite improvement on how I felt it went. I'm not disheartened. There's just cracking dishes all around."