Takeaway Titans co-host Carl Mullan has said the show was "genuinely the dream" gig and admits he and fellow presenter James Kavanagh "had good craic" working together.
The brand new six-part competitive food series, which airs tonight at 9.35pm on RTÉ2, 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.
Mullan, who also co-hosts The RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Show with Doireann Garrihy and Donncha O'Callaghan, said he loved working on the show.
"It's genuinely the dream and it was unbelievable. We had good craic making it as well," he said.
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.
Social media star James Kavanagh, who recently opened his own food van called Currabinny, said Irish chef Dylan McGrath and winner of Britain's Best Home Cook Suzie Lee Arbuthnot, bring a "good balance" to the show.
"It's very fast-paced. Carl and I are presenting it and we're interacting with the takeaways and the public towards the end. There's a lot of fun and comedy in that.
"Suzie Lee and Dylan bring the highbrow serious side to the show. It is a good balance in that sense. There's loads happening in it," he said.
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.
"Deirdre O'Kane knew her stuff when it came to food," Mullan said. "She had a lot of food knowledge and knew exactly what she wanted."
He added: "I think the big thing from all of the celebrity guests was everyone couldn't believe the standard of the food. I think everyone was surprised because you kind of go into it expecting there to be one or two that are really good and then some that are off the mark, but the standard was consistently high across the board."
Kavanagh admits he gained an abundance of knowledge for his own food business - a vintage green caravan parked up in Goldenbridge Industrial Estate, Inchicore - working on the show and said he found the experience to be "very educational".
"When we were filming the show, we were getting ready to open our food truck so I was literally asking some of the contestants how they margin food. It was really very serendipitous that we were starting a food truck while filming a food truck series.
"I learned loads from the contestants. I found the show very educational. I think one good think that came from the pandemic was the food truck explosion and it's here to stay!
"If there are a lot of people out there that want to learn how to do a food business, it's a great show in that sense," he said.
Takeaway Titans airs on RTÉ2 tonight (September 8) at 9.35pm.
