Fun Family Food TV! (Come Dine With Me)

Member Name: topherbenn

Product:	Come Dine With Me
Date:	03/04/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's always different, recipes are available online.

Disadvantages: Sometimes shows are ruined by contestant conflict.

'Come Dine With Me' is a popular TV culinary reality TV series on Channel 4.

I first saw the show a few years ago and it was every entertaining seeing the contestants battle it out for the £1000 prize money at the end of the week if they had served the best food and hosted the best evening.

Each week, five contestants come together to each host a dinner evening one night of the week. Each gets to choose the food they will cook and how they will present the evening - over the shows there's been some quite interesting presentations! I remember seeing belly dancing and then karaoke on another of the shows, and then there's always the one that goes all out and makes it extra special with candles, fancy decorations and even fancier food.

The show not only offers a good hour of entertainment each night of the week but I've been tempted to try out some of the dishes that have been cooked on the show. The recipes are usually online not long after each show, but ones from later series that are continually repeated are no longer on the site. 'Come Dine With Me' has seen six series, with a seventh due in the future. Dishes range from different cultures all over the world, from the extravagant to the down right rubbish. I don't believe there is a test the contestants have to go through to appear on the show - probably just an application form - and some of them aren't as good as they think they are, but this doesn't lower the quality of the show.

Sometimes the contestants clash and the evenings are spoiled by erratic behaviour, however on the whole it's nice family entertainment.

With the success of the show, there has been 'Celebrity Come Dine With Me' though the 'Celebrities' aren't really that well known and it's like any other 'normal' show. They tried, but I feel it didn't work as well as they thought it would.

I like to watch the original and will continue to. It doesn't really get boring because the contestants are always different, as are the dishes and the evenings in which it is all presented. The make sure to avoid the endless repeats on Channel 4 and More 4 though!

Try it out - you may just find some good recipes along the way too!

Summary: A good television series which offers good food and a great hour of entertainment.