Boring, undercooked and dry: British fare lands the Blue Team in hot water as judges slam their 'disappointing' dishes and send them straight to MasterChef elimination

The pressure was on for MasterChef's amateur cooks as they struggled to prepare a three-course British-inspired menu in a real restaurant kitchen on Wednesday night - all under the watchful eye of tough UK-born chef Marco Pierre White.

The contestants split into two teams and faced off as they dished up meals for 120 hungry guests at Taxi Kitchen in Melbourne's Federation Square - with the losing team heading to elimination.

Tasked with cooking to a British theme, each team had to serve up two entrees, two mains and a dessert, all up to the exact standards of tough-talking guest star Marco.

The Blue team, captained by self-described 'craft' Emilia, started off strong thanks to their simple entrees being easy to prepare.

The team served up steamed scallops with split peas, zucchini and butter sauce and chicken sausage with pickled radish and baby greens.

But the simplicity didn't win the judges over, with Gary Mehighan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris dubbing them a let-down, George calling the scallop dish 'boring' and Matt saying the sausage was 'another miss for Blue team'.

Meanwhile the Red team, headed up by vegetarian mum-of-two Renae, suffered setbacks including undercooked beef and a brandy pudding that left judges underwhelmed.

But in the end teacher Amy's parsnip soup turned the tide, dubbed 'the stand out dish of the day'.

The team's pan-fried whole garfish with cauliflower puree was also a huge hit, despite taking longer than it should have to come out, with Matt describing it as 'a real pleasure to eat'.

Told her team would be facing elimination, an emotional Blue team captain Emilia admitted she felt she'd disappointed herself and let a lot of people down.

Heading into the challenge, the question now is whether youngest contestant Laura will save herself by opting out of the next round.

The South Australian native won the show's first immunity earlier in the week, giving her a one-off chance to skip the elimination round. should she choose.