REVIEW. M-Net's My Kitchen Rules SA is a reality drama dish you've seen on TV before - but it's well worth a second helping.

The first local season of My Kitchen Rules South Africa starting on M-Net (DStv 101) this evening (Sunday) at 18:00 is from a particular type of reality drama dish menu you've ordered and eaten from on television before - but it's well worth a second helping.

On Friday M-Net gave 3 journalists, including this TV critic, an exclusive sneak-peak screening of the first episode of My Kitchen Rules South Africa with the 18 episodes of a diverse group of couples that will be plated for viewers from M-Net's TV kitchen in the coming weeks.

My Kitchen Rules South Africa most closely resembles BBC South Africa's successful Come Dine With Me South Africa, except that here its couples instead of individuals taking turns to host each other.

There's also the two judges - David Higgs and J'Something - both pulling out chairs to tuck into whatever the competitors are whipping up in their respective kitchens and adding their scores to the overall tallies.

The first episode set in Bloemfontein with the first two contestants - the "Bloem Besties" Liz and Leanne - has a slightly washed out and coppertone appearance which is probably due to the Free State winter landscape in which it was filmed.

The show makes excellent use of establishing and panoramic aerial drone shots, and of introducing the first 5 couples who will be competing. Also great is the framing the various couples as they dish about the dishes.

Some small technical mistakes will probably go unnoticed by ordinary viewers, like the plastic tubing of David Higgs' earpiece being visible (and moving to different sides from one moment to the next due to editing!).

A "countdown clock" is introduced but never really appears enough, or counts down with enough visible screen time to accentuate the drama build-up.

The lighting is remarkably good given that it's being filmed in contestants' real homes and David Higgs as the strict, more Simon Cowell-ish judge and J'Something as the more smiley face Paula Abdul-type makes for a well-balanced, good-cop/bad-cop judging duo.

Clever one-liners in My Kitchen Rules SA ranging from "Sandton kugels in Bloem","the rocket is great" and "literally us on a plate" makes the show a delight - as does the unexpected and emotional - reaction from several of the contestants.

Get ready for tears and drama with one contestant literally starting to shake in her boots.

Several of the contestants gossip in whispers as they talk about each other - you can still hear fine, but they will hopefully loosen up and speak louder as the series progresses.

Like Come Dine With Me SA the contestants all get an amount of money and have to come up with their own menus.

In My Kitchen Rules SA they however have to come up with a name for their "pop-up restaurant" as well and decorate accordingly.

For the next five weeks the first 5 pairs of contestants have to create their instant restaurants in their homes where their food is scored by their rival contestants as well as the two judges.

At the end of this round M-Net viewers will say goodbye to the pair with the lowest overall score.

After that viewers will meet more pairs who will go through the same process and from there the action moves over the the My Kitchen Rules SA headquarters in Johannesburg where several challenges will determine which home cooks will continue to whip up more delights.

The winning pair wins a big prize that gets announced in the first episode of My Kitchen Rules SA.

My Kitchen Rules SA on M-Net is not to hot and not too cold but just right as an entertaining Sunday evening bowl of new local reality TV porridge.

Meet the first 5 teams of My Kitchen Rules South Africa: Water polo players, book club friends, Bloem besties and a Cradock mom and daughter team.

The first batch of contestants for the first season of My Kitchen Rules South Africa have been revealed and they include water polo players, besties from Bloem, book club friends and a mom and daughter team from Cradock.

The food reality competition show produced by Endemol Shine Africa will start on M-Net (DStv 101) from Sunday 13 August at 18:00 in which several teams of two each, will be battling it out in their kitchens to come up with the best meals.

The knives are out and the kitchens are about to heat up in the latest TV culinary showdown, with J'Something and David Higgs as the judges who will be critiquing every dish served up.

"This competition is about team work for me," says David Higgs, owner of Marble restaurant.

"When one team member is down, it's up to the other one to pick up the pieces and vice versa - that is essentially what a kitchen is all about. And obviously these contestants need to be able to put good plates of food together - consistently. It's going to be fun to watch."

Musician J'Something says he's looking for "South Africans who take home cooking and give it a big helping of finesse - people who are passionate about food and people that can simply put love on a plate".

My Kitchen Rules South Africa will have 18 episodes and there will be 5 teams of 2 people each in the first round of Instant Restaurants. Later there will be 5 more teams of 2 in the second round - exactly like the Australian version.

In the competition each team has a turn to host the judges and the other teams in their group at their own homes which they turn into "Instant Restaurants" - serving up a 3-course meal against the clock.

At the end of each Instant Restaurant evening, the other teams and the judges score each dish out of 10 and at the end of the 5 Instant Restaurants, the team with the lowest score goes home.

What this means is that once My Kitchen Rules SA has gone through all 10 (both groups of 5 pairs), 8 teams will progress to the next round of the competition which will take place in the “Kitchen Headquarters”.

Here couples will compete against each other in various challenges until there are only 2 teams left to battle it out in the finale of the series.

Here's the first 5 My Kitchen Rules SA teams:

Mr & Mrs Bruce (43)  and Claudia (33) (Midrand)
"I am extremely competitive," says Bruce, a multiple world champion in martial arts. He says his mom had a large influence on his passion for cooking "and her Asian roots have also played a big part in our style as a team".

Claudia saw Bruce at a Kung Fu function and "fell instantly in love" with him. "Now we are married with two beautiful boys". She says she's "addicted to trying out new recipes all the time".

Book Club Besties Kelly (46) & Claire (43) (Kyalami)
These two who have been friends for 10 years met at a book club that was organised by a mutual friend.

"Both Kelly and I are competitive," says Claire. "I learnt from an early age that first is everything, second is nothing!"

Mother & daughter Lani (51) & Louzel (26) (Cradock)
"She sometimes let out a swear word or two. But I am her mother and I can tell her not to do that!" says Eastern Cape mom Lani of her daughter Louzel who lives in Cape Town with her husband.

"I think the fact that I'm cooking with my mom is not only an advantage, but a massive privilege," says Louzel.

"We have the same basic understanding and respect for food and our different abilities compliment that. The fact that we're from a small farming community has also created opportunities for us to think outside of the box when it comes to cooking."

Water polo buddies Rein (33) & Rowan (35) (Krugersdorp)
"Rein and I have known each other since high school, where we met playing water polo," says Rowan. "After a 7-year stint when Rein was galivanting around Holland, we met up again and been greatest of mates ever since."

"We're both very competitive since we've been playing competitive sport all our lives. We plan to take that straight into the kitchen and this competition."

Rein says during his 7 years in Holland "I had the privilege of experiencing some amazing chefs. I was exposed to a lot of great restaurants and food when I was there and it ignited my passion for food."

Bloem Besties Liz (37) & Leanne (32) (Bloemfontein)
"Leanne and myself have known each other for just over two years now, but it was a friendship at first sight," says Liz.

"Finally I found someone who shares my fussiness about food, someone who thinks in food language, someone who plans her week around food ... I met my match!"

Liz says she's "a serious competitor" and very hard on herself. "I love Leanne's craziness and her strong will. What's right is right and wrong is wrong. With Leanne everything is very clear, there are no grey areas."

Leanne says she's a very emotional person. "I wear my emotions on my sleeve, so everyone always knows exactly what I am feeling and where they stand with me."

She says she "loves Liz's determination and her ability to create magic from nothing. She will do anything for me as a friend and will carry me when I need help."