''Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster'' is a food and comedy podcast featuring

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Gamble (born 10 March 1986) is an English comedian and television presenter. He is best known for co-presenting the ''Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster, Off Menu'' podcast with James Acaster as well as his appearances ...

and

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor. As well as the stand-up specials ''James Acaster: Repertoire, Repertoire'' and ''Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999'', he is known for co-hosting ...

, in which guests are invited to select their dream menu by both comedians. ''Off Menu'' was launched in December 2018. As of April 2023, the podcast has been downloaded 120million times.

Premise

In the show, guests are asked by Acaster—in the role of a Genie Waiter—for their dream menu, in a dream restaurant that can produce any food and drink. Acaster first asks guests, "Still or sparkling water?" Shortly after, and without warning, Acaster will shout "Poppadoms or bread?" The episode continues with the guest giving their starter, main course, side dish, drink and dessert. Cooking sound effects play between discussions of each course. Guests explain what they like about the food, memories associated with it and other food and drink topics, as well as discussing their body of work. Before the guest arrives Gamble and Acaster announce a secret ingredient that at least one of them does not like, is suggested by a listener or is related to the guest. If the guest mentions the ingredient they are ejected from the Dream Restaurant without getting any dinner. The only guest ejected from the Dream Restaurant is

Jayde Adams Jayde Pricilla Gail Adams (born 26 November 1984) is a British comedian, actress, writer and opera singer from Bristol. She is the winner of the 2014 Funny Women Award. Early life Born in Bedminster, Bristol, Adams attended her aunt's freestyl ...

. The hosts refer to the producer, Ben Williams, as the Great Benito. The hosts have some strong established opinions on food: for instance, Gamble favours a cheeseboard for dessert, to which Acaster objects. They also have established anecdotes, such as Acaster's story about drinking

Diet Coke Diet Coke (also branded as Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Diet or Coca-Cola Light Taste) is a sugar-free and low-calorie soft drink produced and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. It contains artificial sweeteners instead of sugar. Unveiled on ...

after a long period of caffeine abstinence and believing that it tasted like

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Episodes

A wide range of guests have "eaten at the dream restaurant", including comedians, chefs, and other figures such as

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, author, television presenter, writer and actor. He is one half of the comedy double act Reeves and Mortimer with Jim Moir, Vic Reeves, and appears in the ''Mortimer & Whitehouse ...

Michelle Keegan Michelle Keegan (born 3 June 1987) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Tina McIntyre in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2008–2014) and Georgie Lane in the BBC military drama '' Our Girl'' (2016–2020). Keegan h ...

Ainsley Harriott Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott (born 28 February 1957) is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows '' Can't Cook, Won't Cook'' and ''Ready Steady Cook''. Early life Harriott was born in Paddingt ...

and Joe Thomas. In the show's 100th and 200th episodes, Acaster and Gamble chose their own dream menus. These special episodes were hosted by

Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...

and

Rylan Clark Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), commonly known as Rylan Clark, is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the The X Factor (British series 9), ninth series of the television talent s ...

respectively. On 12 March 2025, a secondary format was introduced called Tasting Menu, where a former guest returns to be "fed" the dream menu of another former guest. The first returning guest was John Kearns, being told the menu of

Miriam Margoyles Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...

Background

The podcast began in December 2018. It reached 50million downloads in April 2021, and 120million by April 2023. Gamble had previously hosted ''

The Peacock and Gamble Podcast ''The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' was a weekly podcast hosted by British comedians Ray Peacock and Ed Gamble. Hosted on Chortle.co.uk and accessible via iTunes and RSS, the show started in 2009 as a spiritual sequel to the ''Ray Peacock Podcas ...

'', while ''Off Menu'' was Acaster's first hosting role on a podcast. Acaster has experience working in two kitchens, though he did not learn to cook in either role. As a format point, Acaster decided unilaterally that he was a genie.

Live shows

A live episode of ''Off Menu'' was recorded in July 2021 at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a G ...

with

Isy Suttie Isobel Jane Suttie (; born 11 August 1978) is a British musical comedian, actress and writer. She played Dobby in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show'', and in 2013 won the gold Sony Radio Academy Award for her radio show ''Pearl And Dave''. Ear ...

and

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

as the guests. They returned to record a Christmas episode in 2022. Gamble and Acaster toured with 15 ''Off Menu'' live shows in October and November 2023. They returned to London for a short run at the London Palladium in March 2025 with a number of guests including Julian Clary and Self Esteem. The pair also recently announced more dates at the Palladium for March 2026.

Accolades

In 2022 and 2023 it received a nomination in the Best Comedy Podcast category at the

National Comedy Awards The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

. ''Off Menu'' was nominated for Best Comedy Podcast in the 2019

British Podcast Awards The British Podcast Awards is an annual awards ceremony intended to celebrate outstanding content within the British podcast scene. The British Podcast Awards is owned and operated by Haymarket Media Group, which also owns several media businesse ...

. In 2020, ''Off Menu'' garnered two nominations in the categories Best Comedy Podcast and Best Entertainment Podcast. It was nominated for two awards in 2022 in the Spotlight category—for large, mainstream podcasts—and the Best Live Podcast category. It was nominated for Best Podcast at the 2022

Chortle Awards The Chortle Awards were set up in 2002 by the comedy website Chortle to honour the best of established stand-up comics currently working in the UK. A panel of reviewers draw up a shortlist, which is presented for public vote at the Chortle webs ...

. At the 2023 British Podcast Awards, it was nominated for the Spotlight Award, a category for podcasts with over 100,000 downloads per episode.

Reception

In 2020, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' critics ranked it the 17th-best podcast of the year. In an early ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' review, Sarah Griffin praised the "succinct and unique" concept as a "particularly good ice-breaker" with "deliberate and considered" structure, and the hosts as "playful, curious and focused" with "genuine curiosity" in the guest. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' rated a 2023 live show three stars.

References

External links

* {{authority control Audio podcasts British podcasts 2018 podcast debuts Comedy podcasts James Acaster Food and drink podcasts