Gochi Gang

Japan Village is a 20,000-square-foot food hall in Brooklyn’s Industry City, and Reina Scully is ready to explore every corner. But no food tour is complete without a few friends. Joining Reina on her adventure is Strictly Dumpling’s Mike Chen, Bon Appétit’s Claire Saffitz, and NYC restaurateur Sakura Yagi. First, Reina, Mike, and Sakura tour Japan Village’s dizzying array of Japanese food stalls, sampling everything from street-food staples like okonomiyaki and yakisoba, to comfort-cooking classics like onigiri. Then, for dessert, Reina meets Claire for a Japanese candy shopping spree at Sunrise Mart. Together, Reina and Claire explore Japan’s love affair with Kit-Kats, sample a giant Pocky stick, and search for inspiration for Claire’s next big project.

Japan is home to some of the world's most coveted cuts of meat. But what makes wagyu so expensive? From an $85 wagyu sando with Hot Ones host Sean Evans, to a $350 wagyu steak with her old boss Philip DeFranco, Reina Scully is eating her way through NYC’s most decadent hunks of Japanese beef with a couple of friends. But what gives wagyu its famously marbled fat? And what's the deal with American wagyu popping up at restaurants? Reina first needs to head to butcher shop Japan Premium Beef for a true wagyu crash course. Find out if NYC's most expensive steaks really live up to the price tag on an all-new episode of Gochi Gang.

From beloved series like Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, to the films of Makoto Shinkai and Studio Ghibli, food has always been a massively important part of the anime-viewing experience. But what makes the food in anime look so incredibly delicious? On this episode of Gochi Gang, Reina Scully sets out to have a cartoon-themed feast with anime obsessives Zack Fox and Thundercat. But before Reina can dig into two iconic anime dishes—pancakes and omurice—she’s meeting rapper and comic book-lover Denzel Curry for a manga shopping spree. From a drawing lesson with manga artist Misako Rocks, to a deep-dive into titles like Food Wars and Sweetness and Lightning, Reina is about to embark on the ultimate anime food adventure.

Last week, Reina Scully ate her way through three of Japan's most recognizable ramen styles. But today, she's on a mission to see where ramen is going next. Her first stop is Niche, where chefs Frank Pinello, Mark Iacono, Carlo Carciotto, and Anthony Vitolo are ready to try mazemen, a saucy, brothless style of ramen. Chef Shigetoshi "Jack" Nakamura calls this dish "Japanese pasta"—but will his cheese and bacon-topped noodles satisfy some of NYC's most beloved Italian-American chefs? And later, Reina heads back to Ramen Shack to eat Keizo Shimamoto's infamous ramen burger one last time. From a discussion of ramen-stuffed pizzas and burritos, to an interview with 16-year-old ramen prodigy Josh Reisner, Reina is seeing how ramen is taking new shape in NYC heading into 2020.