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Paul Hollywood Eats Japan review – a flimsy, gap year-style food tour

The Bake Off judge explores Tokyo’s rich and varied food culture in this new series ... or at least he would if he looked beyond the gimmicks and misconceptions of his ‘exotic’ setting

When Paul Hollywood made his controversial move to Channel 4 was perhaps his new employer’s generous holiday allowance one pull factor? His Great British Bake Off co-judge recently went to Cambodia to make Prue Leith: Journey With My Daughter, a deeply personal study of family bonds, requiring unsparing self-reflection. Paul’s development meeting at Channel 4 HQ must have gone rather differently, because his own sabbatical was much more in the “go on a jolly, but bring a camera crew” vein.

This is Paul’s first trip to Japan, we are told, but it certainly isn’t the first one we have seen on television. Recent shows such as Japan With Sue Perkins and Joanna Lumley’s Japan have ensured that we sofa-bound travellers are familiar with these “exotic” surroundings. Karaoke joints? Been there. Shibuya Crossing? Seen it. Novelty cat cafes? Over it. Paul swung by all of them in this first episode of three, but his food focus made it fresh – though not as fresh as the red sea bream sashimi caught direct from the tableside stream at Zauo Fishing restaurant.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2y81nYC

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