''Ugly Delicious'' is a non-fiction original series on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

combining travel, cooking, and history. Each episode highlights one dish or concept, and explores how it is made in different regions and how it evolves. The first season premiered on February 23, 2018, with host

David Chang David Chang (Korean: ; born August 5, 1977) is an American restaurateur, author, podcaster, and television personality. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In 2009, Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars, which the restaura ...

. On November 22, 2018, it was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 6, 2020. The second season contained only half as many episodes as the first, likely due to Chang's increasingly busy schedule and the birth of his first child.

Plot

Each episode examines the cultural, sociological, and culinary history of a specific popular food. Chang challenges and explores the attitudes in each dish's lore. Mike Hale wrote in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that ''Ugly Delicious'' is "an extended television essay, in the form of free-associative, globe-trotting conversations about food and culture."

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

Season 2 (2020)

Reception

Critical reviews have mostly been positive. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported an approval rating of 100% based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 8.33/10 for the first season. The website's critical consensus states, "''Ugly Delicious'' injects new life into the food documentary by dispensing with culinary pretensions and celebrating a vibrant spectrum of dishes that are sure to whet audience appetites."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gave the series a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Greg Morabito of ''

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' (w ...

'' called the series' first season "maddeningly good" claiming that it, "raises the bar for food/travel shows." Jen Chaney of ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' praised the show's first season for raising important cultural issues and taking "a highly egalitarian approach to cuisine." For the second season, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10.

Accolades

References

External links

''Ugly Delicious''
official website on Netflix * * 2018 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2010s American documentary television series 2020s American documentary television series Food and drink television series English-language Netflix original programming Netflix original documentary television series {{food-tv-prog-stub