Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner’ on Netflix, Which Finds Chef David Chang Eating with Celebs in Various Cities

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is celebrity chef and restaurateur David Chang’s second Netflix series, following 2018’s Ugly Delicious. The concept this time is more streamlined: Chang meets a celebrity pal in a large city, and they converse about various topics while sampling the local eats in shops, dives and the occasional fancy restaurant. Consider it a less-adventurous riff on Parts Unknown and No Reservations, although Chang — or anyone else, for that matter — wisely would never try to fill the shoes of the late, universally beloved Anthony Bourdain.

BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: An external shot of BBQ Master, a teensy Chinese eatery tucked into a parking garage in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver.

The Gist: Destination: Vancouver. It’s where comedy star Seth Rogen grew up, so it makes sense that he’d give Chang a slightly nostalgic tour of the city’s wares. First things first, though — they pull over to smoke a joint, then head to The Public Market to stuff doughnuts in their pieholes, so consider every public perception of Rogen fulfilled. (The doughnut-shop employee says she’s seen Rogen stop by many times.) Their eyes widen as they watch hot, gooey glaze drip off freshly fried dough; a worker jams pastry wads onto spigots and pumps them full of jelly. Food porn!

They go fishing for chinook salmon and crabs; they park on a sidewalk bench and nosh samosas outside a teensy dive. Vancouver’s rich Asian culture means an opportunity to eat authentic dim sum and Cantonese barbecue. They get baked and get lost in a hedge maze, and marvel at the jellyfish in the Vancouver Aquarium — where, notably, one of the octopi is named Ceph Rogen (get it? Cephalopod?).

Throughout their wanderings, they talk about themselves, their upbringings, and the foods they grew up loving. Their conversations function somewhat as interviews, Chang as the host and Rogen as the subject. They bond over how the thing they do best is not the thing they do most — Chang is busy being a TV host and running restaurants, but just wants to get his hands on food and develop recipes, while Rogen believes writing, not acting, is where his true talent lies. (It’s easy to forget that Rogen writes, produces and directs many projects for his own production company, from movies like Sausage Party and The Disaster Artist to TV series The Boys and Preacher.) They get a little deep, but not too deep, because the primary objective here is to have fun.

Our Take: If hanging with a couple of bros while they giggle their way through a hedge maze is your idea of fun, then by all means, fire up Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. The loose, informal tone is the show’s best asset — when a documentary/reality series comes off as too polished, its phony veneer undermines all sense of authenticity. The Vancouver tour is personal for Rogen, who takes Chang to the modest home where he grew up, the rec center where he took karate lessons and some of his favorite spots to fire up a doob. Contrary to the title of the show, I don’t think they ever ate breakfast, or even adhered to any such traditional three-meal structure; maybe this episode should be subtitled Munchies, Munchies, Munchies, Munchies and Munchies.

One of Chang’s objectives is to soak in a city’s culture, and the episode does that well — artfully composed cinematography captures Vancouver’s damp, overcast vibe, and focuses on the city’s significant Asian population. The food and conversation elements come off as only partially realized, though. Food seems almost secondary at times (hi, nobody goes to the aquarium for a meal), and anyone hoping for a profile of Rogen will find such explorations skimpy. Other episodes — with guests Chrissy Teigen, Lena Waithe and Kate McKinnon — may yield better results, and probably will feature significantly fewer pot-smoking scenes.

Sex and Skin: Note, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner isn’t nearly as food-porny as 90% of the shows on Food Network.

Parting Shot: Rogen and Chang stroll through the Vancouver Aquarium lobby as Andrew Gold’s Thank You for Being a Friend plays.

Sleeper Star: Rogen’s dealer is never seen, but they play a major role in this episode.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I’m always chasing the dragon of these jelly doughnuts,” Rogen says as only an out-and-proud weed smoker can.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Chang is no Bourdain, but who is? Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner stops a hair short of being truly meaningful, but it’s a reasonably entertaining travelogue nonetheless.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream <em>Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner</em> on Netflix