Can Job Tune's Verdicts Be Trusted? Eating 9 Topvalu Products Without Knowing the Results, Then Checking the Answers

At the outset, they admitted it was a "dark segment" with a high chance of causing a backlash. Acknowledging that viewers might say, "You don't even understand the chefs' palates," they confirmed they would answer honestly. They also said that if the chefs judged something delicious that they themselves found delicious, that would be "a lovely thing."

After eating the first item, the cast decided on their grading criteria. To match the show's "pass," "fail," and "unanimous pass," they treated B+ or lower as a fail, A as a pass, and S (Special) as the equivalent of a unanimous pass. One cast member explained that their standard for an A was whether they would think "I want to eat this again" or "I'd buy this."

Below are the ratings for the 9 products and how the answer-checking went, in the order they were presented. The show's verdict was revealed each time after the cast gave their ratings.

The first item chosen was a pan-fried bun whose name on the package is read "shapin." One cast member explained it was something like a Chinese oyaki. The product wraps a filling that brings out the flavor of chives and the umami of pork in a chewy dough, and is heated in a 600W microwave for 1 minute. It reportedly keeps for 12 days chilled. They read aloud that the included sauce uses more than five kinds of spices.

They ate it first as is, then with the sauce. The cast kept saying "Tasty" and "Really tasty." In their ratings, they cited the substantial filling, with the chives, onion, and meat all coming through clearly, the chewiness of the wrapper, and the interesting format of a chilled product, and everyone's ratings matched. The show's verdict was a unanimous pass, and the cast rejoiced, saying it was "a good omen."

The second item, borscht, was 429 yen including tax, and as soon as the cast saw the price they said "Pricey" and "This has got to be a fail," prompting the retort, "You haven't even eaten it yet." It's heated at 600W for 2 minutes. The description read that raw beets are cooked in a hot water bath under vacuum to prevent color loss, and that red wine vinegar gives it a sharp acidity. Someone asked who eats this product and for what purpose, and the answer was that it's something like a Russian stew, and that beets are said to be highly nutritious.

Right after eating, the reaction was, "I can taste a delicate flavor." The ratings, however, were harsh: the meat was good, but the soup's aftertaste was bothersome, and one person said it tasted "like medicine." Someone suggested the wine vinegar and spices might be the cause. There were also opinions like "This doesn't taste like 400 yen" and "Maybe the cost of ingredients is high, but in that case they don't need to offer borscht at all." The rating was around B−, and one person said, "It doesn't matter whether it exists or not."

The show's verdict was a pass. The cast speculated that the chefs might have delicate palates, or might be used to borscht. Still, they insisted, "But it's not worth 400 yen," and one cast member said the borscht they'd had at a Russian restaurant was far better.

The third item was green curry, priced at 429 yen, the same as the borscht. Here one cast member added that Topvalu has purple packaging and yellow packaging: yellow is the budget line, and purple is the higher-tier "Select" line. It is reportedly made directly at a local factory in Thailand. When opened, it was full of big chunks of chicken, and it was well received for its generous ingredients and good aroma.

On the other hand, the main impression after eating was "sweet." In the ratings, Tatsuya gave it an A for the abundance of ingredients and the tasty chicken. The other cast members said the sweetness didn't suit their taste, and called it "so close" in the sense that the chicken was good and the aroma vivid but it "could go a little further," judging that at 429 yen it was too expensive to pass.

The show's verdict was a unanimous pass, and the cast was stunned: "No way" and "They probably didn't look at the price." There was a joke about whether they should go contrarian to match the chefs' verdicts, but they decided to keep rating honestly.

The fourth item was a crab cream croquette made with red snow crab from Aomori Prefecture. It's fried for about 4 minutes in a 23cm-diameter pot. It uses a two-stage coating, with fine panko first and then coarser panko, to create a contrast in texture. The phrase "two-stage" prompted a joke likening it to the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu from Rurouni Kenshin.

The fried croquettes were large and golden, and the cast agreed, "This has to be good" and "This'll pass for sure." At the same time, someone pointed out, "Isn't it obviously going to be good if you fry it right before eating?" When they ate it, the coating was crunchy and the inside was creamy. They praised the cream for being light rather than too heavy, and for having crab flavor within a mostly milk-based taste.

In the ratings, one opinion was that it was simply tasty, the coating was good, and at 400 yen for this size they'd want to serve it as a deli item. One cast member added the reservation that the coating could be a bit crispier, but considering everything, including that it isn't extremely cheap, they still gave it a pass because it tasted good. A-ko said it couldn't be rated (unmeasurable).

The show's verdict was a fail, and the cast pushed back hard: "Wait a minute" and "It's really good." They then speculated that it might have been cold when the chefs ate it, and seemed somewhat persuaded that this might explain it. Even so, at the end they declared it a pass in their own segment (which they call "Buzz Tune").

The fifth item was a frozen pasta, large-portion meat sauce with eggplant, heated at 600W for 7 and a half minutes. It was introduced as 192 yen, and later in the conversation was also referred to as 198 yen and 199 yen; either way, it's cheap at under 200 yen. It was introduced as Aeon's best-selling pasta, with the secret to its low price being the use of a thoroughly simmered, spice-rich chuno sauce as a hidden ingredient, adding depth to the flavor while keeping costs down. The cast said "Cheapness matters too," but speculated, based on the green curry and borscht results, "I don't think the chefs take price into account."

Their impressions after eating were "Not bad," "Restaurant-like," and "On the sweet side." In the ratings, Tatsuya gave a different verdict from the others. The other cast members said that if eggplant was going to be front and center, they wanted more of it; others said the eggplant was meltingly tender and tasty, and that the noodles were surprisingly firm for a frozen product. One rating was, "It's not mind-blowingly good, but eating it on a tiring day is totally fine."

The show's verdict was a unanimous pass, so once again Tatsuya called it correctly. The other cast members said, "I think it's a product worth eating, but a unanimous pass is overpraising it" and "I thought it'd be about a pass."

The sixth item was a pork loin katsu sandwich. The cast took it to be "fairly pricey," but also said the price might be reasonable given the thickness of the cutlet. It's a popular product that has reportedly sold over 18 million packs in total and is renewed every year.

For this item, every cast member gave a fail. One pointed out, "Since you can't have it freshly fried, wouldn't it be tastier if they made it a bit more tender, using something like restructured meat?" Another said the seasoning was good and the price was about right for a katsu sandwich, but since it isn't cheap either, it wasn't a pass.

The show's verdict was also a fail, and the cast rejoiced, "We finally caught up." They did, however, add a self-aware quip: "And Topvalu is getting hurt by it."

The seventh item was a 280g frozen fried rice said to be loaded with chunks of chashu cut to nearly 1cm in size. It had punch from the smell alone, and when eaten it was strongly flavored and junky. The cast thought it was tasty but worried about "what the chefs will say." There was also a moment when A-ko finally nodded in approval.

Everyone agreed on a pass. They cited the convenience of being able to make it quickly and eat it right away, how it makes you want to drink with it as a snack, and the good balance of garlic. One view was that frozen fried rice may only come alive with seasoning this strong. Its large portion also earned high marks for value.

The show's verdict was a unanimous pass, and the cast wrapped up with "Anyone would find this tasty" and "You should buy this."

The eighth item was a frozen pasta priced at 537 yen including tax, introduced as a Sicily-inspired sauce pairing oil-packed sardines with raisins. It was co-developed with pasta maker Barilla, and the noodles are fettuccine. Compared with the meat sauce pasta at around 200 yen, it was pricier, and since frozen fettuccine is rare, the cast said their expectations were high. The sardines are included whole, but they also noted that since they're oil sardines, the bones probably wouldn't be much of an issue.

When they ate it, there were exclamations of surprise like "It's restaurant quality" and "They make this frozen?", with the firmness of the fettuccine especially praised. One opinion was that even 500 yen would feel justified. In the ratings, one cast member gave it an S, saying they love oil sardines, liked being able to flake them apart while eating, and would want to eat it again and buy it. A-ko, meanwhile, said the noodles were very good but gave it a C+.

The show's verdict was a 6-to-1 pass, with one of the chefs giving a fail. The cast joked, "That one is A-ko," and speculated that one of the chefs might not like seafood. The speaker themself rated this product as tasty.

The last item was Tasmanian beef curry. One cast member revealed that this was the only product they had eaten before. To avoid swaying the others, they held back their impressions beforehand. It's reportedly a flagship product that has been on sale for more than 30 years. It's a shelf-stable retort pouch, packed with big chunks of meat and plenty of roux.

The reactions after eating were positive: "The meat is huge," "It falls apart right away," "It's beyond a retort curry," and "Spicy." Three people agreed on S and laughed that "our palates are similar." They cited the depth and richness of the roux and the amount of meat. According to the cast member who already knew the product, typical retort curries are about 180g, but this one is 220g. If an ordinary retort curry costs about 300 yen, this one in the 400-yen range falls into the premium category, but they said it's a product that "silences" critics with its quantity of meat and its flavor, and is above standard on every point.

A-ko also gave it an S, and this was the first time A-ko gave an S in this segment. The show's verdict was also a unanimous pass, and the cast nodded along: "Naturally."

In the final review, they reflected that overall everything was tasty, and there was hardly anything they'd call "bad." The only items they rated low were the borscht and the katsu sandwich, and they added that for the borscht, its unfamiliar taste may have been a factor.

As for the answer-checking, they summarized that in the first half they often differed from the chefs, but in the second half they agreed quite a lot. The cast jokingly described this as the result of having "grown while fighting" and caught up to the chefs' palates.

The one lingering regret was the crab cream croquette's fail. The cast seemed unable to fully accept it to the very end, saying, "That was tasty." They said they'd like to do the segment again if it's well received, and closed the video by inviting viewers to send in opinions like "This one's wrong" or "This one was tasty," along with segments they'd like to see.