Rating: 
Summary: A must for the Iron Chef fans!
Review: Great info and insight. Especially like the restaurant guide. I will go try some of these restaurant.
Rating: 
Summary: About what you'd expect.
Review: Haoru Kotetsu, Iron Chef: The Official Book (Food Network, 2001)
When Iron Chef ended its six-year run in Japan in 1999, it was the undisputed king of cooking shows. Already nominated for a number of Emmy awards in this country before it had even found a distributor, it was ready-made for the American market. Things were sluggish, though, until Iron Chef Morimoto battled American challenger Bobby Flay in a special battle in New York in 2000. After that, the show caught fire here just as it did in Japan. Capitalizing on this, the Food Network took the then-recently published Japanese book on Iron Chef, expanded it, and released it to the American market.
The book serves as a teaser more than anything else. (For example, two Iron Chefs battled in Kitchen Stadium whom, as I write this, American audiences have never seen in a show, despite us having been seeing it now for four years of endless reruns.) For the obsessed, it might also serve as an episode-checkoff list, as each episode is listed. Not in the detail of, say, the must-have show-by-show Twilight Zone guide serialized in the magazine that shared the show's name, but as a roster, it'll do.
The book also contains interviews with the chefs themselves and various cast and crew members, a number of recipes, profiles of winning challengers, etc. Your basic compendium of trivia.
I must say, however, it never did clear up a question I've had since the beginning of the show's run in America: what if it's all a big joke? If so, it's a massively expensive one (just running down Kaga's list of ingredients in the preface made my wallet beg for mercy), lavishly produced and with enough Europeans and Americans in on the act to fool millions of daily Food Network viewers. But somehow, I've never been able to shake the idea that Kaga and co. are all sitting in Asakawa sharing a carafe of sake and having a good laugh at our expense.
The book shares this general tone of over-the-top theater, which will probably endear existing fans of the show and make those who already find it slightly distasteful stronger in their views. But then, only those who like the show in the first place are going to go seeking it out, so no problem. ***
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but seriously flawed
Review: I am a huge fan of Iron Chef, so it was inevitable that I would eventually buy this book. While I certainly don't regret doing so, I am not as happy with it as I'd hoped.The book contains interviews with all of the key figures in the Iron Chef world, including both the on-screen people and the behind-the-scenes people. I found these interviews very interesting and informative. The interviews alone justify the price of the book, which is a good thing, because the rest of the book is highly disappointing. First, I was surprised to discover that despite the large number of photographs and the colorful cover, this is not a coffee table book, or even a normal hardcover novel, but is in fact slightly taller than a paperback and wider than a hardback. It has a really odd form factor. Perhaps this size is more common in Japan. Regardless, the size was odd, but not a terrible thing, I suppose. Second, although the book lists all of the battles, ingredients, and challengers, it doesn't list who won the battles. It seems silly to leave that information out of these tables. Also, the book only contains a few recipes. Dr. Hattori provides a number of "prestige menus" for various cuisines, but none of these menus include recipes or even complete listings of ingredients. The recipes that are in the book really aren't even proper recipes, since they don't give any clear indications of proportions. There is a glossary of unfamiliar terms close to the back of the book (about 50 pages from the end, apparently in an effort to punish users who don't know Japanese cooking terms), but the glossary is not complete, and the book often seems to assume that just because there's an English translation for something, English speakers will know what it is. "Turbot", for example, is not defined, and I had to dig around a bit to find out it was the name of a kind of fish. Also, the English edition was produced by the Food Netwok, and as a result, the discusion of the New York battle is a bit overly kind to Bobby Flay, and doesn't even mention Gordon Elliott's boorish behavior.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of disappointed; could've been a lot more
Review: I am a huge fan of the Iron Chef TV show. I've only had the Food Network since March, but I immediately became hooked on this show. The incredible (and frequently very expensive) theme ingredients. The amazing dishes prepared by the Iron Chefs and the challengers. Chairman Kaga's outrageous wardrobe and his taste for things like yellow bell peppers. So when I heard that the official book came out, I ordered it right away. Once I had a chance to read it, I was...well...let me put it this way: the book is like a meal that's good but not filling enough, and you were expecting much more. The book did have interesting information like the previous Iron Chefs that I had not been aware of, some interviews, and a list of all the battles that took place from the very beginning. However, it would have been nice if they had listed the winner of the battles for starters. Also, many of the names were misspelled compared to how they were spelled on the actual episodes. Whoever edited the book (if there actually was an editor) did a very poor job. I also felt they could've interviewed more people, like some of the more regular guests on the tasting panel. I'll still keep the book because it's Iron Chef-related and it's nice to browse on occassion, but they could've done a better job with it and it could've been so much more.
Rating: 
Summary: Guide To The Coolest Cooking Show Out There
Review: I first discovered Iron Chef about four years ago, of course that was right after Iron Chef Morimoto battled Bobby Flay in New York and it came to the Food Network. I fell in love immediately. As is expected with a exported product that needs to be translated, there are some times where it gets difficult to understand, as the Japanese basic knowledge of food is much different than ours as far as basic names go. But none-the-less, if you want to see cooking at its extreme and its finest, this is the show to watch. True some dishes seem rather digusting to us Americans, but to them, so does the oddity of "American" cheese. In my opinion, cuisine is an art, a true art form. Here are three (and sometimes four) chefs who excel in their art form and do it with gusto and power. For those who have seen the new Iron Chef: America, there is no place to start like the beginning. Watch this show at all costs. With that said, this book offers a nice insight into the show itself, with some dishes displayed and bios, also with a complete show listing and outcome. For those who are obssessed over this melodramatic show like me, this is a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!!
Review: I have watched almost all the episodes of this show on the FOODTV network. This book is small in size and has a lot of nice photos, BUT there are to many photos. To many pages divoted to charts showing the battle number, the name of the two chefs battling and the theme ingredient. The backgrounds of the Iron Chefs is mentioned very lightly, it fails to go into the depth I was expecting from all the hype this show and book got in the press. All in all not worth the money. If you love this show as I do, you will not love the book. There are a "few" recipes mentioned in the book. I suggest borrowing it from the library so you can return it when done. This book could be read cover to cover in about 1 1/2 hours.
Rating:
Summary: its fair.... not what i expected
Review: I kept waiting for the book to have the drama of the show. Maybe the problem was my expectations... I found alot of the book had info all ready available (on the net...from the shows)and some new information but it didnt seem to have the back-stage gossip-y type info i was hoping for... the bios were interesting and there was info i didnt know but alot of the book was decidedly uninspired. I would read this book, but frankly..i would borrow it from a library insead of buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Allez Cuisine!
Review: I like this book. It is a handy reference when watching the show, especially when the show translation of an ingredient is not familiar, I find that the book sometimes translates the theme ingredient in words I know. Mostly, this is a guilty pleasure, like the show itself. Lots of pictures, some interesting recipes, a couple of good essays by Iron Chefs, and lots and lots of useful reference material. If you are looking for a listing of all the battles, and most of the judges, this is a useful book. Like everything associated with Iron Chef, I just wish there were more of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Behind the scenes is nice but WHERES THE FOOD?
Review: I looked at this book at the brick and mortar B&N and expecting to find a cookbook for this fun and amusing show; I found a history of the show and thoughts from the chefs. I WANT RECIPIES! This is a big disappointment! 294 pages and only 10 recipes equals a big miss for a popular show. Just like ?Iron Chef USA? missed the point of the original show, this book also missed the point of the show. IT?S ABOUT THE FOOD not the showmanship! Yes, some of the comments about the thoughts of the chefs and behind the scenes crew were interesting. But, the bulk of the book comes from Kaga, played by Takeshi Kaga (?If you think you've seen Kaga before, it may have been in a PBS special with the international cast of Les Misérables; Kaga was Jean Valjean in Japan's 1994 production. He was also the first Japanese Tony in West Side Story (1977) as well as the first Japanese Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar (1976)?? coped from www.foodtv.com ). Who wants to hear from a factious ?chairman.? I prefer an honest opinion, not those thought up by a staff writer of a network. The few recipes in this book are lackluster at best. The book tries to make them sound challenging, but read them a second time and anyone with rudimentary skills will be able to do everything with ease. Bottom line: Not worth the bucks!
Rating:
Summary: Bonzi Chefs!
Review: I love Iron Chef, let's say that first. I wasn't too sure about the book, though. It says it is a translation from the Japanese version, and I've found translations to be a little dry and not quite accurate. Not so here. The titles of the chapters, such as "Testimony of..." really mean interviews. The book is a pretty fast read, piling on the information using interviews, recipes and charts. I wish the charts where more detailed, but you can't have everything. I enjoyed this book immensely and found it very informative. It really does give you a behind the scenes feel and can be quite funny.
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