The BEST episodes of Iron Chef season 3

#1 - Hong Kong Special

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/31/1995

Two hour special featuring Michiba vs. Shu Chu in Battle Spiny Lobster and Chen vs Ron Waikei in Battle Pork

#2 - Chen vs Lee Myong Suk (Liver)

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 5/5/1995

Chairman Kaga welcomes his first Korean challenger, bringing with her a distinctive form of cuisine rarely seen in Japan.

#3 - Michiba and Sakai vs The Cuomo Brothers (Tomato)

Season 3 - Episode 33 - Aired 8/18/1995

Tag Team Battle! Two Iron Chefs vs 2 Italian Brothers in the battle of the tomato. After growing up in Italy, these brothers started their own restaurant in Tokyo. It is so popular that you must make reservations up to 6 months in advance. Judges: Yasushi Akimoto (Songwriter), Hideki Saijo (Singer), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)

#4 - Michiba vs Masao Suzuki (Matsuba Crab)

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/10/1995

The challenger is the head chef at a restaurant that Iron Chef Michiba himself dines at frequently. Judges: Tamio Kagayama (Novelist), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)

#5 - Chen vs Yukihiro Noda (Sardine)

Season 3 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/23/1995

Chairman Kaga is in a very bad mood. His Iron Chefs have lost their last two battles. Worse, the stress of the last loss has left the mighty Iron Chef Japanese Michiba in the hospital. And now, he has to answer a challenger representing the famed Italian restaurateur Don Sabatini. Can Chen avoid the fate of his fellow Iron Chefs and defend the honor of Kitchen Stadium?

#6 - Chen vs Tsuguo Fujiwara (Sea Cucumber)

Season 3 - Episode 38 - Aired 9/22/1995

Tsuguo Fujiwara is Managing Director of the Chinese Chefs' Association of Japan: the largest association of Chinese chefs in the country. Iron Chef Chinese Chen is placed in an uncomfortable position. As a lower member of the Association, he finds himself feeling like the challenger for once as he has to face his senior.

#7 - Sakai vs Tadamichi Ohta (Octopus)

Season 3 - Episode 48 - Aired 12/8/1995

Disappointed in the quality of the Japanese cuisine challengers this year (none of which have won to date), Chairman Kaga decides to call in a chef he'd been saving: Vice President of the Japan Chefs' Association and head chef of Nakanoboh-Zuien, a top-class ryokan in Arima Hot Springs.

#8 - Michiba vs Lin Kunbi (Potato)

Season 3 - Episode 41 - Aired 10/20/1995

The challenger is one of the best in Japan at Fujian-style cooking. He opened the first Fujian-style restaurant in Japan. He is also a sixth-degree black belt in karate. Judges: Nagisa Ohshima (Director), Yoshiko Ishii (Singer), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Critic)

#9 - Sakai vs Philippe Aubron (Crayfish)

Season 3 - Episode 37 - Aired 9/15/1995

Chairman Kaga desires to have more experience with the cuisine of France's southern Provence region. He learns of a man from Provence who now serves authentic Provencal cuisine to Japanese diners near Lake Biwa. He invites the man to Kitchen Stadium and presents him with crayfish as the theme: an ingredient well-suited to his style of cooking.

#10 - Chen vs Yoshiko Takemasa (Short-necked Clam)

Season 3 - Episode 34 - Aired 8/25/1995

It's tough, very tough for a woman to make her way into the kitchen of a traditional Japanese restaurant. But give the infamous Toshiro Kandagawa credit for recognizing the talent of this tough-as-nails woman from Kochi.

#11 - Michiba vs Zeng Mingxing (Blue Crab)

Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 6/16/1995

The challenger is the top apprentice of the Mother of Chinese cooking in Japan. Judges: Shinichiro Kurimoto (Fmr Lower House Member), Chizuru Azuma (Actress), Asako Kishi (Culinary Critic)

#12 - Sakai vs Kazutaka Okabe (Lamb)

Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 6/9/1995

Dissatisfied with the results of their last encounter, the young guns of Club Mistral send another challenger to face Iron Chef French Sakai, representing the old guard of Club des Trentes.

#13 - Michiba vs Etsuo Joh (Broccoli)

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/26/1995

How will the challenger (the king of sauces) deal with broccoli? Doc Hattori says his sauces are amazing. He even says he wishes he could take on all three Iron Chefs at once. Can he defeat one? Judges: Mayuko Takata (Actress), Toshiki Kaifu (Fmr PM-Japan), Sachiyo Kaifu (Wife), Yasushi Akimoto

#14 - Michiba vs Kenji Kaji (Umeboshi)

Season 3 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/11/1995

The challenger is a head chef in Kyoto. He has mastered the style of Ikama-school of culinary arts. To separate his restaurant from the other more traditional restaurants in the area, he began creating new dishes with local ingredients. He is among the top young chefs in Kyoto. He faces the returning Iron Chef Japanese, back after two months of recuperation, so Chairman Kaga chooses umeboshi (pickled plums), an ingredient associated with keeping good health. Judges: Shinichiro Kurimoto (Politician), Mayuko Takata (Actress), Asako Kishi (Critic)

#15 - Sakai vs Bruno Ménard (Escargot)

Season 3 - Episode 46 - Aired 11/24/1995

Bruno Ménard heads the Tokyo branch of the famed nightspot Tatou. Known as the Golden Boy for his time in Le Golden and for winning the Golden Key award for most creative chef in 1995, he is a trendsetter praised for his creativity and innovation.

#16 - Sakai vs Shigeo Yuasa (Cod)

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/17/1995

Shigeo Yuasa is the head chef of the Okayama International Hotel, famously known as "The State Guesthouse of the West," as it is the common roost of the the Royal Family when they visit western Japan. Yuasa uses shocking cooking techniques--using test tubes and litmus paper to get his meals to exacting pH levels--that make him seem less a French chef and more a scientist. Can Sakai prevail in this new age battle?

#17 - Chen vs Li Jinlun (Swallow's Nest)

Season 3 - Episode 29 - Aired 7/21/1995

Fook Lam Moon in Hong Kong is said to be the best Chinese restaurant in the world. A man who once headed that world-famous kitchen how heads a kitchen in Tokyo. To best put his Cantonese mastery to the test, against the Iron Chef Chinese, Chairman Kaga unveils the ultimate Chinese ingredient: swallow's nest.

#18 - Chen vs Hisama Hirano (Sea Urchin)

Season 3 - Episode 31 - Aired 8/4/1995

Hisama Hirano is a Japanese culinary media dynamo. He appears frequently in magazines, teaches Japanese cuisine and hosts cooking shows on television, and he also introduces new concepts in Japanese street dining. He's also popular with the ladies.

#19 - Chen vs Toshiyuki Nakagawa (Mochi)

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/6/1995

The first challenger of 1995. The challenger heads a restaurant with seating for only 6, but it has hosted entertainers and even Prince and Princess Mikasa. He apprenticed at one of the oldest restaurants in Japan.

#20 - Mr Iron Chef 1995: Chen vs Sakai (Chicken)

Season 3 - Episode 50 - Aired 12/22/1995

#21 - Sakai vs Philippe Groult (Oyster)

Season 3 - Episode 49 - Aired 12/15/1995

For Kitchen Stadium's 1995 Christmas Battle, Chairman Kaga brings in a highly-prestigious chef from Paris: then-youngest-ever recipient of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France, the highest award the country bestows people of varying trades including cooking; a respected student of Joel Robuchon; and now owner of a two-Michelin-star restaurant.

#22 - Chen vs Sozo Miyamoto (Carp)

Season 3 - Episode 47 - Aired 12/1/1995

A Shanghai cuisine specialist, Sozo Miyamoto rose to prominence at the same time as Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi, and after tying for silver at the Chinese Cooking World Championships several years ago, they're now considered strong rivals. Chairman Kaga invites Miyamoto to settle the score in Kitchen Stadium with live carp, a mainstay of traditional Chinese cuisine, as the theme.

#23 - Chen vs Masahiko Hagiwara (Scampi)

Season 3 - Episode 43 - Aired 11/3/1995

Today's challenger is said to be the top Italian pasta chef in Japan, once trained under the legendary King of Pasta, Angelo Paracucchi, and now head chef of the Tokyo branch of the trendsetting El Toula.

#24 - Sakai vs Isao Yanagidate (Caviar)

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 5/12/1995

Old versus new French cuisine, Club Mistral versus Club des Trentes--a complicated battle deserves a high end ingredient.

#25 - Sakai vs Fuyuko Kondo (Apple & Chocolate)

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/27/1995

Kondo is the 4th woman challenger to take on Sakai. This time the dessert battle is best suited for Valentine's Day.