The Big Taste Test

Escargoon runs into Dedede's throne room with big news- the universally famous chef and food critic, Chef Shiitake is coming to visit! Dedede worries that the castle food won't be up to par, so they have to find something really good to serve him so they won't get a bad review. Dedede first tries to make Escargon into escargot, but Escargoon reminds him they don't have any good chefs to cook him anyway!

Meanwhile, Tiff's family sits down to have a meal at Restaurant Kawasaki. It's been several years since the last time they had, but they remark that it's all the same. The food still tastes bad too. Kawasaki's notorious for messing up his cooking. (But Kirby always loves it.) Tuff comments on the frying pan Kawasaki always has- it turns out to be a special one his teacher gave him.

Dedede and Escargoon barge in and say Kawasaki will be the new Court Chef. But Kawasaki's food is definitely not good enough for Dedede, and he says it's all terrible. They say they can't make Shiitake eat food like that, and Kawasaki panics and runs out. Escargoon says maybe if they can find the best ingredients, they can cover up what a terrible chef Kawasaki is.

They call up Nightmare Enterprises, and are sent a book of ingredients by Shiitake himself. Dedede reads about the rare ingredient 'Zebon', which even Shiitake has never tried. He gets an idea... As Kawasaki looks through cookbooks in the library, he's about to give up when Dedede slips the book to him. Kawasaki looks at the Zebon entry too- but the picture has been replaced with one of Kirby.

Kirby, Tiff and Tuff are playing outside when Kawasaki asks Kirby to come help him cook. Tiff and Tuff are suspicious and follow them. Kawasaki acts even stranger, dunking Kirby in a pot of water, and massaging him with salt and pepper. Kirby falls asleep, and just as Kawasaki is about to club him, Tiff and Bun rush in to stop him. But he locks them out, saying he has to cook Zebon for his teacher Oosaka! Fumu and Bun go to get Meta Knight's help.

Cook Oosaka arrives in a helicopter, and Dedede and Escargon serve him a Cesar salad as an appetizer- which his spits out. Meta Knight slices through the kitchen door in the meantime, to find Kawasaki and Kirby gone. Fumu and Bun find a secret passage to the dining room, and Meta Knight finds the book- which was published by Nightmare Press.

Kawasaki serves the main dish to Oosaka, which is just Kirby in his frying pan. When Oosaka goes to take a bite, Kirby wakes up- but Oosaka tries anyway. Kawasaki can't take it any longer and stops him. Oosaka scolds him, but when he insults Kawasaki's treasured frying pan, Kawasaki realizes it's not the real Oosaka. It's true, and he shows his true form- the demon beast Popon. It can throw pieces of itself that dissolve everything like acid.

Kawasaki has Kirby inhale the frying pan, and he becomes Cook Kirby. Kawasaki and Meta Knight cover Popon in a bag of flour, and Kirby's frying pan grows to a huge size as he throws it at Popon. It goes through the roof, into space... around the sun... and back, revealing a perfectly browned Popon.

Dedede finds it absolutely delicious and appoints Kirby as the new chef, to Kawasaki's dismay.