I really deeply love the Japanese Netflix reality show Terrace House. It has a lot of moments that fit this thread. The show’s concept is very simple - 6 young strangers move into a nice house together, three guys and three girls. The bizarre twist is that they’re all totally nice, normal people. Also, there’s a group of comedian hosts who watch the show along with you and occasionally get little interludes where they analyze what’s been going on and crack jokes about it.
The cast members just live their regular lives, including meeting up with friends and going to jobs outside of the show. There’s a semi-implicit expectation that they’ll try dating each other if they’re interested, but there’s not really any clear pressure on them and the show has had members who are already in relationships outside the show too.
Two of the show’s main threads tend to largely revolve around meals: communal bonding in the house, and house members going on dates. In almost every episode, there’s at least one and usually multiple meals.
One day a member might cook for the house, or the whole house might team up to put together a truly extravagant home cooked meal. When they have important conversations concerning the house, it’ll often happen over a meal. When characters go on dates or when a couple members want to talk privately outside the house, it’ll typically revolve around a lavishly, almost pornographically filmed meal at a hip bar or restaurant in the city.
One cast member won another member’s heart by writing a flirty message in ketchup on the omurice she made for him. One member moved in and established her role in the house by slaving over incredibly wonderful meals for everyone, all the time. The cutest date the show’s ever had happened at a shitty Hawaiian food stand. The most dramatic conflict the show’s ever had happened when a group of housemates accidentally ate someone’s extremely fancy cut of beef without permission.
The meals are always filmed with relish, and it’s a lot of fun to get a close look at Japanese cuisine, in both home-cooking and restaurant contexts. I’ve tried certain dishes at restaurants in my area because they looked so good in Terrace House. For example, I just had Japanese curry for the first time today and it was so good that I unlocked a pure humanity in MYSELF.
The best Terrace House series to start with is Boys and Girls in the City, and if you have a Netflix account then you already have access to it.