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Just watched Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown for the first time! It's so good. What are other good food shows?
- Thread starter hwarang
- Start date
Andrew Zimmern is pretty cool. Ugly Delicious but thats more like a sliece of life of various chefs.
Maybe Foodbloggers like Mark Wiens or Mickey Chen? They usually have really high production values and show more variety I think (for example in the Japan episodes of Anthony Bourdains show he would usually go to very fancy restaurants, which is great but Mark Wiens and Mickey Chen also go to izakayas or street vendors in addition to more fancy places).
Maybe Foodbloggers like Mark Wiens or Mickey Chen? They usually have really high production values and show more variety I think (for example in the Japan episodes of Anthony Bourdains show he would usually go to very fancy restaurants, which is great but Mark Wiens and Mickey Chen also go to izakayas or street vendors in addition to more fancy places).
Bourdain was one of a kind. Haven't seen anything yet that approaches that level of humanity. Would love to hear recommendations from others though!
I did enjoy Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat however. Somewhere South wasn't too bad— their Japanese Texas BBQ episode was phenomenal.
I did enjoy Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat however. Somewhere South wasn't too bad— their Japanese Texas BBQ episode was phenomenal.
Chefs Table is honestly the peak of food shows, at least with certain episodes.
I actually LOVED The Final Table on Netflix too. It's not a great reality competition show, but the food porn is top notch.
I actually LOVED The Final Table on Netflix too. It's not a great reality competition show, but the food porn is top notch.
OP
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Haha I liked The Final Table as well. Seems like others didn't like it as much though.
You peaked, Anthony bourdain shows are the top, it only goes downhill in food shows now for you.
Its my current favorite by a mile and I watch a ton of food shows.
100%.
Parts Unknown and No Reservations were top-tier travel/food shows. No other shows come close. Not even The Layover which was meh.
If you're looking for something similar then you might enjoy David Chang's "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner" on Netflix. It's good but nowhere near as great as any other Bourdain show.
Other food (not so much travel) shows worth checking out on Netflix.
David Chang's Ugly Delicious
Jon Favreau's The Chef Show
Samin Nosrat's SaltFatAcidHeat
EDIT: I just remembered the Parts Unknown theme song was Queens of the Stone Age. Loved that theme song.
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I visited Graham Campbell's restaurant because of "The Final Table". Food was incredible.
I don't mind Somebody Feed Phil but I am under the impression that the show is more about Phil reacting than it is about the food/people he's interacting with and he's pretty one-dimensional with his persona and opinions. Really should give the show another chance.
I really love the Chef Show, it's... just really nice and seems to come from a place of real love and admiration of food and the craft behind it even if it is just a "director and his pals fucking around".
I watch a handful on YouTube. Dancing Bacon is one guy we really like becuase he never talks and his wife's reactions are adorable. Instead he overlays some simple text at the bottom of his videos.
I kind of hate it when the host talks. The food should do all the talking. Don't tell me about the ambiance, let me experience it.
I kind of hate it when the host talks. The food should do all the talking. Don't tell me about the ambiance, let me experience it.
This is good, and not a million miles from the show you're watching
Yep.
It's nowhere near as thoughtful as something like Bordain, but watching Phil just makes you smile every step of the way.
If you are interested in food history and don't mind a bit of wry British humor, check out "The Supersizers Go..." series. They're often hilarious and enlightening (if not shocking). The series is generally Britain focused but they do focus on things like The French Revolution period, Ancient Rome, etc. Super fascinating stuff.
In a similar vein to the above, check out the show Heston's Feasts. In it, Heston Blumenthal usually visits a part of history and recreates modern takes on dishes for a Feast. Topics range from The Tudors to Fairy Tale to Willy Wonka (seriously).
In a similar vein to the above, check out the show Heston's Feasts. In it, Heston Blumenthal usually visits a part of history and recreates modern takes on dishes for a Feast. Topics range from The Tudors to Fairy Tale to Willy Wonka (seriously).
Raising my hand up for the Chef Show. Super chill with Jon Favreau and Roy Choi and just getting their insights behind the kitchen with some solid food and chefs/industry friends. Plus I love seeing Roy's other establishments since the Kogi truck is still one of my fave food trucks ever.
this show was so weird. i liked the cooking and a bunch of the contestants but the production was so expensive and the setup was all like, "you must compete to win a chance to sit at the final table!", saying the words "the final table" 27 times an episode without ever explaining why it would be a good table to sit at. and they haven't followed up with another season!
somebody feed phil is daft but fun. definitely recommend salt fat acid heat. chef's table is obviously great — loved the recent barbecue season.
i do think parts unknown is probably the peak of food TV though. there was some amazing documentary filmmaking in there and they'd just drop it without making a big deal of it at all in the context of what was ostensibly a food show. i'll always remember the laos episode, which deals with a lot of heavy shit but ends with several minutes of incredibly beautiful, dialogue-free footage of a local festival like it was the most obvious way to close it.
His presence and voice was terribly missed with everything that's happened since then. I wish he were still here.
Yea you're right with your impression. That's what made the show for me though. His Eyes wide open stare when he ate something apparently tasty made me laugh 9/10 times.
They could've spent more time going in-depth with the food but imo they did an okay job highlighting many of the different dishes in the countries visited.
This! It must have added at least a dozen countries I am now desperate to visit just to try the food.
Jon Favreau and Roy Choi's The Ched Show. They drive home much fun learning to cook is. It's also probably the least pretentious cooking show. Though I do really love Top Chef and The Chef's Table too despite the pretentiousness.
Ugly Delicious is fantastic and probably my favorite food show at the moment. David Chang can be opinionated, but he truly places emphasis on taste over presentation which is refreshing after watching the pretentious wankfest that is Chef's Table.
Him explaining to Lucali's that he enjoys Domino's pizza is great. But then he goes off and pisses the Domino's delivery guy by trying to have him acknowledge that Domino's isn't the best pizza. I can see why some people wouldn't like him.
Him explaining to Lucali's that he enjoys Domino's pizza is great. But then he goes off and pisses the Domino's delivery guy by trying to have him acknowledge that Domino's isn't the best pizza. I can see why some people wouldn't like him.
I really like The Chef show in theory. I like John Favreau and Roy Choi a lot. But the show feels poorly edited and just isn't terribly captivating despite all of it. Just a few guys shooting the shit while they cook. Still love researching some of it though. Gwyneth Paltrow now realizing she was in Spider-Man is absolutely hilarious. I will also forever be jealous of Robert Rodriguez' kitchen. It's a good show, I just wish the pacing and focus was a bit tighter.
Watching Triple D is a perfect if you want to get very hungry, i also enjoy watching clips from it on Youtube while eating lunch or such.
Bourdain's show is a docuseries that transcended the chef/cooking genre and it's so far above the rest of the chef/cooking shows because of that.
His death really hurt. One of two celebrity deaths that hit me hard.
Huang's World and Dead Set On Life - both from Viceland - were fantastic (I think both are on YouTube too?) Both shows do a really good job of balancing food with life and struggle which is what makes Parts Unknown such a great watch as well.
Netflix's Taco Chronicles s1 was excellent as well. I learned quite a bit that I was clueless about; I haven't watched s2 yet.
I did like David Chang's Netflix show as well.
Netflix's Taco Chronicles s1 was excellent as well. I learned quite a bit that I was clueless about; I haven't watched s2 yet.
I did like David Chang's Netflix show as well.
and you're right. Part of the appeal of the show is Phil's upbeat personality and friendly charm. And I respect that especially in times likes these when we all want joyful escapism. We want to see Phil being happy and joyful about not just what excites him about world food but also sharing his joy with his parents who are too old to travel. It nails heartwarming moments for sure. I'll need to give the show another chance this weekend.
I love the unedited feel of it. They even say on the show that it's really just them and like a producer and a camera person. Makes it super chill
Have to gush of The Layover, another of Bourdain's shows.
I actually love that more than Parts Unknown (Parts Unknown is still brilliant, mind).
I actually love that more than Parts Unknown (Parts Unknown is still brilliant, mind).