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Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Seasons 1-5

Louisa Chu

By Louisa Chu
in Food Media & Arts

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BSmith

BSmith

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I have not seen the HK episode (boo for no TV in college) but I saw Bourdain's signature on the wall at Lin Heung when I was there this summer...is that where he went? I can verify it was excellent, authentic and down n' dirty. And watching the mob fight for the Sunday special chicken buns definitely added to the fun.

Yeah, he went to Lin Heung. Lucky you were able to visit there.

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Claudia Greco

Claudia Greco

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No Reservations Hong Kong.

Best episode ever.

Watched the marathon, loved Uezbekestan, Peru, and Russia. Then missed the new one.

Anyone heard about next season?

I believes Laos is on deck, but I don't know what form the next season is taking - a full 8 in January, or a split season like this year (5 in January, and a whole pile in July-September).
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Claudia Greco

Claudia Greco

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Having been raised in Hong Kong, I was totally blown away by last night's episode. Tony really did his home work - no tourist would think to eat their way through Taipo Market or Yuen Long, even though, as we all saw, the food in Taipo is . . . well . . . miraculous. I can't believe Tony even ferreted out my favorite goose/plum sauce dish, on top of the fabulous pork, etc. And the race track at Happy Valley? My family are lifelong members of the Royal HK Jockey Club, and I could see the track below me, at the end of my street. The old footage of all the Hakka sampans lashed together, for a people who live their entire lives on boats? Loved it. Dim sum as a contact sport? Well, now my husband and in-laws see why I get pretty physical when we have dim sum here in NY. And the motif of HK as a pinball machine on tilt? FINALLY, someone got that right.

The only thing he might have addressed was the floating restaurants in Aberdeen, where your dinner is still swimming around in tanks under the restaurant/boat, but I thought the typhoon crab segment might have made up for it.

After being back in the States for nearly 30 years, someone finally was able to make me "homesick". Thanks, Tony. Really good job. :cool:

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srhcb

srhcb

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.... the old guy making pasta by hand was sweet and heartbreaking all at once.

This is where Bourdain really shines. A lot of tv hosts get by being satirical, cynical, or even snarky. Tony can go toe to toe with them in that regard, but still treat a subject like this with the respect, even reverence, it deserves.

SB :wub:

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Claudia Greco

Claudia Greco

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Yep, definitely a favorite episode.  We were starved when it wrapped up at 10 pm.  The fight sequence was predictably hilarious (love the dubbing!) and the old guy making pasta by hand was sweet and heartbreaking all at once.  And what's with the new camera tricks they're doing?

To reinforce the feeling of HK's fast, frenetic pace, I, too, noticed that ZeroPointZero was doing a lot of jump cuts and slow-mos into freeze frames with the added 3D effects (like the subject is pulled forward out of the background of the frame), very like Guy Ritchie's brilliant Snatched. Of course, they storyboarded the Clevelaned episode like a cartoon strip, because of the Pekar aspect. So I guess the production team is not only refining their cinematography and "art direction" for each episode, but tryin g to make them more appropriate to each locale. Tony, a lifelong film fanatic, is getting even more "cinema verite" with his own work (!) Remember the Sicily episode? Very Fellini-esque and B&W towards the end? I thought the "action sequence" was hysterical, but I liked the cinematography throught the entire episode.
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BeauNoze

BeauNoze

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Excellent episode, the husband now wants to visit HK!

Loved the fight scene. Said husband asked if he'd actually run up the pole like that. I said " The way he smokes??? "

I actually spent all day watching the marathon. Really enjoyed Peru, until the guinea pig thing, and was REALLY distressed by the alpaca reference. I think I'll just be in denial about that one.

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smackdown

smackdown

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Yep, the Hong Kong episode was great, except for that one chef at the pretentious food joint. I would be super-pissed if someone was smoking a stupid cigar all up in my grill attempting to look edgy while I was trying to eat. Unless, of course, all his recipes factored in the smoke. Which, you know, I doubt.

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rxrfrx

rxrfrx

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No Reservations Hong Kong.

Best episode ever.

The selection of eateries was like a best-of-Chaxiubao but that's OK. The one surprise in the episode was the trip to the North Point cooked food center. I'll definitely be eating at that particular stall the next time I'm in HK.

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Igorot Warrior

Igorot Warrior

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That episode was effin awesome! It made me want to go to HK the next day. Though...if and when I go...it might be by myself since my friends would probably want to spend most of their time in Macau ...getting "massages."

I totally loved the part about the old man handmaking the noodles...very endearing. The whole production of the episode was just spot on. As one poster alluded to...the pinball analogy was brilliant.

"Pen and Sword in Accord"

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mcohen

mcohen

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I though Ruhlman's attitude in the Cleavland episode was strange- he was talking up Cleavland as the place where 'real people' lived but would later get all pissy about that Chilli place which seemed to be where 'real people' ate.

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menon1971

menon1971

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I though Ruhlman's attitude in the Cleavland episode was strange- he was talking up Cleavland as the place where 'real people' lived but would later get all pissy about that Chilli place which seemed to be where 'real people' ate.

Ruhlman is far from being one of the "real people" he claims to identify with having grown up affluent and attending only private schools - he wrote a book about it.

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lesfen

lesfen

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I though Ruhlman's attitude in the Cleavland episode was strange- he was talking up Cleavland as the place where 'real people' lived but would later get all pissy about that Chilli place which seemed to be where 'real people' ate.

Ruhlman is far from being one of the "real people" he claims to identify with having grown up affluent and attending only private schools - he wrote a book about it.

I'd be pissy if someone took me to Skyline, and I'm about as 'real' as you can get! I can't believe anyone eats that slop by choice. Gaaaa. Don't blame Cleveland for Skyline... that's Cinci's fault.

By the end of the HK episode I was absolutely famished. Everything looked fabulous and I want to go there... tomorrow.

Edited to correct my work related flub on Skyline Chili.

Edited by lesfen (log)
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Claudia Greco

Claudia Greco

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Damn!  My DVR had a hickup and it didn't record the Clevelan episode, anyone know where I can get a video of it?

Thanks!

I taped it, Vinotas, but since the season is almost over, they'll be re-running it soon. You might want to check travelchannel.com/bourdain under schedule - monthly. It'll show everything upcoming.

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Vinotas

Vinotas

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Damn!  My DVR had a hickup and it didn't record the Clevelan episode, anyone know where I can get a video of it?

Thanks!

I taped it, Vinotas, but since the season is almost over, they'll be re-running it soon. You might want to check travelchannel.com/bourdain under schedule - monthly. It'll show everything upcoming.

Claudia,

I tried doing that but they're not replaying it all month as far as I can tell. If they are, I couldn't find it. Nothing on YouTube either.

I will say that I doubt any Time Warner DVR has ever been subjected to such varied multilingual verbal abuse at one time, I used my full English, French, Spanish and Hindi repertoire on it. :rolleyes:

Cheers! :cool:

http://vinotas.blogspot.com/
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Jaymes

Jaymes

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The only thing he might have addressed was the floating restaurants in Aberdeen, where your dinner is still swimming around in tanks under the restaurant/boat, but I thought the typhoon crab segment might have made up for it.

I thought about that, too, but decided since the floating restaurants are pretty famous, maybe he decided to avoid them.

Also, I thought I heard somewhere that the two largest and most famous had been moved from Aberdeen. Do you know?

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Claudia Greco

Claudia Greco

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Someone needs to give those crazy Argentinian gauchos their own reality show.

Those guys were a riot - so loopy, even Tony was given them backhand glances! But obviously his kind of glacier-climbing buds. Someone should've told Guacho #1 that, traditional garb aside, ponchos are so not a good a idea to go glacier-climbing in (!)

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