TV Recaps Reviews

This week Tony visits the region of Harbin, China. Tony can’t believe how freezing cold it is, in fact, he says it is painfully cold. Apparently wool socks and foot warmers were important gear for the weather there. In the opening scene Tony is seen eating ice cream out of a paper cup. Tony starts his adventures with Alan Wong, a Harbin local and Tony’s guide for most of his trip. They meet up at Fox Pub, a local place to warm up with a shot of Jameson whiskey. In Harbin they serve their beer warm, its too cold to serve it cold. Tony tells Alan “anything served inside here is awesome” because he is so cold. Next they head to Zhang Fei Pa Rou Meatball and Pork Restaurant. Tony and Alan order pork, Tony’s favorite. A plate of pork meatballs, shreds of pork and a tofu noodle arrive at their table. Tony says “incredible flavors and textures, this is unbelievably good”.

That evening Tony and Alan dine at Zhao Ji Lao Pu, serving Classic Manchurian cuisine. Tony and Alan dine on deer tendon, pickled cabbage, special sweet and sour pork (not the same as our fluorescent Americanized version) and blood soup. Tony says its all wonderful, “great meal, good beer”.

Tony and Alan visit the eccentric owner of USA Bucks Bar, a bar that features American western decor. The owner dresses in western gear and the guy is far from shy. Tony and Alan snack on local sausages and beer, while their host sings karaoke and dances for their entertainment. Btw, Tony hates karaoke and has said so on a number of occasions.

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This episode focuses on Tony’s interest in chefs and bloggers food obsessions. In the opening sequence we see Tony butchering a whole pig while talking of his obsession with pork. Sequences between conversations with bloggers and chefs continue with Tony’s colorful remarks and the butchering of the whole hog.

Tony visits author Josh Ozersky (aka Mr. Cutlets) whose food obsession is meat. Josh has been recently diagnosed with gout resulting from his meat-laden diet. Josh meets Tony at Minetta Tavern in New York where Josh says the best burger in the country is made. Josh insists that the flat top grill is the secret to keeping the fatty juices in the hamburger (sorry grill champs) and states you cannot desecrate the $26 burger with ketchup as Tony reaches for the ketchup. Tony and Josh bite into the juicy burger and Josh is mesmerized.

Tony visits with Dave Blackhorn, another meat obsessed guy who takes Tony on a tour of his cattle farm in the Yarra Valley outside of Melbourne. Wagyu beef, also known as Kobe beef, is the most expensive cut of beef in the world. His chef cooks up the tender, melt in your mouth Kobe beef for their meal. The camera shifts back to Tony in the studio where he is butchering the pig. As Tony strokes the beheaded pig’s face, he proclaims as good as Kobe beef is, he still loves pork more than beef.

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Tony Bourdain lands in Ecuador and the first thing he’s interested in is eating, of course. His local guide Santiago takes him to La Esquina for a breakfast of calf fetus soup and bull penis stew. Ecuador has lots of stew type meals and Tony is a big fan of stews. Tony tries a local tripe soup and swears he is in heaven, he says it looks ugly but tastes great.

Tony watches as guinea pig is roasted over a grill in an outdoor market. Tony eats a roasted guinea pig and really enjoys it. Tony quips of the guinea pig meat “if everybody knew how good they were, classrooms around the country would be in danger”.

The next meal Tony tries are local favorites la calderada and colonche. La calderada is a seafood chowder with crayfish, prawns, crabs, and mussels. Colonche is a seafood dish filled with crayfish and plantain and covered in peanut curry sauce.

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