Fun-Tasty Movies That Will Drive You Hungry

Hello. Eid Mubarak everyone. Only few days left for Syawal but I bet you guys are still in raya mood with open houses and jamuan raya.

Me? I'm still in the good mood to enjoy food - especially Raya food. In fact I am always in the mood for food.😂

So, I guess today I'm going to share a few movies that inspired me to eat more (LOL) and cook more. I repeatedly watch some of the movies especially when I need motivation. Besides, it looks too delicious not to watch.

Okay, here's the list. Those are by years, not by rating or popularity. Actually there are a lot of movies featuring good foods or good places to eat or Restaurateur but am gonna list only 5 of them. These are my favorite and I'm sure I will watch it again anytime soon.

Let's get hungry!

1) NO RESERVATION (2007)

Genre : Drama, Comedy, Romance

This movie is actually a remake of a German movie, Mostly Martha. Same genre but more Americans. Catherine Zeta-Jones & Aaron Eckhart paired in this movie about a famous head chef, Kate who lost her sister in an accident and had her life changed when she was named as the guardian to her 9 years old niece, Zoe. Kate is hard-headed, stubborn and independent woman who will control almost everything including her boss, Paula.

When Zoe came into her life, she needs to reorganize her routine and lifestyle. That's when Paula hired a sous chef named Nick Palmer who is actually a quite free-spirited and easy going man that won everyone's heart in the kitchen. Nick's working under Kate but chose to run it his own way. Kate somehow felt threatened. It was chaos!

One day she realized that she felt for him especially seeing the bond between Nick and her niece, Zoe. And yeah...that's all the stories about. No plot twist. Simple story line, with some you know.. heart broken scene in the middle but ended smoothly. 

What's delicious? 

Every time Kate cooked for her therapist, especially the way he expressed it. Damn it looks so good. Oh, and the pizza making scene looks yummy too. 

Rating : IMDb : 6.3, Rotten Tomatoes : 43%


2) JULIE & JULIA (2009)

Genre : Drama, Comedy, Biography

Disclaimer : I LOVE this movie. So much. Watching this inspired me not only to cook, but to write. Every time I watched this movie, I'll write. So when I feel desperate for a piece of motivation, I may start my weekends with this film and good food.

Julie Powell, the main character in this movie wrote a book with the same title, published in 2005. The movie is basically the screen version which is done based on Julie's side of story and a flashback of Julia's life, separately.

Julie (Amy Adams), who worked in a call center had a normal, quite boring life with her husband, Eric but she enjoyed cooking. Somehow, she triggered to write a blog since everyone was doing it..and because she had plenty of time for that. That's when she came with the idea to cook all 524 recipes of Julia's Child -Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) in 365 days and write about it. 

That's where it's all began. The story is about her journey completing the recipes with up and down, tears and laugh, love and a broken heart. It was so challenging that she almost risk her happy marriage. At first, no one read her blog but from time to time she had a fan club and the attention of journalists and publishers. 

On the other hand, the story of Julia Child (Meryl Streep) was in 1950. Julia is happily married to her diplomat husband, Paul. When they moved to Paris on work purpose, she started to learn French cooking. She is so eager to make a book to teach the American Housewives to do French cooking the easiest way. Her journey was not as smooth as well. She was rejected by the publisher once but managed to be accepted by one publisher in the end.  

Besides the story line, the best part about this movie is of course the casts - Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina.

What's delicious? 

ALL the cook and eating scenes. Urgh, now I'm hungry. 

Rating : IMDb : 7, Rotten Tomatoes : 77%

3) TODAY'S SPECIAL (2010)

Genre : Indie Film, Drama, Comedy

Mouthwatering, I must say. Who doesn't like Indian Foods? If you are the fan of mamak's naan and biryani rice, you have to watch this movie. The movie is the blend of the Indian culture (and foods) and American, in a big New York City. Bollywood lovers need to watch this too.

It is about Samir, who is working as a sous chef in one of the top restaurant in New York City. Frustrated for not being promoted by the boss, he decided to quit and planned to study French cooking in France. However, he had to put on hold of his dream when his father fall sick and he has to take over the family's Indian restaurant named Tandoori Palace in Queens. 

Frustrated (again), he did nothing much to run the businesses. His relationship with his family is not doing well especially after the passing of his older brother. On top of that, he has very little knowledge on cooking and preparing Indian Foods. However, at the same time, he was attracted to his previous co-worker, Carrie even though his mother was trying to match make him with an Indian girl. With the assistance & support from Carrie and Akbar, a taxi-driver who will only exist in the middle of the story, Samir managed to fulfill his father's dream of a restaurant full of customers and delicious foods, prepared by his son. 

What's delicious? 

The way Akbar teach Samir in mastering Indian Cooking and when Akbar cooked them lunch. Can't get my eyes of the tasty foods. 

Rating : IMDb : 6.6, Rotten Tomatoes : 81%

4) THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY (2014)

Genre : Drama, Romance, Comedy

Another Indian Cooking but with a what should I say...more good looking chef in the house. This movie is about France and French Cooking versus Indian Cooking. Seems a big gap over there. Huge difference..but you know what? Hassan, the chef, he nailed it.

The movie began with a battle scene of The Kadam Family's Restaurant and the Michelin-starred Restaurant owned by a French woman, Madam Mallory. The talented Hassan however, loved to learn the french cooking from Madam Mallory even though his Papa would want him to carry his mother's legacy of cooking good Indian foods for the restaurant.

One day, Hassan prepared an omelette for Madam Mallory. Well, you have to watch to know why is cooking omelette important to be recognized by Madam Mallory. 😋

The story goes with Hassan managed to get more Michelin star for Madam Mallory, the love story between Hassan & Marguerite, the bonding between the restaurant owners, Hassan's journey as a Michelin-Starred Chef and more.

I would say the acting are very lively. Each scene will let you want to know more. No plot twist, but some flashback of Hassan's mother who died in a firebomb. You'll be proud of Hassan. You'll love and hate Papa and Madam Mallory at the same time. Hahaha.

What's delicious? 

The omelette making is somehow turned me on. I mean, how can an omelette be that good? It looks good especially when Madam Mallory tasted it. 

Rating : IMDb : 7.3, Rotten Tomatoes : 67%

5) CHEF (2014)

Genre : Drama, Comedy

Street foods and food trucks are everyone's favorite. This movie is gonna be everyone's favorite too. It's a low-budget cost movie - wrote, directed and acted by Jon Favreau, the Chef by the name of Carl Casper. He is a single father to Percy after divorcing his beautiful wife, Inez (Sofia Vergara). 

Carl, a head chef at a popular restaurant in Los Angeles quit his job, having had a disagreement with his boss. Besides, he had a twitter-fight with a food critique and blogger, Ramsey for the review of the food served where it led the issue to become public. 

He then went to Miami to reunite with his son and soon realized that he felt in love with the Cuban cuisine. From there, Carl bought a food truck and invited his friend, Martin to join him on the food truck journey cooking and selling Cuban Sandwiches and Yuca Fries. Percy went with them during his school holiday and embraced the memorable trip and relationship with his father.

The El Jafa Food Truck became very popular when Percy started to tweet them and shared every location they went to and the places they planned to be. When they were back in Los Angeles, Percy offered to help Carl with the business over the weekends. Even Inez were there to assist. The ending was priceless.   

This is my most-liked movie after Julie & Julia, not only because of the casts (Robert Downey's here too), but because of multi flavors of foods to be found in this movie. Tempting, I can even feel it while writing this. Haha.

What's delicious? 

The Beignet, a french doughnut at Cafe Du Monde, New Orleans. And of course, the barbecued brisket in Austin for their Austin Midnight sandwich. Is there any possibility to find Beignet here in KL? It looks so delectable. 

Rating : IMDb : 7.3, Rotten Tomatoes : 87%


So, those are the 5 yummy movies to be in your list. Make sure you have your foods or snacks around while watching it because most of them are tempting and like I said, will drive you hungry.

Happy watching!


Nkay
.........planning to make beignet (or at least, doughnut)

June 2019