I usually don't find myself hooked onto any show I am watching for the first time lately, but I didn't even flinch while watching this. I feel like I am traveling with the presenter and his crew to all these unique, informative, inspiring places with delicious, cultural food.
Phil is the best part of the show other than the cultural aspects, he is a lovable, sweet, curious, childlike man that beams so much positivity that I cannot help but smile while watching this.
If you are into a more informal approach to food and travel that isn't so serious and instead soaks in the true and naive joy of travel, watch this.
188 Reviews
Upbeat and Informative!
aepurcell-6788819 January 2018
My spouse and I stumbled on this show on Netflix and fell in love. Unlike some celebrity travel/food shows, this one is unfailingly fun and informative. The emphasis on positivity and Phil's slightly goofy but warm and absolutely unpretentious approach to the people and food he encounters is so uplifting. Highly recommend and hope there will be a season 2!
Plain fun!
rbrake-216 July 2018
Such a lovable quirky guy traveling to wonderful places and meeting the locals. The food part is great but not over done. The best part of the show is Phil and his wonderful attitude and love of life. Also the theme song is fantastic!
Easy, uplifting and heartwarming
svalmor3 June 2020
Many have criticized how Phil handles the show, from his quirky face expressions, to a lack of knowledge about food and so on.
I think those are exactly the things that make the show unique. Phil is funny, heartwarming and the fact he does not have a PhD in cooking is what makes the show more authentic. This is a show about how food connects people and how food is a way to learn about cultures different than our own. I love the parts where all the crew goes and eats food in the middle of filming and the conversations Phil has with his parents in the end of each episode.
Easy, uplifting, heartwarming
ignore the "sophisticates!"
mine-9168923 April 2019
My wife and I are thoroughly charmed and entertained by this show. We binge watched the entire second season on Netflix! Don't let the negative reviews by snooty sophisticates like Greg Morabito (Eater - Jan 1918) put you off. Phil is funny, and exudes a human genuineness and warmth that is wonderful to see in these jaded times. I am planning a trip to Lisbon based largely on that particular episode. Keep 'em coming, Phil!
Seriously love this show
monroe-6920121 January 2018
In a world of perfection and serious exactness a welcoming place to land is often not professional but a relaxed entry way to community. Phil suggests it is not the percisness of the ingredient but the people that you come in contact with, the unexpected location and the joy of the experience. Phil is not the culinary master, thank goodness we have enough of those, each being better than the last. Phil celebrates a life that the unusual, different than where we are and communally the same. Excellent videography, lighting, delightful music.
Love This Show!
kellyseattle17 January 2018
Love this show. I don't want to try to do it justice by writing a lame review. Just watch. (And don't let the REALLY BAD theme song deter or distract you. I actually downgraded my review when I fired up episode 3, because the song is so lame. It seems more like the song for something like Small Wonder or Alf. Come On Vietnam !!) This show made me want to cook and live creatively; go outside my comfort zone more intentionally; and love more people (culturally speaking) more deeply. Worth watching. Just mute it during the theme song.
Mister Rogers gets a bigger neighborhood
jami-imaj28 June 2019
Watch it to be uplifted
nivedita-mehta11 June 2022
I can see a few reviews here of people who are so aghast and insulted that someone that is so happy, kind and optimistic should host a food show-I mean aren't we all supposed to be happy when we taste something new and exciting?
I love this show!
I love this show!
Most pleasant US food show
Connie_wish25 December 2019
It's Always Good Fun and it always makes you hungry!
csm-7811923 August 2020
This shouldn't really work as well as it does as its primarily just a guy travelling the world feeding his face on great food, with a little bit of a travelogue thrown in between each meal! The main reason that it does work so well is because Phil Rosenthal has so much enthusiasm and so little pretension that you are swept along and almost feel that you are eating the meals with him. There is a genuine warmth and sense of fun and I can't understand why he isn't at least 5 stone heavier given the amounts he manages to eat on each visit! A great programme to watch just before or during your main meal - dangerous at any other time if you want to stay the right side of obese! Excellent theme song as well which sets the mood from the outset.
Love it!
adrimaga-9753721 January 2018
The best food show I've come across in a while. Phil makes me laugh so much and his smile is contagious. I have never written a review before but after seeing a negative one I can honestly say this show is not at all dumb. Thank god he doesn't know it all! I am so tired of seeing shows about know it all chefs! Phil is like a normal person who people that don't travel much can relate to.
Somebody Get Phil Some Cultural Awareness
rubijou25 January 2018
Although it feels like a guilty pleasure, I admit I enjoy Phil's good humor, his endlessly enthralled take on things. Especially fun are his interactions with his parents. Some reviewers long for the grumpy-but-informed musings of Anthony Bourdain, whose shows I also like, although I often squirmed when he made very obvious fun or got angry or annoyed when things didn't meet his standards. Both men display the "ugly American" syndrome but for different reasons, but I digress. Phil! At the top of each show, he habitually boasts simpleton cinematic or US pop culture knowledge of the places he's just come to. Can't somebody brief him or put a book in his hand on the flight over? It's embarrassing, shameful. His narration is simply about the food and how nice and warm (or not) people are. Can somebody do some narration so we get a bit of context, which Tony does well, I might add? These places don't exist in a vacuum. Finally, for the love of god, Phil, STOP HUGGING EVERYONE! Not everyone wants a hug or "does" the hug, which is painfully, cringingly obvious. It'd be a good lesson to viewers (who will book plane tickets in droves, potentially) for him to make a practice of asking his on-sight guides in front of the camera how people like to be greeted or treated. Don't just impose big ol' bumbling American-style customs, as if we're all the same big happy family. It's a teaching moment that he's completely oblivious to. Phil's interactions are superficial and shallow - yet likable, like idiots can be likable.
Horrendous
gidogido20 June 2019
This show was so cringy I could not even finish 1 episode. This guy is over the top surprised and jolly and cheerful and it's al so fake. They should have called this show "Somebody Punch Phil!" He's not funny at all. He knows nothing about food. He thinks he is cute with his surprised look and big eyes.
Maybe this for elderly people or something? Maybe they think "awww what a nice you man!".
Maybe this for elderly people or something? Maybe they think "awww what a nice you man!".
Best travel show ever
furnacefuneral14 December 2020
Love to have these shows go on forever
cathymtn8 May 2018
These are my favorite travel and food shows. (Both Somebody Feed Phil and I'll Have What Phil's Having). I watched the first episode a month ago, and felt in love with it right away. Phil is so down to earth, friendly, super funny, and is such a nice guy! I enjoyed and laughed a lots every time I watched the show. Phil represents millions of us out there, who are not food expert, but enjoy food, love to travel, and want to see and learn new things from different people around the world. Can't wait to see future episodes.
Love this show
LorraineD-933-63275820 May 2018
We love watching Phil eat his way around the world. After each episode, we say, we need to go to that place. His humor is so real and when he face-times his parents, they are just typical Jewish parents. Can't wait to see where he goes on the next series that is suppose to start in July.
Phil is a delight!
mcullrich15 June 2020
A friend told me about this show and I have finally started to watch it. Have watched only 2 episodes so far, but I love it. Phil Rosenthal is an absolute joy to watch. His enthusiasm for the food and for the people he meets is completely without guile and totally real. I highly recommend it, especially now in this stress filled time in which we live. Total escapism and armchair travel. I cant' wait to watch the rest and I hope there will be more.
One of the best food and travel shows
pink-monkey-bird27 March 2019
I have fallen in love with this show. I cannot emphasize enough just how sweet and open the star, Phil Rosenthal, is to everyone. He has a child-like enthusiasm for everyone he meets, and he's so respectful of the country he visits. Don't get me wrong, I love Anthony Bourdain's snark and sophistication, but when I need to be uplifted, I watch Phil be charming with a bunch school children singing and dancing a goofy dance. He does this without becoming saccharine or fake, and the show succeeds because Phil meets all kinds of interesting people and eats all kinds of interesting food all over the world. The food and location are still major stars, but it's the people, shown through the lens of Phil, that remind us that there's still plenty of wonder and good in the world.
Dumb
germainejuneau18 January 2018
Interesting show, irritating host
donjferguson18 June 2022
It's a pg versioni of Anthony Bourdain, which I actually quite like but I find Phil slightly irritating, with his exaggerated facial expressions and obvious humour, to be fair he actually seems like a really nice guy but it's like he is playing a part. There's enough quality and interest for me to work round this but occasionally his cartoon expressions will grate. So overall it's just ok.
Entertaining and lighthearted!
heathertburn1 January 2020
Phil is an American travelling the world. But unlike others, he's not closed off to other cultures but rather open and almost childlike in his energy and general happiness to be where he is. This show is not just about food, it's a way for him to engage with and meet people.
He's not a gorgeous hot young adult, he's REAL, he's himself, he's not trying to pander to the masses by making himself like everyone else. If you ever watched/enjoyed Everybody Loves Raymond, you'll understand his humour and hopefully appreciate it and his style.
I've watched all the episodes more than once, love it every time more and more.
Mediocre
stanvassilenko17 November 2020
I mean the show itself is really good, but why the hell would they pick someone like Philip Rosenthal. Nasty-looking eel creature that does not know anything about food. Especially his expression every time he tries something, just makes me hate this guy even more. He's the complete opposite of charisma in general, and can make situations awkward with his baby-ish personality. He looks like some useless little boy who just makes matters worse. Anyways, that's all I gotta say. The show's good, but don't get me started on Phil.
Most gratingly irritating host
dx_hong3 August 2021
I love food shows even if the host isn't great. But man this show is clearly more about the host than the food which is fine if the host is someone good. But this philip rosenthal guy really irritated the hell out of me. Hes there in the real world with real people and he keeps acting like hes in a 90s sitcom. I guess some people might like this but as someone whos a fan of the Anthony Bourdain style of food shows, I could not stomach this show at all.
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