Grab A Bite (2021)

A wonderful realistic drama with brilliant cinematography

I found this BL to be spectacular. There is something so totally different about it and we might not see another like it. It’s unique character is attritutable to the distinct directing style of David Bigander. I think that he has crafted this BL like a great director that puts his own personal stamp on his work which some have described as Bergmanesque with a fusion of Thai cultural influences.

I’ll address the main issue that people have with this series – the pacing. The director has chosen to go with a very sedate flow for this very unique drama and I think it works in most places. It lends this work a sense of spaciousness and tranquility that you’ll seldom see anywhere else. Directors are always under a lot of pressure to trim out any excess filler because every minute of production costs a fortune, so I’m sure that this was something David Bigander fought for, and I appreciate his decision to keep the drama moving at this stately pace.

This is a mature work where we have virtually no tropes and a mostly adult-acting cast. It has a very trouble-free plot that always supported the narrative, and the strong realism in the drama. There was just a lot of beautiful cinematography which includes a lot of the brilliant shots of food. Even though it is a show based around food, the central love story is by no means submerged under the culinary thematic material. There was definitely a compelling drama, but it was not your normal one. It was just more a drama depicting unconscious struggles between the main characters.

The actors all performed magnificently and Mark Siwat comes into his own perhaps later in the series, but was performing well throughout – his character was just directed in such a way that he expressed very little emotion in most of the earlier episodes. There was a lot of time spent on character development which was done in nuanced ways. We see Mark’s deep connection with his mother in the series with many scenes that occur in flashbacks and in their trip to Nan. We see a slow progression with Mark as he gradually breaks out of his shell, fearing his mother’s non-acceptance of his relationship with Zung. His face was a mask in the earlier episodes but David Bigander did this so we could see the difference when his mother finally gave him permission to pursue his interest in being a chef and going after his love-interest. The internal struggle comes to a head in episodes 8-10 with some visceral acting from Mark Siwat that conveys all the incredible turmoil that he was experiencing while trying to finally confront his dilemma between being dutiful and pursuing his two passions [Aue and cooking].
Zung does a wonderful job conveying his feelings with just his eyes. His interactions with Mark are how his character is unveiled and those interactions are very internal, like an inner monologue that occurs between people that are closely tied together. Every time we see him struggling with Mark we see how sensitive and compassionate he is. His interactions with his staff members and his former “girlfriend” Eve also portray him as a charming and considerate individual. The supporting cast was also depicted beautifully and vividly. I think Nuna’s character is really well rounded. We see her effervescent, comical, and gregarious side in the first few episodes, and also witness her completely serious personality when we see her interactions with her former boyfriend. Almost all of the main characters are kind and considerate people which makes the drama very uplifting and almost spiritually pure – this is again a mature drama with adults confronting their hardships with seriousness and a simple nobility of character.

Throughout the series, David Bigander has infused a lot of other thematic material including art and religion to create a holistic landscape, more complete than any other BL I’ve ever seen. There is a sense of realism that is also unmatched. The natural interactions of people without histrionics even when deep emotional turmoil is being depicted is just unique to BL’s that rely so heavily on Hollywood-like drama. The settings are also so realistic: Aue’s kitchen, Mark Siwat’s dorm room, Wat Phumin temple, Mark’s room in house at Nan, and the restaurant in Nan are all examples of this.

Overall this is a magnificent series that I would consider to be among the best BL’s ever produced. It has probably the best cinematography of any of them, and it’s realism is also unrivalled. It’s certainly worth watching and rewatching because it’s a series with considerable depth. Congratulations to David Bigander on crafting this wonderful drama, and I hope to see many more from him in the future.

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POTENTIAL WASTED.

So, initially I was super excited and even enjoyed watching it thinking there's alot more to come ahead. But nothing come ahead except dissapointment. It started off pretty decent and nice like two adorable nice guys having same interest(cooking) falling in love. Sounds good right? But it isn't. I think the ones who watched it while airing still managed to watch it because one snail speed episode is still manageable. But for those planning to binge watch, it will be really not worth. Leave worth it won't even be your average show because you are probably going to find it boring. I was really liking that well plated food, organic colours, constant staring but that is literally what they kept on showing in all those 11 episodes. The actors were nice and this show even had the potential but the plot literally just went all bland. No spice, no flavours just plain.

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Another disappointment

What a shame!
This series looked like a promising and original BL series with a plot that was centered around chefs/cooking (which we've seen recently in several Korean BLs like "The Tasty Florida", "My Sweet Dear" and to a lesser degree as only one of the main characters is a chef in "To My Star" and the Taiwanese "Craving You"). It also departed from the typical BL scenarios we’ve seen in the past that mostly include university students going through the usual plots/storylines of misunderstandings, tears, a crazy female character, a jealous ex-boyfriend or a male character that wants to create a love triangle, parents that are either super against or super in favor of their son being gay, weird/useless characters, bizarre/unreal situations, sex scenes with actors that most of the time look uncomfortable doing them, among many more... but "Bite Me" ended up being a big disappointment.

The many negatives of this series outweigh some of the positives.
a. The pace of this series has to be the slowest in history. I’ve skipped some parts of other BL series in the past that included bad acting or very predictable scenes (crying, arguments, etc.) but never had to skip this much because NOTHING happened on screen! All the actors moved and talked at a glacial pace and it was clear the instructions from the acting coach and the director were to let the stares linger into oblivion with many scenes having 15-45 seconds of dialogue and 2 minutes of plain staring. Somehow, we ended up with 11 episodes of over 45 minutes each… I bet that if we take out the wasted silent moments in all the episodes, we might end up with only 5, maybe 6, episodes at the most.

b. The storylines made not much sense.
First, Aek was the only naïve and oblivious one in all of Thailand because he couldn’t realize that Chef Aue liked him from the very beginning.
Second, Chef Aue had the unresolved past relationship with Eve that made no sense as we have very little background of their story. During the first few episodes she seems to be a character that could be the series' villain because she looked like she wanted Aue back. However, she slowly fades into nothing relevant, appearing in the cooking competition and not doing much there and then she ends up being courted by Aek’s friend Bie (played by Gameplay) also without any background as to how/why they end up dating.
Third, Chef Aue also had a previous conflict with Chef Moo who seemed to be his mentor and ended up being a bully and psychologically abusive until Aue finally had enough. Chef Moo also plays the role of a villain but there is not much background as to why their relationship deteriorates so much and then he suddenly appears at Aue's restaurant before the cooking competition to remind him how bad he thinks he is. Chef Moo also has his relationship with Nuna and we can imply that the background of this relationship is that Nuna was fed up with Chef Moo for putting cooking and being a successful chef above her, then she also realizes that she doesn’t love him anymore and in a calm manner tells him that and leaves despite his attempts to get her back. Then, we had a delivery girl flirting with Nuna and asking for her phone number but that leads nowhere as it was not brought up again after it happened.
Fourth, Aek is conflicted about going to work at a restaurant at first but his mother always knows his son better than him so she provides some solid maternal support, that was fine… the issues in here are all the sudden doubts inside Aek about his feelings for Chef Aue. The plot just comes and goes and explodes in episodes 9 and 10 and magically Aek’s mother solves it by telling Aek that she knows his true feelings and that everything is ok.
Fifth, the cooking competitions for both Aek and Aue end up being solved in portions of one and a half episodes with barely any cooking being done, judges that don’t speak Thai and look awkward when complimenting food that was clearly not made by Aek or Aue (or any other actor), and the appearance of another villain, Chef Wiphob. He comes basically out of nowhere and feels like he wants to seduce Aek at first but only acts very friendly towards him and then turns around to provoke Aue by showing Aek’s clothes to him and telling Aue to lose the cooking competition... but Wiphob is not even competing in the same competition with Aue, so maybe it was to help Chef Moo, but we don't know for sure. Wiphob has also some issues with his father who pressures him to win but nothing more is made of that.
Sixth, the secondary couple of Prem and Vich is all cute but we don’t see much of them until episode 11 when Prem is trying to fulfill his dream of opening an all-dessert store and Vich is there to help him accomplish it. Aside from that, their relationship progresses mainly off-screen as we get some bits and pieces of their interactions.

All in all, the plots seemed weak and some came out of nowhere, without any explanation or logic as to why the writers decided to include them, and most were solved rather easily after a conversation or two. Most of the support characters like Chefs Moo, Wiphob and Eve, Wiphob’s father, Aek’s friends (except Vich) and the other sous-chefs do not have much dialogue and do not provide much in terms of content. The three “bad” chefs are not that evil to be classified as villains and their stories are not mentioned much (if any at all) to really make me care about them or understand them more.

Some of the positives (just to be fair).
a. The chemistry between Mark Siwat (playing Aek) and Zung (playing Chef Aue) and between Paam (playing Chef Prem) and Toon (playing Vich) was very nice. Mark is 8 years younger than Zung (21 vs. 29 years old) but both were able to develop some good rapport between them. In this series, such large gaps between dialogues caused the actors to rely heavily on expressing their emotions through their eyes and both Mark and Zung (who has a lot more experience acting) did a decent job on navigating those moments. Paam and Toon are closer in age (23 vs. 19 years old) and they showed some nice chemistry as well. Toon was a nice surprise in this disappointing series as he was making his acting debut but had some nice moments when his character gave advice to Aek and also being so sure of his feelings towards Chef Prem. His acting was not flawless but it was better than other more experienced BL actors we’ve seen recently (like Gun Napat in “Golden Blood” for example). The two girls, Noon (playing Chompoo) and Zani (playing Nuna) also provided some funny moments and banter between them so that gave the slow show a bit of a break from all the boring scenes we had to watch.

b. The food was a high point for me because being from a country so far away and very different from Thailand, it was an interesting moment to see them prepare all the ingredients and cook them to create visually attractive dishes. Sadly, the cooking competitions were so short that we got deprived from some more tasty dishes and images. I know Thailand has plenty of desserts as well but Prem’s creations do not get the same screentime as the savory dishes.

In the end, another Thai BL series that has been a disappointment in 2021. What started with a promising trailer ended up being a very slow and sometimes boring show that just dragged along the 11 episodes with not many memorable moments.

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What's more scrumptious: the food or the young men?

This was an exceptionally well-made series with meticulous attention to detail that went from the depth of all the main characters to the making of the mouth-watering food that was shot with such precision, often in slow motion which amounted to food porn. It was a joy to see how the story of Aek, his love of food and one day wanting to be a world-class chef melded so perfectly after he met Aue, the owner of a high-class restaurant called Im-Aue which he came across as a delivery boy and the instant attraction they had for each other. Parallel to this is the story of one of Aek's three university buddies, Vich, with whom he shares a dorm room, a charming and playful young man who is a talented photographer and through Aek gets a job at Im-Aue photographing their food after completing an assignment on the creation of the desserts by their dessert chef Prem who he eventually falls in love with and which is immediately reciprocated, unlike the more troublesome love affair between Aek and Aue which takes most of the series to resolve.

One of Aek's buddies is Bie, a handsome and rich young man who doesn't take his studies seriously. He is played by Gameplay who starred in the foodie BL mini-series Ingredients and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. He is the only well-known actor in the series and the only main character with real cooking credentials though you wouldn't know it from the skills shown by everyone else. Im-Aue was actually built from scratch and demolished after filming finished. Everyone who took part in this series did so because they believed in the story and had the same vision for its outcome. The result is nothing less than superb and it's hard to decide whether the food or the two main actors, both very dishy and desirable young men in their own way, shone brighter.

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Well...it was one of those who had high expectations but...

Bem...era um dos que tinha expectativas mas... Uma coisa posso dizer, para quem não gosta de Fanservice é seguro ver.

Este BL, que parecia mais um Bromance .
Tem 3 protagonistas, para mim o principal foi mesmo apresentação da comida Tailandesa, que sempre ela parecia dava água na boca…
Aek x Aue, tinham olhares que por vezes nos derretiam o coração, isso é verdade, fora isso esperava um pouco mais, principalmente no final.
Musica e cenários, não existe nada a dizer.
Agora os diálogos, alguns deixavam a desejar, poderiam ser bem melhores.
Em todo conjunto até não foi mal, poderia ser melhor? Decididamente, sim.

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Beautiful visuals but missing a plot...

This review will not contain any spoilers because even if I try there really is not much to spoil... for this combination travel and food show and Line Man commercial... The Shots are slooow and I can not complain the least bit about the visuals in this whatever it is, beautiful food, beautiful people and beautiful potential...

The acting or is it the lines I do not know... ranges between really bad to pretty okay from 1 side character that feels natural and fun and all round interesting (Bie) the rest just fall short in both skill (shown, they may be great actors just not here) and seem to just be there to show off food and the beauty of Nan (not the bread, the place).

The character are pretty flat and uninteresting, and I can't decide if the son daughter relationship is good or just odd... They actually start off with great potential during the first half of the show so I was hopeful but then just did not develop at all + made an out of character move that just felt all off... I did however enjoy the voice of reason in the show even if his lines where awkwardly delivered. But the poor guy was subjected to quite a bit of sexuall harasment from most of his colleagues yet not a single person seems to react to it why?

Then it also turned plane boring with under developed side stories that seemed to just be there to take up space but did not really lead anywhere, come to think of it so was the main story, underdeveloped and well I am not really sure if it did lead anywhere other then to Nan... ok this is back to making me hungry...

They also seem to use the words we will always be together more than the song from Grease, If it weren't for the beauty of the shots and the first half this would have gotten a lower score

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Umm...ehhh...hmmm

Well, I have completed the series 'Bite Me'. When I heard about it the first time, I was so excited, because we were getting a setting that was not solely based in school. And I will say that they were a few handful good episodes, but I personally felt that they were A LOT of not so good episodes. And that's why this series really did not resonate well with me.

Story-5/10
When I read the synopsis, I went to myself 'Hey! This sounds cool. This series may actually be interesting.' However, after watching this series for eleven weeks, I personally felt that it was a bit slow/ draggy. Yes, they were some good moments. I do remember like the first two episodes were good as well as episodes seven and especially episode ten with Aek and his mother. But otherwise than that this series really did nothing for me. Especially after reading the synopsis< I was thinking 'Yeah, we gonna see a food competition.' And then where only two episodes were dedicated to the competition- one to get in the competition and the finals. Also, I really did not see the need for some side characters, but I guess they were there to add something for the competition.

I felt that at times that the scenes seemed a bit not put together in the correct place, thus making it a bit off for me, especially episode eleven. I have no idea what the heck happened in that episode cause it left me feeling a bit loss and confused (for example- since when did Bie meet Eve and likes her? Did I miss something or...?) The secondary couples were not developed good, so I honestly did not care for any of them outcome if they were happy or sad at the end. But I will say this- the food in this series looked phenomenal.

Acting/Cast-5/10
The amount of long pauses in this series from ALL of the characters is really nerve racking. And some of their acting just had me blankly watching the screen and having no emotions from watching it and wondering when the episode is going to end. I mean, for the last episode, I checked the time three times cause I felt that it was going on too long for a 46:37 episode. I was originally going to give this a four or something even lower cause I just wasn't feeling it. However, due to Mark's performance as well as Rudklao's (Aek's mom) performance in episode ten, I'm going to give them a 5.

Music-9.5/10
I can safely say this- the music was one of, if not the only, good thing about this series. The songs are addictive and I can be singing them from days to come. 9.5 from me!

Rewatch Valu-2/10
I honestly do not want to watch this series again. It really did not keep my attention or desire when I sat down and watch the episodes (except for the four episodes that I mentioned). So, just because of those four outstanding episodes for me, I will give it a 2.

Overall-5.5/10
Overall I give this series a 5.5. I really did try to enjoy it and it did start off good. But something just wasn't there for me. And while episodes seven and ten were good, these four episodes really can't make me enjoy the whole series.

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Bite Me is terrific!!!

The pace is slow, but I believe that's something that the director wanted to set for the series. I have no problem with it. I am just loving that I am seeing a BL story that is attempting to show gay male characters as professional working adults. That Aek is bridging the gap between college and establishing a career in a field that he loves. That Aue has been basically in love with him, from the moment that Aek stepped inside of his kitchen. I don’t doubt Aek's love for Aue at all. It makes sense that he has doubts about his feelings, because he's never let himself focus on anything else other than getting his college degree to make his Mother happy. Also, it's great to see the younger gay male character having issues with his own acceptance. If it's too slow, challenging to understand, and it seems, not enough sexual scenes, please do yourselves a favor, put yourselves out of your own self-inflicted injury and stop watching.

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What just happened?

When directing and script does you dirty, you get this show...I felt the chemistry but it was brought down by the fact majority of the screen time was spent on stares and no lines being said, I love slowburns but the pacing was just ridiculous. Lots left without explanation and by the end the second couple pretty much became main? Also that montage was edited better than the entire show... Feeling bad for Mark and Zung cause I know they're great actors but the way things went didn't really let them show that till basically the last two-three episodes, where really I hated Chef Aue for being too pushy on Aek and not giving him space to process his feelings. Also the no apology? I don't blame Zung tho, script just sucked. I wanted to know more about Aek's friends and their lives, especially Bie and Pock. Also wanted more about Nuna cause seemed she might've been hinted at as Bi or I interpreted it wrong. Also Chef Viphob & Chef Moo relation? Eve & ___? Anyways leaving it at that. Loved the ost and liked what I got to see with the acting, especially with the mom and Aek together. Would I recommend it? Eh maybe I dont know, I've seen worse so there's that..maybe read the novel after to feel complete.

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Beautiful But Disappointing

Note: This is a review of this series as a BL. More on that below.

This is a show I was more excited about than pretty much anything else this year. And when the first episode aired, I absolutely loved it - I was ready for it to be in my Top 3. But then the other episodes happened. I'll start with positives.

The cinematography is gorgeous. The food shots are amazing. The scenery is perfect, the way shots are framed communicates more than the actors do - it's probably the best I've seen in a BL. It's plain excellent by any standard.

Zung, who plays Chef Aue, is excellent. He has the most soulful eyes, he's totally beautiful, and his acting is excellent. Mark, who plays Aek, might be good too - it's hard to tell because of the writing and directing. I think I would say he's good.

The idea for this series is unusual, interesting, and personally appealing, and it avoids most BL tropes - the dumb ones that I find irritating, like tripping and being caught - and many characters use knives constantly and not one single person has cut him/herself, not even when picking up shards of glass and platewear. I've even stopped cringing when anyone picks up a knife. In any case, kudos for trying something different and pushing the boundaries of the genre.

But there area few issues. The direction calls for extremely wooden acting and strange, halting dialogue delivery. Zung is so expressive that I still feel what he's feeling, but I couldn't even tell you what Aek's character is - he's just... there.

There are a LOT of plot tropes. Some of that is unavoidable, because well, plots are tropey. But there are strange repetitions. For example, an evil chef is introduced in Ep 2 - fine, here's the villainess (always a woman, and jeaslous ex-gf, but never mind). Then there's a totally different evil chef introduced in Ep 7, out of nowhere. OK, it's not the first time there have been two villains. Batman movies usually have two. In Ep 8 a THIRD evil chef is introduced. The government should look into the cooking scene, because apparently Thai chefs are a nasty bunch! Fortunately evil chefs seem to be hot, so they're nice to look at.

The pace is glacial. That in itself isn't a problem - I like slow burn, and I like scenes that take their time to develop. But there isn't any content in the long scenes - they just have people staring blankly at each other for exceptionally long periods, and take a really long time to say anything. It's really odd and frustrating. The dialog itself is often unnatural, with people that don't appear to have any life experience pontificating on what love is and how one should pursue it and life in general, and all delivered with solemn placidity.

What was finally the deal-breaker for me was Ep 8. I want to say that characters acted out of character, but I can't really say that - one of them did, and the other doesn't really have a character - he's more of a plot device than a person. But even still, his behavior is not set up in any way, so it comes out of nowhere - all we've really gotten from him is blank stares (this is Mark - he's doing his best, and he does get his eyes to water, so you can see some repressed emotion, but we have no way of knowing what that emotion is because we've never had any insight into his feelings). Usually, one expects the main pair to have a relationship before they break up, but not here - especially frustrating after how slow the burn has been - and there has been zero between them except for the staring, For the breakup to involve violence and sexual violence is even more jarring.

This should not have been a BL - the production doesn't appear to be interested in this aspect, and it feels like a naked grab for a ready-made audience, and it has zero LGBTQ+ sensibility - it's hard not to feel exploited. To add insult to injury, there's a minor character straight couple that gets together simply and happily. In any case, I think it would have been a superior show if it had just been a drama about rival chefs.

There are people who like this show, so I'd watch it through Ep 3. If you're getting frustrated, it's not for you - because it will get much, much worse. If you like what you're seeing, it's probably worth watching, although I suspect most people's appreciation will end with Ep 8. Maybe it can redeem itself - I'll check back when it's over, and if everyone's lauding it, maybe I'll watch the rest.

Story: 4. I like the topic, the originality of the theme, and the lack of tropes. I don't like the lack of plot, stilted and unnatural dialog, and manufactured drama.

Acting: 7. Zung is fantastic, Mark is doing his best, a couple of the side characters are decent, but many are really flat. I'd probably rate the actors an 8, and the acting a 6, which disparity is the director's fault, so I'll settle on a 7.

Music: 9. I really like the music. The main drumbeat is fun, the music is never intrusive, and it's got a unique vibe to it - no complaints, and actually among the best I've seen in a BL.

Rewatch Value: 1. This is another one I'd have to be held at gunpoint to watch again, except for shirtless Zung scenes because I'm shallow and he's hot.

Overall: 6. It's not terrible - it's just very disappointing because this had the potential to be an 11 - I thought it was ITSAY-level after the first episode. As an aesthetic experience, this is probably more like an 8 - it's definitely beautiful. But it was sold as a BL, so that's what I have to rate it as.

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It Had So Much Potential But Fell Short

I did not intend to write a review but it just saddened and frustrated me that this show had so much potential yet it ultimately failed to deliver where it matters most, which is its story. There were a lot more bones and not a lot of meat to go on.

The story leaves a lot to be desired. It could have used some of its more slow-paced scenes to show more, depicting progression between the characters' relationships with each other or perhaps some development for some of the other characters. It's a slow-burn alright, but sometimes it just felt a little bit too slow I had to speed it up.

The finale definitely is the most flawed of them all. It felt like they dumped it on that episode all at once. Whatever needed tying, boom, it's there. We jumped into a time machine and fast-forwarded to the 2nd couple and the third emerging one. Suddenly there's a lot of exposition going on. Like, what???

There was little to go on with insofar as the 2nd couple's progress, relative to the previous episodes, not until this final episode which felt a little jarring to me. It felt like they were relegated to the sidelines much more than they should have.

Re: Aue's ex, I'm not sure scenes involving her fit squarely within this episode (Ep11) or were necessary or relevant anymore. Overall, the antagonists felt half-baked/not fully developed.

IMO, overall, they were able to deliver but I can't help but think that the show did not get to its full potential, it was very barely, barely enough, and might not be enough at all for some.

The chemistry is there, and the supporting characters ok. The cinematography is great (its sole saving grace) and the music is good but it felt that the writing is not quite at the same level. Really, I'm just going to say it again, it had so much potential but it ended up ruined somewhat.

This show has some critical flaws but did I enjoy watching it somehow? Yeah, you could say (but I can't tell for the others). Would I recommend this to friends, yeah maybe, but I'd include a very big, heavy disclaimer certainly.

TLDR: Story is stretched too thin and could be too slow for your own liking. If you like slow burns, you can maybe give this a try, or else go look for something else to watch.

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