The 10 Most Mouth Watering Moments in Film

Food certainly arouses more senses than simply taste. The aroma, the touch, and of course the sight. For your viewing pleasure, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 most drool-worthy food scenes on film. So sit back, relax, and “eat with your eyes first”.

1. Big Night Scene, Big Night

With everything riding on one big night, chef owners Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci) aim to deliver the most delicious and impressive meal of their career to save the business. Impress they do as guests swoon over countless courses of authentic italian fare. When Pascal (Ian Holm) a rival restauranteur bites into the traditional timpano, a flaky pastry crust filled with pasta, ragu, meatballs, chicken, and mozzarella, he stands up and screams “I could kill you” because it is that good.

2. Midnight Sandwich Scene, Spanglish

Hankering for a midnight snack, we watch Chef and Restaurateur John Clasky (Adam Sandler) lovingly prepare what appears to be the most delicious sandwich in the world. Created by famed chef Thomas Keller (The French Laundry) it’s certainly a contender. As Clasky meticulously stacks each layer of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and fried egg onto the perfectly toasted artisan bread smothered in melted monterey jack and mayo, who can help but salivate? Just as he sits down with a cold beer and raises the sandwich (dripping with runny yolk) to his eager mouth, his beautiful housekeeper Flor (Paz Vega) storms in to give him a piece of her mind. Like Clasky, our hunger is never satisfied. Fortunately the DVD features an instructional video of Keller creating the cravable sandwich with Sandler, allowing viewers to do what Clasky couldn’t: take a bite.

3. Pure Imagination Scene, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

This scene brings new meaning to the phrase “like a kid in a candy shop”. We find ourselves transformed into children marvelling over this candy created world. With trees bearing giant gummy bears, candy canes and gumballs, mushrooms made of whipped cream, and hot chocolate waterfalls, Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) has it right when he calls this place “paradise”.

4. Spaghetti Slurping Scene, Eat Pray Love

Liz Gilbert’s () time in Italy features many drool-worthy mangia moments (indulging in an authentic Neapolitan pizza, cooking a Thanksgiving feast with friends, ordering on an elaborate spread in Italian) but the most powerful is her first meal in Rome. She sits facing an infatuated couple whose passion can’t be more evident. Single for the first time and fresh off of a divorce, the display is almost torturous. Once the perfectly twirled spaghetti coated in a thick rich tomato sauce arrives at the table her senses are immediately consumed. We see a fire and excitement in Gilbert’s eyes as she devours the entire plate, savoring each bite. A simple plate of spaghetti never looked so delicious.

5. Feast Scene, Hook

For many who love to eat, food arouses a sense of wonder. This scene from hook brings that wonder to life with a meal created solely by imagination. At the start we see what Peter (Robin Williams) sees: empty and unappealing pots and pans. However, when the food fight begins Peter’s imagination is revived and he finds himself surrounded by a spread so fantastical only a kid could think it up.

6. Lustful Eating Scene, Tom Jones

Possibly the most lascivious eating scene you’ll ever see occurs in this film based on Henry Fielding’s classic novel written in 1749. The scene begins at an Inn with Tom Jones (Albert Finney) and Mrs. Waters (Joyce Redman), a morally questionable woman Jones meets on the road who spends days trying to seduce him, sitting across from one another at dinner. When she begins suggestively feeding herself Jones can’t help but follow her lead and fall prey to temptation. Slurping soup, gobbling on shelfish, and sucking turkey off the bone never seemed so sexual. This scene will likely invoke an appetite for more than just meat.

7. Be Our Guest Scene, Beauty and the Beast

Who doesn’t love the thought of an entire staff devoted to cooking you the most delicious meal you can conjure up? With french treats like beef ragu and french souffle moving across the table like conveyor belt sushi one can only imagine the pleasure of dipping in a finger. Any restaurants out there that happy to have a guest?

8. Noodle Master Scene, Tampopo

Perhaps no scene in movie history better illustrates an appreciation of food. The noodle master (Yoshi Katô) attests that enjoying a bowl of ramen requires much more than simply slurping noodles and guzzling broth. One must lovingly stroke, gaze, and devour, letting the ramen know just how loved it truly is.

9. Dinner Scene, Babette's Feast

Imagine a meal that costs 10,000 francs... when francs were used... in 1885 to be exact. This is precisely the culinary masterpiece we see once famous Parisian chef Babette (Stéphane Audran) prepare upon winning the lottery. In an act of gratitude for the pious community that embraced her as a refugee she spends her entire winnings to serve them the meal of a lifetime. Her grand degustation menu includes turtle soup, blini with caviar, quail stuffed with foie gras and sliced black truffle in puff pastry, endive salad, french cheese, rum cake, and tropical fruits. The guests resist expressing their enjoyment (as they feel culinary indulgence is sinful) but by the meals end the indulgence becomes a holy and gracious act.

10. Opening Scene, Eat Drink Man Woman

Impressive and mesmerizing, this scene plays homage to the art of cooking. Food holds a deeper appreciation when the beautiful ingredients and meticulous techniques are considered. The chef’s (Sihung Lung) performance in creating each perfectly composed dish begs the viewer to please come to dinner.

There were many more mouth watering scenes we simply couldn’t fit on the list. What movie scenes make you want to rush out and eat exactly what was savored on screen? Tell us what ones we missed!