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quick pitch

What Zabb Man!

(Thailand April-May on YouTube)

8/10

Main Tropes: enemies to lovers, tsundere/tsundere, rich/poor, foodie romance, CEO

It’s like Star Hunter has FINALLY grown up with this show.

WZM was better than we have any right to expect with decent pacing and a foodie theme threaded through the narrative as both love language and plot driver - which I have been WAITING for. Basically CEO falls in love with a street vendor’s food, recruits him to work in his hotel, falls in love with him, and that’s the beginning. Class struggles! Kitchen drama! Papaya pounding (not a euphemism)! Chef poaching (not literally)! Spicy scenes (yes literally)! It’s all so delicious.

Star Hunter… did you serve this one up just for little old me? Sure seems like, since no one else consumed it. Well… I do have a high space tolerance.

I think I have finally figured out Star Hunter’s brand: CHEEKY.

Will this review be full of food puns.

Oh yes indeed.

Sure this show gets absurdly over cooked and falling apart messy in tone, it’s like Star Hunter just CAN’T help but over egg the plotting (see what I did there). I imagine their workshopping is a hoot, it’s a bunch of young actors being ridiculous, and the chaos just leaks onto the screen. But all the acting is on point, and … FOOD!

(Yes I have eaten my body weight to som tum. Why do you ask?)

The leads are actually pretty good (previous in Hidden Love).

Poon is a great character because he is tsundere WITH good reason. And he’s portrayed with depth and sweetness for all his salty pride.

Also I’m not opposed to a bit of a CEO romance in my BL. Alpha being won over by love and som tum, tasty.

But what I really loved was that Athip loves Poon first for his food. When Poon runs away Athip finds him because of his food. Arthip begs forgiveness by eating Poon’s food.

But it’s PokeTongue (AKA BankBonus who play Teng & Mayom) who once more steal the bacon. Honestly they dominated Gen Y 2 and now they are doing it again. Just give them their own show already!

They absolutely crackle on screen together and it’s such fun to watch, who cares about plot?

Thai language moment: Pronouns

Teng & Mayom’s relationship negotiation scene (see image above) jumped around between pronouns khun/ter for you & pom/rao for I so much I couldn’t follow the nuances at all. But I can say that that pronoun hopping was part of the negotiation of intimacy between them, and changes the whole tenor of the scene.

This is one of those I wish we had translator notes on.

Food moment: Mayom

Star gooseberry (Phyllanthus acidus) is no relation to the gooseberry (Ribes) many of use grew up with in the UK. They tase a little similar in that (like cranberrys for the US folkz) they are sour and astringent, but they grow on a tree (not a bush) and are quite cute.

More on Mayom & Teng

For this particular couple I liked their claiming segment.

First I should say I’m starting to notice faen being translated more as “partner” instead of boyfriend, or VERY rarely “lover.” I’m not sure this is more or less accurate, it’s certainly more precise, but there’s just no direct translation so part of me wants them to leave it faen at this point.
We should all just learn it and adopt the word into English, it’s a better gender neutral term than anything we got. Lover is overly explicit and old fashioned. Significant other is awfully stiff and cumbersome. Partner has multiple non-romantic meanings, especially in a workplace setting.
Faen is a good word, single syllable, easy to say, nice mouth feel, pretty, reminds me of the Scots fain (which has a LOVELY meaning).
Still it’s certainly interesting to see “partner” start happening in BL, adds to the modern feel. Like they’ve been listening to the queers, again.

(I expanded on my faen feels because of comments.)

Secondly, because Teng broke up with his ex due to the closet, this is one instance where Mayom’s possessiveness is justified by the narrative since Teng needs it to feel confident in their relationship. Hence the live broadcast claiming scene.

In the end, this was the foodie romance set in the Thai Restaurant industry I have always wanted. The machinations of being in food service formed not just setting but also plot. Perhaps if Bite Me, Love Area and some of the ones from Korea (My Sweet Dear, Tasty Florida, Ocean Likes Me, To My Star) hadn’t disappointed me in this regard, I wouldn’t be so generous with this show. And to be fair, it probably should get a 7/10 by my normal standards. But What Zabb Man was cooked up exactly to suit my palate (and apparently no one else’s) so it gets a 8/10.

RECOMMENDED, especially if you like Thai food.