The 20 Best Food Movies of All Time

Michelin kitchens sit beside food trucks, ramen counters and a village chocolate shop; most will make you hungry, one or two will put you off dinner. Which one wins?

1

Ratatouille

Pixar's 2007 film about a rat with a palate who cooks his way into a Paris kitchen and disarms a critic.

2

Big Night

The 1996 story of two immigrant brothers staking their failing New Jersey restaurant on one perfect dinner.

3

Tampopo

Juzo Itami's 1985 ramen western, a comic quest to build the perfect bowl of noodles.

4

Babette's Feast

The 1987 Danish Oscar winner in which a French refugee spends a lottery win on one meal for an austere village.

5

Eat Drink Man Woman

Ang Lee's 1994 film about a Taipei master chef losing his sense of taste and his grip on three daughters.

6

Chef

Jon Favreau's 2014 comedy about a burnt-out chef who quits fine dining for a Cuban sandwich food truck.

7

The Menu

The 2022 satire in which a tasting menu on a private island turns into something far worse for the diners.

8

Julie & Julia

The 2009 double portrait of Julia Child in Paris and a blogger cooking her way through the cookbook.

9

Like Water for Chocolate

The 1992 Mexican film in which a forbidden love is cooked into every dish and passes straight into the eaters.

10

Chocolat

The 2000 film about a chocolatier who opens her shop in a devout French village during Lent.

11

The Hundred-Foot Journey

The 2014 story of an Indian family opening a restaurant across the road from a Michelin-starred rival.

12

Pig

The 2021 film about a reclusive truffle hunter walking back into Portland's restaurant world to find his stolen pig.

13

Boiling Point

The 2021 British drama shot in one take across the worst night of a head chef's service.

14

The Taste of Things

The 2023 French film about a cook and the gourmet she has fed for twenty years, told through long kitchen scenes.

15

Jiro Dreams of Sushi

The 2011 documentary portrait of an eighty-five-year-old Tokyo sushi master and the son waiting to inherit.

16

Burnt

The 2015 film about a disgraced chef chasing a third Michelin star and a second chance in London.

17

No Reservations

The 2007 romantic drama about a controlling chef whose kitchen and life are upended by a sous chef and a niece.

18

Mostly Martha

The 2001 German original about a rigid chef forced to raise her orphaned niece and share her kitchen.

19

Waitress

The 2007 film about a small-town pie maker who bakes her way out of a bad marriage.

20

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

The 1971 musical tour of a confectionery empire, still the most-quoted food fantasy on film.