- We got the special kabob with the marrow in it again.
(chattering in foreign language)
(upbeat electronic music)
Such an eye opener.
If I think back throughout the entire year,
that was the single bite that just shocked my taste buds
into new peak levels of deliciousness
that I've ever had in my entire life.
In this video I'm gonna share with you 10,
the 10 best meals I ate in 2018.
One thing to note is that this list is not
in order of delicious but it's just in order
of time from the beginning of the year to
the end of the year and this happened to be like,
I didn't plan for this, I love to eat vegetables
but it happened to be quite a meaty year, as you will see.
How long do they smoke for?
- Oh anywhere between, like small ones
like this guy will take about eight hours.
- [Host] Okay.
- [Chef] Maybe one like that'll take 10 to 14.
(chattering in background)
There you go, you didn't get one did you?
There you go, dude.
- That's a lot of meat.
This platter of meat
is gigantic and absolutely insane.
I think we have to start with the center piece
which is the beef short ribs and they only make it
Friday and Saturday, so we came on the right day.
Look at that, we can just press down.
- I can't wait to taste it.
(upbeat ensemble music)
(laughs)
Oh.
Oh no.
- Oh that is,
oh that is almost impossible.
Look how tender and juicy and fatty that is.
Number two, we are off to Mexico.
Just in time as they're opening a fresh oven.
Oh, that is unbelievable.
He took off the lid of the clay oven
and just a poof of smoke came out.
So the smoke is just locked up inside that
clay oven and you can immediately smell it.
The owner just told me it's lamb.
In order to take the meat out of the oven,
because it's so ridiculously ultra-tender,
they just scoop it out by the plateful.
They don't need knives here.
All they do is take a plate and literally like
scoop it in or grab it and they just take plate
after plate of the most tender meat you've
ever tasted in your life out of that oven.
It's just oozy and dripping with juices, wow.
That's all meat, man.
Oh man.
Number three was so cool because we
really did not have any plan when we
set off on the day and it just unfolded.
Grateful for all the people that helped us, number three.
(speaking foreign language)
(upbeat guitar, trumpet music)
It took like five hours to make this mole.
They made everything from scratch starting with the chilies.
There must be 30 different ingredients in this mole recipe.
(speaking foreign language)
Muy, muy bueno.
I can tell you certainly there's
nothing like this in the world.
Number four is so cool because you go out
onto a little boat, you're on a little floating
platform and then you're presented with these,
like a platter of giant blooming oysters.
(relaxed electronic, piano music)
(speaking foreign language)
(festive trumpet, electronic music)
Oh, he just freshly opened these.
I gotta try one as is immediately.
I'm going for that center guy.
Yeah, look at the size of that.
Oh, that's just as unbelievably fresh as it can get.
For number five, let's go to Accra, Ghana in West Africa.
All sorts of things, probably the palm in that oil.
You can smell the fish, you can smell the chilies.
Oh wow.
Wow.
Let me tell you, making banku,
stirring it like that, that's rowing on the next level.
The Chop Bar, it's a local restaurant.
In all those dishes you choose your starch
and you choose your soup and then they dish it out.
- I go for food and good cooked meat.
And light soup. - Wow.
- Oh my gosh. - Is it so good?
- It's so good.
- Oh wow, that's really smooth in texture
and really kinda sticky, kinda almost like, dip it?
- You have to dip it. - I'm gonna go for one of
those chilies on my first bite.
Mm mm.
I'm just gonna pick this up like a drumstick.
And by the way, I'm gonna have all of this information,
all of these meals plus the top destinations
that I visited plus I'm gonna share with you
the camera gear that I use in a blog post
which will be linked in the description box.
Number six, to the East Coast of Africa.
Today we are in Shela Village which is on Lamu Island.
- Garlic, turmeric. - Turmeric, curry powder.
(sizzling)
The cook, she first stir fried some onions
and carrots and caramelized them in some oil.
Then she added in that pounded
mixture of the garlic and the spices,
the turmeric, the black pepper.
Immediately as that hit the oil,
that aroma just overwhelmed my nose.
Oh man, that just smells insanely good.
But she added in the crumbs, she added in the coconut milk.
The final step is that she added in the, oh wait.
Finally this is the bite that I have been waiting for.
Some of the prawns, I'll take a prawn,
I'll mix it with the rice.
That is ultimate,
that's a ridiculously delicious combination.
From the first time I tasted this dish,
I think I was back in like sixth or seventh grade when
I was like 11 years old, this has been one of my favorite
dishes and to have it at the source, it was special.
She's adding some water but that aroma.
(bubbling)
Nice. (speaking foreign language)
- This is what it's about.
- You can just see the onions
which have simmered down into that sauce.
It's not thickened by anything except for
the onions and some oil and the spices in there.
(children screaming)
It's so good.
Oh man, I mean it's so good.
The chicken is amazing but it's so good,
the sauce is so incredibly good,
you barely even, I mean it's good with just sauce.
Moving on to number eight and this
was just one of the ultimate platters.
It is the signature Samarkand plov.
It's different from the other version we've had
in Tosh, Kenya and it looks like dark, used motor oil.
But that's flaxseed, black flaxseed oil
and he pulled out a chunk of the meat.
Is that lamb or beef? - It's beef.
- It's beef, okay.
Giant chunks of beef just simmered and you can
also see there's raisins in there as well as chickpeas.
- [Cook] Chickpeas.
(up tempo electronic music)
(speaking foreign language)
- As majestic as the sights are
in Samarkand is that plate of plov.
They've got a giant platter plate
with the geometric designs on it.
First bite, reaching in mostly for rice and carrots.
Those carrots, mm.
And that beef is just full for dinner.
Number nine and again this list is not in order
of delicious but this next dish,
when I think about it I feel like
tears starting to form in my eyes.
It's that good.
This might be the coolest restaurant,
like cooking station I have ever seen in my life.
That is an entire bonfire, it's just radiating.
He's mixing the meat right now.
Tomatoes go in, nice.
Without a doubt this is one of
the coolest restaurants of my life.
So he makes the meat and I love that shove move,
he just slides it into the fat.
(speaking foreign language)
We got the special kabob with the marrow in it again.
Gotta get that, oh just juices, oh.
Oh look at that,
oh wow.
Just gonna sprinkle on some of that citrus,
some of that (speaking foreign language).
And finally number 10, but keep on watching
this video because I have more to share with you,
the top destinations,
is the Biryani game changer.
They're putting it on a plate.
(speaking foreign language)
It's not even a plate but this is
an entire metal saucer bowl, wow.
- Heavy, too. (laughs)
- Hassim is gonna help us with the bones.
Oh there it comes.
- [Guest] Dude, I can't believe that actually works.
- You gotta hit it hard, man.
- I can hear like pieces rattling in there, there it goes.
Still it's so hot and so delicate.
Marrow biters. (cheers)
- No way. (chuckles)
- The marrow makes butter feel tough.
That wraps up the top, the best meals of 2018.
It's so hard for me to choose but the reason I enjoy,
I don't really like making lists of top 10 because
there are so many variables of what makes a good meal,
from the people to the location to
the visual aspect of it to the delicious taste.
But one of the reasons I enjoy doing this
every year is because it allows me to really think back,
to really reflect on the things and the people I met,
the food that I ate
and just reflect on the year
and so that's partly the reason I love doing this.
All right and next I just wanna
share the top 10 destinations.
Number one, I really loved Merida in Yucatan, Mexico.
Number two, Luang Prabang, Laos.
What an ultimate relaxation place.
Number three is Trat in Thailand which is
a beautiful eastern coastal province in Thailand.
Number four, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Yes, yeah. (children clapping)
Number five is the beautiful
Swahili culture, Lamu Island, Kenya.
(up tempo electronic music)
Number six, on the shores of Lake Kivu, Gisenyi, Rwanda.
(shouting)
Number, oh ho ho, number seven which was also
the scariest moment of the year, Harar, Ethiopia.
- Sit, get a stick and try to face me.
- Yes? - There we go.
- Oh, hey. - Get a stick.
That one is on your back, don't worry.
Okay, okay.
Okay.
- Number eight is Samarkand, Uzbekistan
which the architecture just blew me away.
And number nine is Peshawar, Pakistan.
I loved the culture, the people, the food, the meat.
And then finally number 10,
Hunza Valley, Pakistan which is easily
one of the most naturally spectacular,
beautiful, unbelievable places that I've
ever been in my entire life and the mountains,
the people, the culture, it was, ah it was breathtaking.
(traditional Pakistani guitar music)
So again the link will be in the description box,
go check that out, go check out the full blog post.
It will include all this information plus more details.
Again I am extremely grateful for your incredible support
and without you, this entire channel, the videos,
the travel, it wouldn't be possible without your support
and your sharing and your continuing to watch
and so I'm grateful to have your support
and I'm very thankful for you and I hope
you have an incredible new year
and pushing forward into 2019, I'm very excited
and I hope all the best for you and your family
and to have a prosperous 2019, thank you again.
Goodbye from Bangkok and I will see you
in 2019 for lots more food and travel videos.