The Phantom Gourmet

The Hosts:

The Andelman brothers annoy me to no end. If the show wasn’t about one of my favorite topics in the world (food), there is no way I would ever watch these men do anything. Honestly though, I sometimes have a hard time trusting their opinions because they do not act like they would know a lick about good food. But still, I watch them anyway.

When It's On:

Phantom Gourmet is on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. on TV 38.

The Restaurants:

I do really like that most of the restaurants Phantom reviews are in the Boston-area. Not all of them are, and sometimes they do special shows on other parts of New England, but I would say a majority of the restaurants reviewed are ones I can easily get to.

The Phantom Gourmet has a bad habit of mentioning some of the same restaurants OVER and OVER (many of them sub-par). Advertising much? This annoys me to no end and makes me hate every restaurant that Phantom is so obsessed with. If they were a big higher class I’d understand, but this is just ridiculous.

• Kowloon
  
• The Halfway Cafe
  
• RFO Sullivans
  
• Firefly’s
  
• Fudruckers
  
• Strega
  
• Maine Diner

Special Events:

BBQ Beach Party

The Phantom Gourmet has a few special events throughout the year that prove to be pretty good times. They had their 2008 BBQ Beach Party, where the country’s best BBQ’ers all come to City Hall Plaza and throw a beach party, sandy “beach” included. After you buy a ticket for entry, you can hang out all day, sampling ribs, pulled pork, and so so much more.

Phantom Food Festival

Another fabulous eating fest, this one involves paying one flat fee ($40) for admission to Lansdowne St. where you can sample 80 of the Phantom’s favorite foods from the Boston-area. I haven’t been yet, but am dying to make my way down Lansdowne chowing down on crab cakes from Joe Fish, brownies from Rosie’s Bakery, and clam chowder from Finz.

There are also all kinds of parties going on and “beverages” for sale. This food party is 21+.

How They Keep Score:

The Phantom Gourmet gives a numerical score based out of 100, which then determines a variety of verbal scores such as “gourmet greatness” and “phantom approved.”

Extras:

Lame Debates

The Phantom Gourmet has lame debates, like what’s better? The hotdog or the hamburger. Ooooh glad I tuned in for that one. Obviously time-fillers because they couldn’t find any more ad buyers and it might look suspicious if they mentioned Kowloon one more time.

The Website:

TV Diner

The Host:

I’m a big fan of Billy Costa and have been ever since I started listening to him on radio’s Kiss 108 and the Matty in the Morning show. He actually used to be the host of Phantom Gourmet until the Andelmans took over. But luckily, it didn’t take long for him to get his own New England food show, TV Diner.

When It's On:

TV Diner is on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on NECN.

The Restaurants:

TV Diner focuses on more upscale restaurants most of the time. The only thing I really dislike about the restaurants TV Diner reviews is that many of the restaurants are not located in Boston. I know, I know, this is a New England show and there are fabulous restaurants all around New England, but I’m selfish and mostly like to hear about restaurants located nice and close to me.

Special Events:

Jenny Cam

TV Diner doesn’t seem to have any special events per say, but Jenny Cam is a segment of the show where Jenny takes viewers to hot Boston events and also reviews upcoming events you should know about.

Hopefully  they’ll have their own TV Diner events in the future!

Extras:

Diner for a Day

TV Diner has a special segment every week where they have a regular old person go out and try a restaurant and then come on the show to review it. It’s fabulous to get a random person’s point of view and hear about their experiences dining in a restaurant. Plus, it’s a dream of mine to be a diner for a day.

Guest Experts

TV Diner often has guest visitors on the show, whether they’re established chefs or food experts, who are always very knowledgeable about the topics.

This makes the show a bit more authoritative and makes you feel like you’re actually learning something other than simply the opinions of the hosts.

How They Keep Score:

TV Diner Scores their restaurants on a scale of plate, starting with bronze and going all the way up to platinum, which is obviously the best score.

The Website:

The Verdict:

It’s a tie. I’ll watch whatever one happens to be on. Because really, how could a show about food in New England possibly be bad? Even if the hosts are extremely annoying or the restaurants are too far for me to get to.