Remembering Anthony Bourdain: 10 Best No Reservations Episodes, Ranked by IMDb

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations still feels personal because it was never only about eating well. The Travel Channel series aired from 2005 to 2012, and across its run, Bourdain visited countries, cities, homes, kitchens, markets and bars with a rare mixture of humor, impatience, curiosity and humility. We are remembering him now because June 8 marks the anniversary of his death; Vanity Fair reported that Bourdain died in 2018 at the age of 61. 

What made him matter was not that he ate the strangest thing in the room. It was that he treated strangers like they had something worth saying. In a 2006 KQED interview about No Reservations, Bourdain said Travel Channel let him make the show he wanted, adding, “I go the places I want to go–and only the places I want to go”.

10 Prague, IMDb rating: 8.3

Prague, Season 6, Episode 4, has an 8.3 rating on IMDb. The episode works because Bourdain enters the city with his usual mix of curiosity and mild suspicion. Prague could have easily become a tourist postcard, but the episode leans into beer halls, old-world cooking, heavy plates and the city’s slightly bruised elegance. Why did viewers rate it highly? Because it gives the kind of Bourdain people love: funny, skeptical, alert, and willing to be won over. The food feels substantial, the city has texture, and Bourdain’s presence keeps the episode from becoming too pretty for its own good.

9 London/Edinburgh, IMDb Rating: 8.3

London/Edinburgh, Season 4, Episode 5, holds an 8.3 rating on IMDb. The episode has an appealing split personality. London gives Bourdain big-city grit and old pub culture, while Edinburgh adds history, mood and a different kind of appetite.

The rating makes sense because Bourdain always had a natural rhythm in the United Kingdom. His humor fits the setting without trying too hard, and the episode gives viewers both comfort food and cultural bite. It is not one of the loudest No Reservations entries, but it has a dry charm that ages well.

8 Cajun Country, IMDb Rating: 8.3

Cajun Country, Season 7, Episode 16, has an 8.3 rating on IMDb. It is easy to understand why. Bourdain was at his best when food came with community, labor and music, and this episode gives him all three. The story has warmth without turning sentimental. Cajun food is not treated as a novelty. It is shown as something tied to land, family, tradition and celebration. Bourdain seems relaxed here, and that matters. When he is comfortable but still curious, the episode gets a lovely human pulse.

7 Japan: Hokkaido, IMDb Rating: 8.3

Japan: Hokkaido, Season 7, Episode 7, is rated 8.3 on IMDb. Bourdain’s Japan episodes often bring out a special side of him, and Hokkaido gives him a colder, quieter, more rugged version of the country. The episode likely connected with viewers because it balances food and place beautifully. There is precision, but there is also roughness. Bourdain does not behave like he has solved Japan. He knows he has not. That humility is part of the pleasure. He lets the landscape, the meals and the people stay larger than his commentary.

6 Japan, IMDb Rating: 8.4

Japan, Season 2, Episode 0, has an 8.4 rating on IMDb. This earlier Japan episode is one of the show’s cleanest examples of Bourdain being both student and admirer. The appeal comes from how alive he seems in the setting. He is not simply tasting dishes. He is studying systems: etiquette, craft, obsession, patience and precision. Japan gave Bourdain room to respect discipline without making it dull. That is probably why viewers rewarded it so strongly.

5 Buffalo/Baltimore/Detroit, IMDb Rating: 8.4

Buffalo/Baltimore/Detroit, Season 5, Episode 17, carries an 8.4 rating on IMDb. It is one of the great American episodes because it looks at cities often ignored or reduced to lazy stereotypes. The episode earns its rating by doing something Bourdain did very well: treating overlooked places seriously. He finds humor, pride and appetite in cities that had been written off by smoother travel shows. It feels scrappy in the best way. Bourdain respects working people, local food and the stubborn dignity of places that do not ask to be polished before being loved.

4 Vienna, IMDb Rating: 8.4

Vienna, Season 7, Episode 4, has an 8.4 rating on IMDb. The episode lets Bourdain move through a city with deep cultural rituals, heavy food and a winter atmosphere that suits his dry wit. People loved this show because Vienna gives him plenty to react to. There is elegance, but also strangeness. There is tradition, but also enough oddity to keep him amused. Bourdain’s performance here is sly and observant, never too reverent, never careless.

3 Croatian Coast, IMDb Rating: 8.4

Croatian Coast, Season 8, Episode 3, is rated 8.4 on IMDb. The episode has the pleasure of discovery, with Bourdain exploring Croatia’s coast, seafood and regional character. This one likely ranks highly because it gives viewers the old Bourdain feeling of being taken somewhere that feels both specific and generous. The food looks honest, the coastline gives the episode visual lift, and Bourdain seems genuinely interested in the place rather than simply impressed by it. That distinction matters.

2 Lisbon, IMDb Rating: 8.5

Lisbon, Season 8, Episode 4, holds an 8.5 rating on IMDb, making it one of the show’s highest-rated episodes. The episode follows Bourdain through Portugal’s capital, where food, music and melancholy sit close together. The high score makes sense because Lisbon gives the episode a rare emotional balance. It has beauty, but not smug beauty. It has sadness, but not misery. Bourdain responds well to cities with memory in the walls, and Lisbon gives him plenty to work with. The result feels mature, calm and deeply watchable.

1 Beirut, IMDb Rating: 8.9

Beirut, Season 2, Episode 14, is the highest-rated No Reservations episode on IMDb, with an 8.9 rating. It is also the episode that stopped being a normal travel-food installment while it was being made. IMDb’s episode page says Bourdain and his crew travel to Lebanon, discover generous people and delicious food, then find themselves in the middle of a tense and violent conflict.

That is why the rating feels earned. Beirut has food, yes, but it also has fear, confusion, anger and tenderness. Bourdain is not performing coolness here. He looks affected. He knows the episode has changed under his feet. Viewers respond to that honesty because it shows the best of what No Reservations could be: not just a show about where to eat, but a record of what happens when the world refuses to behave for the camera.

The top No Reservations episodes are not only the prettiest or most food-heavy ones. They are the episodes where Bourdain seems most present, most challenged, or most willing to let the place lead. So, which one would you rank first? Drop your pick below, and follow FandomWire for more TV rankings.