| Native Name: | 為食神探 |
| Alt Name: | Gluttonous Detective |
| Genre: | Modern Drama, Comedy, Detective fiction |
| Creator: | Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Limited |
| Starring: | Kenneth Ma Louis Yuen Priscilla Wong Eliza Sam Oscar Leung Jacqueline Wong Elvina Kong |
| Opentheme: | "Tempted Heart" (誘心人) by Jinny Ng |
| Theme Music Composer: | Alan Cheung |
| Endtheme: | "I Don't Remember" (我記不起) by Linda Chung |
| Country: | Hong Kong |
| Language: | Cantonese |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Executive Producer: | Catherine Tsang |
| Producer: | Leung Choi-yuen |
| Editor: | Ng Siu-tung |
| Location: | Hong Kong |
| Camera: | Multi camera |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes |
| Company: | TVB |
| Network: | TVB Jade |
| Inspector Gourmet | |
| T: | 為食神探 |
| S: | 为食神探 |
| L: | "Gluttonous Detective" |
| Y: | Wàisihk Sàntaam |
| Ci: | pronounced as /wɐ̭i.sèk̚ sɐ̭n.tʰáːm/ |
| J: | Wai4sik6 San4taam1 |
| P: | Wèishí Shéntàn |
Inspector Gourmet (; literally "Gluttonous Detective") is a 2016 Hong Kong television comedy and fictional detective drama produced by Leung Choi-yuen for TVB, starring Kenneth Ma, Louis Yuen, Priscilla Wong and Eliza Sam as the main cast. It premiered on Hong Kong's TVB Jade and Malaysia's Astro On Demand on August 29, 2016, airing Monday through Sunday during its 9:30-10:30 pm timeslot and concluding September 19, 2016 with a total of 20 episodes.[1]
Inspector Gourmet centers on solving mysteries with a food theme. The title of the drama is in reference to Louis Yuen's character Mak Sai. Mak Sai is described as a food addict with amazing crime solving skills due to his extraordinary sense of taste, smell and sight.
Yeung Tak-kei (Kenneth Ma), who calls himself Bill Kei, is a line cook at a high end traditional Cantonese restaurant. He is an unruly worker who spends his time on his cellular phone and flirting with the restaurant's hostess during work hours. A fan of detective comics, his real passion is to become an investigation detective like his older half-sister Chu Sau-na (Elvina Kong), who owns her own private investigation agency. Bill meets Mak Sai (Louis Yuen), a food addict with a high detail sense of observation and taste, when Sai comes to the restaurant Bill works at to try their signature dishes. Coincidentally Sau-na and Sai are also acquainted with each other as the two formerly dated and were colleagues during their days in the police force.
On the same day Sai is at the restaurant, Bill gets tangled into his boss's extramarital affair with the restaurant's flirtatious hostess. Sau-na is also at the restaurant as she was hired by Bill's boss to investigate who has been blackmailing him with images of his adulterous affair. With Bill, Sau-na and Sai detective thinking the three discovers who is the blackmailer. However Bill gets fired from his job as he was the one who initially took the adulterous images, but Bill sees it as an opportunity to finally follow his true passion and begs Sau-na to hire him at her detective agency firm. Sau-na however refuses to hire Bill since he is inexperienced, but Bill's persistence and agreeable salary changes her mind. Sau-na's struggle and constant fight to keep alive the detective agency she inherited, from her soon to be ex-husband who has stolen all her staff, more than half her office and new clients, Sau-na has no choice but to hire Bill for extra help.
Bill meets and falls in love at first sight with Tong Ka-ka (Eliza Sam), a righteous magazine writer. After Bill helps Ka-ka find the culprit that has been harassing a small family run noodle shop, Ka-ka quits her job as a writer due to her unreasonable boss who refused to publish her article because of fear of offending triads. Ka-ka then gets hired at Sau-na's detective agency and partners up with Bill to investigate cases. After many failed investigation attempts, Ka-ka is aware that both Bill and her are not skillful enough to be good detectives, so she persuades Sai to join the detective agency by fulfilling his food craving.
During a case investigation, Sai and Bill meets Sam Oi-kiu (Priscilla Wong), a crass tomboy nicknamed Sister Kill. Kiu is a van driver that leads a small neighborhood gang. Sau-na sees Kiu's potential as an investigator with her electronic savvy skills, amazing driving and recruits her to join her team. While investigating cases Sai reconnects with his former subordinate Cheung Kwok-wah (Oscar Leung). Wah was pressured into being a trial witness against Sai, that put Sai in jail two years ago. Sai forgives Wah as Wah still thinks of Sai as his true boss, on the other hand Sai is also slowly setting up revenge against Wah's current superior who framed him.
Bill and Ka-ka meets Wah's girlfriend Janice Chow Ching (Jacqueline Wong), a new pastry chef at their local cafe. Janice has an immediate interest in Ka-ka and seems to be part of her past that she has forgotten. Janice's strange behavior in stalking Ka-ka and coming on to Bill sexually gets him worried about Ka-ka who he has just begun dating. Janice is good at hiding her true intentions by pretending to be friendly with Ka-ka but soon the team uncovers Janice's deranged personality and her motive.[2]
Bill's older half-sister. Mak-sai's former girlfriend and colleague. Ko Yan's ex-wife. She is a former police officer who currently manages a detective investigation agency which she inherited from her father. Due to Yan's pettiness and affair with Sau-na's trampy secretary Candy, Sau-na had to split half of her assets with Yan, which includes the detective agency.
Chu Sau-na's younger half-brother. He calls himself Bill Kei and is a bit cocky. He worked as a restaurant chef, but gets fired after finding out about his boss's adulterous affair with the hostess. A fan of mystery manga, Bill follows his passion to solve mysteries and begs his sister to hire him at the detective agency. Tong Ka-ka is his love interest who he fell in-love with at first sight.
A former inspector in the Hong Kong Police Force, Mak Tong and Sueng Yee's son and Sau-na's former boyfriend. He is called Inspector Gourmet for his food addiction and amazing case solving ability. Due to his food addiction, his subordinate Tai-wai frames him by tying him to triad connections which caused him to be imprisoned for 2 years. On the recommendation by Ka-ka, he is hired by Sau-na to her team.
Nicknamed Baby Kaka by Bill, she is a magazine reporter who writes about the truth of a restaurant with triad ties. Afraid of offending the triads her boss refuses to publish her article. She later quits her writing job and decides to work for Sau-na's detective agency. Kaka also suffers from amnesia due to an accident she had and forgets an entire six month long memory. While taking baking classes she starts to regain these lost memories and soon realizes the danger she is in.
Fung Ching-mui's daughter. Everyone calls her Sister Kill (Kill姐) because she is a butch tomboy who is the leader of a small neighborhood gang. Kiu works as a delivery van driver. Bill and Sai meets Kiu when they are investigating a possible injury insurance fraud case that involves Kiu's gang member. Sau-na sees Kiu's potential as an investigator and hires her to join her team. She and Sai later form a close bond because of their volatile relationships with their father. Kiu becomes Sai love interest through a strong partnership and understanding of each others family background.
The front desk receptionist that both Sau-na and Ko-yan shared when Yan took over half the office.
Sau-na's ex-husband. He was also a protege to her father. The two decides to divorce after he has an affair with Sau-na's trampy secretary Candy. Being a petty person he forces Sau-na to split her assets with him which resulted in him taking half her detective firm and stealing all potential new clients. After being blackmailed by Lo Tai-wai, Yan loses everything and Candy breaks up with him.
Sau-na's former secretary and also Ko Yan's mistress. After Ko Yan takes over more than half the detective agency she moves over to work for him. Candy is also as petty as Ko Yan. Candy is always reminding Sau-na that she is prettier and younger than Sau-na.
Sexily dressed private investigators. Ko Yan dubs the four of them as his "Smart Girls".
A mid-high level CID police officer and Cheung Kwok-wah's supervisor. Tai-wai was also Sai's former subordinate who used Sai's food addiction to frame him to connections with triads and then later taking Sai's position. Jealous of Sai, he has a vendetta against him and tries to ruin Sai in every possible way. He is a mean superior who bullies his underlings and takes credit for their hard work.
A mid ranking CID police officer and Sai's former subordinate, who was pressured and blackmailed by Lo Tai-wai into testifying against Mak Sai and caused Sai to be imprisoned for two years. Sai forgives Wah as Sai knows it was all Wai's doing. Wah is true to and worships Sai as he still refers to Sai as his boss. He goes as far as standing up to Wai in order to save Sai's life. He is also Janice Chow Ching's boyfriend.
Lo Tai-wai's CID police backup team.
Cheung Kwok-wah's girlfriend. Janice is a pastry chef and instructor. She likes to drink whiskey while she's on the job. Her search for her unforgettable Black Forest cake and missing friend is somehow connected to Ka-ka's lost memories. Janice has a particular interest in Bill and doesn't seem that much interested in Kwok-wah who she has been dating for almost half a year. Janice pretends to be sweet and nice but really has a deranged personality where she is not happy until she takes everything away from Ka-ka.
Mak Tong's neighbor. She also looks after Tong because of his short term memory. Choi is mentally challenge and acts like a child.
Sai's father. Tong lives in a suburban village and was a former officer. He suffers from dementia and has short term memory. Due to his dementia he is unaware that Sai is his son.
Fung Ching-mui's husband. Sam Oi-kiu father and King-on's adopted father. He owns a second hand electronic and antique shop. Wing has a gambling problem and causes loan sharks to harass his business. Due to his need for fast money he dabs in small illegal dealings. He has a volatile relationship with his daughter Kiu, as he has been a bad parent to her.
Sam Wing's wife. Sam Oi-kiu and King-on's mother. Due to her husbands constant illegal activities she has an affair with her former boyfriend Dong thinking he would be able to help Wing with his legal troubles. However the affair results in her becoming pregnant with King-on. Not wanting Wing to know about her extramarital affair she lies that King-on is Wing's biological son, while making Kiu think she is the illegitimate child..
Sam Oi-kiu's younger half-brother. Dong's and Fung Ching-mui's illegitimate son who was conceived when Wing was in prison. Unaware of his wife's extramarital affair with Dong, Wing raised King-on as his own son. King-on is a university student.
Bill catches his boss Ma Fu-cheung, having an affair with the flirtatious hostess Fok Ling-ling. Bill films the two rendezvous. Soon he finds out the images he took is being used to blackmail his boss by someone who sneaked into his cellular phone.
A successful family owned wonton noodle shop is being harassed daily. Installing security cameras and reporting the incidents to the police hasn't helped, which forces the owners to have to shut down their business. Ka-ka taking pity on the shop owner offers to help find the culprit behind the harassments.
In order for Sai to agree to work for the Robert Chu Detective Agency, Bill and Ka-ka must help him find the most beautiful chicken egg for an egg waffle vendor Sai has a craving for. However the most beautiful egg is not an actual egg.
Sau-na picks up a huge insurance account. If her team succeeds they will become the insurance companies exclusive private investigators. Sai and Bill are sent to investigate an injury on the job insurance claim. Soon the case also involves a stolen antique from a rich man's home.
Pun Siu-lin is a regular "plain Jane" who works as a delivery girl at her aunt's dry salted fish shop. She is aware of her unattractive appearance and occupation status, which make her skeptical if her successful and handsome fiancée Duncan really does love her. When Siu-lin accidentally dies, the secret to Duncan's success is revealed.
Kwok-wah, wanting to make Janice happy and surprise her, hires the Robert Chu team to search for her most unforgettable Black Forest Cake. The task is not easy as this was no ordinary cake since it was made by her friend Issac who Janice says has since disappeared. The more Ka-ka and Bill investigate, the more Ka-ka starts to regain her loss memories. As Ka-ka and the team further investigates, they discover that Janice may have planned the entire scheme in order to hurt Ka-ka.
Mak Sai suspects that the so-called new social worker Kwok Yat-ming, in charge of Mak Tong is up to no good when Ming starts to use Tong's dementia to his advantage by pretending to be Tong's son in order to con his valuables. Before Sai can do anything to stop Ming, Sai is framed and accused of raping the village mentally challenged young lady Nga-choi. The investigation team soon discovers Ming has a dangerous vindictive personality.
While investigating a fake goods case, Sai and Kiu encounter Kiu's father at the hub of where all the activity takes place. Kiu suspects her father is still up to no good especially since her mother seems to be in need of money fast. To Kiu's surprise the money her mother is desperate for is given to another man and not her father. Kiu discovers this other man in her mother's life could do great damage to her family.
Former triad boss turned successful restaurateur Tong Yu-wah, suspects he is being food poisoned since his health has been failing and doctors can't figure out what is wrong with him. He hires the Robert Chu team to investigate. At the same time his wife Ko Man also hires the Robert Chu team to investigate her husband Yu-wah, as she suspects he is having an affair with someone at work. Sau-na readily agrees to take on both cases as she thinks it will be killing two birds with one stone. However the case gets complicated when Yu-wah's mistress Yumi, hires Ko Yan to also investigate on Yu-wah and his wife Ko Man. When Yu-wah suddenly dies, the police gets involve and once again Lo Tai-wai is trying to pin it on Sai.
The main opening theme song "Tempted Heart" (誘心人) was sung by Jinny Ng, composed by Alan Cheung and lyrics by Sandy Chang.[3] A sub theme song named "I Don't Remember" (我記不起) performed by Linda Chung, and also composed by Alan Cheung, with lyrics by Sandy Chang was played during the closing credits on some episodes.
| Timeslot (HKT) | Day(s) | Week | Episode(s) | Average points | Peaking points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon - Sun (9:30-10:30 pm) 21:30–22:30 | 1 | Mon - Fri | 29 Aug – 02 Sep 2016 | 1 — 5 | 23.8 | 27 | |
| Sat | 03 Sep 2016 | 6 | 18.1 | -- | |||
| Sun | 04 Sep 2016 | 7 | 20.3 | -- | |||
| 2 | Mon - Fri | 05–09 Sep 2016 | 8 — 12 | 22.2 | |||
| 3 | Mon - Fri | 12–16 Sep 2016 | 13 — 17 | 22 | 24 | ||
| Sat | 17 Sep 2016 | 18 | |||||
| Sun | 18 Sep 2016 | 19-20 | 22 | ||||
| Total average | 22 | 27 | |||||
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | StarHub TVB Awards[9] | My Favourite TVB Actress | Priscilla Wong | |
| My Favourite TVB Actor | Kenneth Ma | |||
| My Favourite TVB Theme Song | "Enticing" (誘心人) by Jinny Ng | |||
| TVB Star Awards Malaysia | My Favourite TVB Actor in a Leading Role | Kenneth Ma | ||
| My Favourite TVB On Screen Couple | Kenneth Ma & Eliza Sam | |||
| My Favourite TVB Theme Song | "Enticing" (誘心人) by Jinny Ng | |||
| TVB Anniversary Awards | Best Actor | Kenneth Ma | ||
| Most Popular TV Female Character | Jacqueline Wong | |||
| Most Popular Series Partnership | Kenneth Ma & Eliza Sam | |||
| My Favourite TVB Theme Song | "Enticing" (誘心人) by Jinny Ng | |||
| "I Can't Remember" (我記不起) by Linda Chung |