Cupid's Kitchen (2022)

Flavor With a Twist

I wasn’t expecting this story to evolve as it did. And I really didn’t expect the age difference between the ML and FL to be very believable. Both were outstanding in the way that they developed their character growth and easy to follow and accept how their relationship began to advance. So, as the story progressed, it drew me in. And the cold, staunch ML began to thaw and tear down the wall he built around himself while the young, temperamental FL matured with time. They became very suited for one another and believable as they began to complement each other’s personalities. True love accepts the good and the bad, the better and the worse, in each other and works through the difficulties. This was evident in the main storyline. Speaking of which, there were a lot of side stories, and couples, that didn’t make or break the drama; there could have been less complications, less conflicts, and less time developing so many different couple scenarios throughout. Now, as to the “culinary” side of the story, for me it was a nice twist from the normal rom/dram; it was fascinating, entertaining, and somewhat educational. All in all, this story could have been a few episodes shorter and would have achieved the same outcome. I also feel the last episode was a bit rushed and jam-packed, as usual. I wish the powers behind the scenes would not rush the last episode but spread the ending storylines throughout the last few instead. Not everyone has to live happily ever after, or come to their end in the last episode. That being said, I did enjoy the way this ended, not a perfect world, but one that was acceptable and believable. I would actually consider watching part, if not all, of this drama again.

Leggi di Più

Understated , underestimated storyline

I have no idea why this story has such poor reviews. I mean i get that it's not a typical lovey dovey story with mush scenes. But that's what makes this story realistic and far above ordinary.
Acting is impeccable, top notch. Infact, I love the cute , naive , lively FL character played by Song Zuer. She delivers her performance flawlessly to the point it's impossible to believe she's acting her part. Just before I watched dramas where zhao lusi perform similar roles . Even though she's among the top tier actresses her role of naive FL lacks sincerity and genuinity and is pretty monotonous. I just hope this FL gets to shine in more such roles.
Only her character can break the ice face jerk ML 's demeanor.
The story has a lot of cooking scenes and dialogues which are task based , also its an extremely slow burn romance . Probably a reason for slightly low ratings. But definitely worth watching once!!

Leggi di Più

What was that?

I think it might be time to take a break from the chinese dramas. I am such a fan of Ethan Ruan and for the life of me cannot figure out why he would sign on for such a hot mess as this show. I gave it 4 stars, 2 for the food aspect which was relatively well done and two for Ethan. Nothing else in this show was memorable or worth my time. I got to episode 20 and dropped it. The female lead in this show is awful. She looks and acts like a spoiled 15 year old with her whining, temper tantrums and just all around ridiculous behavior. There is no way that a highly succesful, intelligent , older male would give her a second look. It was way to Svengalish for my taste and while older man/younger woman is as old as time these two did not fit. Not in any way, shape or form. I also had a problem with the lessons we are supposed to take away from this show. What were they? Lie, lie some more, physically harm someone, lie again and then never face consequences of your actions? The whole thing was just gross and ridiculous. This was labled a romance and where was the romance? I would recommend not wasting your time on this hot mess!

Leggi di Più

?

This shows cupid kitchen is absolute shit. Not a single character in this show is worth sitting through 40 episodes of the show. First, in the storyline with Elise Quentin, she poisons the male lead so that he would lose his taste because she was so in love with him. And then there was the guy who helped her hide the fact that she was poisoning the male lead and he did this because he was in love with her. Even though Elise told him that she was in love with the male lead. Second, the main lead was both so annoying. The male lead was annoying because he was always bashing the female lead. I get it I love to see a grumpy male lead in dramas more than anyone, but this man would just do this constantly degrade, and just say rudest things to the female lead. And the worst part is that he would act nice one day and then the next day he would go batshit crazy and go off on the female lead. And don't get me started on the female lead after all this would happen after he made her cry again for the millionth time she would end up forgiving him after he said a few nice was if any. This show has no reason to be 40 episodes of just pure garbage. I wanted to like this show it had to do with cooking and I love cooking but this show is just a disgrace. No amount of my favorite actors could fix this show it was just a bad show. The person who created this show needs to seek because this show was shit. I don't even remember what episode I left off on but the fact I started this and wasted minutes out of my day to watch this is sad

Leggi di Più

Annoying side casts yet again ;(

I read somewhere that this drama was underrated, and that it was really good. So starting it off, it had promise.

But as most Cdramas of late, it just went sour. I started skipping and FF a lot...
1) Annoying side casts - Elise, Victor, Boris, Xianyu.. childish, overly dramatic and their characters were just poorly written.
2) Plot- I understand that the ML was betrayed and was slowly being poisoned. If he was smart, he would have quickly changed doctor and gotten a 2nd opinion. His mistake was putting too much trust in his ex-gf / also business partner. I read many reviews that the ending was just terrible.
3) Makes no sense- any person found cheating in a competition would be reported & disqualified immediately. Any crime committed also would be punished, but apparently not in this drama. How does the writer expect the audience to watch this??!!
4) Romance- too slow burn for me. I didn’t mind the age gap at all, and the chemistry between both leads was quite convincing. It just took too long for them to kiss (let’s be honest here ;) ) I dropped this at episode 21, but I JUST HAD TO SEE some spark between them. So I skipped to Epi 35&36 where there was a somewhat confession and kisses. Haha
5) Too many episodes - yep. 40... could have just done with 24.

Ethan Juan was a real eye candy though ;) Hope he chooses better scripts in future.

Leggi di Più

Don't Get Me Wrong, I loved It! But...

Don't get me wrong, I loved it! But... what the hell was that? The secret to enjoying this is to fast forward. Fast forward like you have never fast forward-ed before. There was a lot that was unnecessary to the heart of the story (so much so that I feel as if the drama would have been told far better in 20 episodes). And by skipping those scenes that try to humanize vain and useless characters, the story is tighter and far more enjoyable (hint: you'll know when to skip when you see them).
Without those scenes, there is much to enjoy; especially with the male and female main leads, and even with Chu Ting and Yi Ran.

My main problem with this: VERY SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD

My main problem with this isn't even the useless scenes that I had to skip (in order to protect my waning sanity). My problem is with the kumbaya-ness of the entire thing. The villains aren't punished. Like not even in the slightest. The petty ones are rationalized and then they get redemption arcs which probably would have been fine if the redemptions weren't being handed out left, right and centre. And then the actual criminals (the miraculous duo) are given slaps on the wrists and their premeditated crimes are pardoned, while the poor guy who was roped into the entire thing because he needed money (who's only actual crime was breaking and entering to get the poison out of ML's house) is never addressed. He was on the run for a crime he didn't commit and then arrested for the crime he didn't commit. Where is Li Yan's redemption and happy ending??

And let's not even go into how ridiculous the characters' motives are, or just how extreme they (looking at the male lead here) behave in so many circumstances. But once again, if we pretend the scenes we've skipped and the ridiculous motivations don't exist, there is so much fluff to enjoy. (We are also going to pretend that the last few minutes of the final episode does not exist. If you ask me, the drama ended at everyone walking into his comeback banquet with a voice over of ML and FL saying their I love yous.)

In the end, I'm satisfied (in fluffy chemistry we trust!) yet angry because I feel like I've been led by the nose to a beautiful mirage in the desert and now all I have to show for it is a mouth full of sand.

Leggi di Più

I'm not for cooking dramas. I decided to watch this because of Ethan Juan, I love his abilities as an actor. I love him in historical dramas so I can view all of his acting, martial arts, etc. I tried to bravely by staying focused on the storyline, which wasn't too bad. I threw my slipper at the TV, and the character who was messing up just ugh. The main lead actress, I just wanted to bump that head. She was extremely annoying like her part wanted her to be, so I give her kudos. She calmed down later. I have to admit that some of that food made me hungry. I loved the end!

Leggi di Più

Recommended Culinary Drama ❤️❤️❤️??

The Mixed Character of Jian ChianFang and Lin Kesong Are Perfect. The Mature, Cold Mentor, perfectionist Executive Chef who is definitely has a fragile heart meets his young cute, lovely, loyal, sweet, funny student Lin Kesong. I love them❤️❤️.

ALL Food Scenery are PERFECT. How interesting.

The antagonist role are perfect too : Boris, Elise, and Xiaoyu 😁❤️.Thats Drama. There are protagonist and antagonist. No antagonist will be Bored isnt it?

And the dance scenerey, i think related to happy moments, right ?? Yuxuan Restaurant is finally meets Sugar 👍👍❤️❤️❤️.sugar food will bring happiness.

Well done

Leggi di Più

Eye Candy, Good Casting and Learning to Live with Frustration

Warning: If you get emotionally invested in your Asian dramas - install a acrylic panel in front of your TV or, computer screen before you start watching this. The way the writers handled this story and its characters - you may find yourself throwing things at the screen when the bad people keep getting away with everything they do. Or, keep trying to manipulate your favorite characters.

Better than most Chinese dramas. I thought they spent some major bucks on this one until I started seeing them use the same stock shots/scenes over and over. Basically, time filler while they make you listen to the soundtrack. Gotta stretch 16 episodes of story into 30! I guess if you think of this as more soap opera and less drama - you will be more patient.

While some dramas have made the food another character, this one keeps food as a backdrop. It is discussed as if it is important to everyone but, while we do learn some things as the too many episodes plod along - we just watch people cut, prep, cook and eat while they go through the motions. There are some amazing moments between the main characters when he is teaching her. He is such a good actor and so into the part, you can see how she falls for him through these cooking lessons. I still wish the food was more than something to be judged and consumed. Compare to Bite Me where food scenes were sensual, gorgeous and presented to be as important as the characters themselves.

I agree with some of the other reviews that this story has too many bad people getting away with what they've done. I figured out the main evil person (who cares why she is doing it) so early that I've grown frustrated with the revelations and hoping/waiting for her to get hit by a bus. At least in The K-2 we see the villain have to take responsibility for all the evil he has done - by his own hand - and, accepts it.

After 25 episodes, I have finally stopped yelling at the TV "Stab her in the heart." every time Elise has screen time. Why does this pyscho not get anything coming to her. The Chinese society is very well known for corruption and letting money talk but, you don't see any of that here. In fact, evil is glorified unless you are a small business. Use food additives to your fish? You are going to jail. Poison, embezzle, steal, lie, cover up, coerce - you're fine. In fact - we'll reward you!!!

Love the main characters and a couple of the side stories. This was clearly made to be a travelogue type story for the upcoming Olympics. Get people interested in visiting the area and trying all the different kinds of food. It takes time to get used to Song Zu Er - she can be quite annoying and immature - her growth takes much longer than traditional Asian dramas - she seems to backslide into the childish realm a bit too often - petty. Ethan Juan is at his best at both when he is in control and when he is most vulnerable. The in-between stuff gets a bit messy. Loved the main characters interactions when they were just normal and their guards were down.

I'll stick with it through all the episodes but, I am starting to fast forward through the time filler stuff so, I can focus on the main stories. I don't care if a character has to look at outfits and pick out products for 20 minutes. I get that you want us to believe they have an important job. You can do it in five minutes. LOL Love the side story of the immature heir coming to grips with having to mature. Love seeing his growth and struggle and his fiancé is a perfect casting choice - in today's Chinese society - should she have to put up with him?

Just finished episode 25. Still love the main characters and after reading reviews - I have an idea of what to expect. So, I don't think I will be throwing anything at the TV anytime soon.

Leggi di Più

Did not live up to the preview and potential

Amazing preview and potential, but once you start watching it, the potential unravels and cringey angst on what these characters do starts

Life is too short for stressful drama. Why spend all that time watching and be stressed? Don’t our lives already provide enough of that?

Summary of the series:
- an attempt to somewhat Light hearted rom/com; series’ flow was slow
- a bit of stress watching it, had to fast forward some due to the many mis-opportunities, cringey things that these characters go through and no guts from spitting out your feelings
- FL and ML was annoying at times; so many times they are close to coaxing the other but decided to do something to tick them off
- beautiful filming of the culinary parts
- some struggles, add bad guys, calamity or miscommunications to cause more drama, stress to extend the series
- cant finish and had to drop it; its not the non-stressful rom/com I was hoping for and its very awkward and slow

If you are looking for slow pace story about culinary, good visuals with gratuitous stress/drama, frequent cringey out of no where throw-in jabs, insipid side stories, then this is for you.

Leggi di Più