Dating in the Kitchen (2020)

Divided Halves

This is my first review. ...

**I did not complete this drama. I dropped it at Episode 20 and there is a very slim chance i will actually finish it**

First Half (Episodes 1 - 12):
In the first half of the drama, I quite enjoyed it. I thought it was hilarious and entertaining. The leads acting was very fluid and even though at times it was over the top it kept me engaged. I liked all the characters present. The main reason why I chose to watch this was because of the title, "Dating in the Kitchen." I love a great cooking drama, and this sure started as one. The Female lead, Sheng Nan being the chef and paving her way through a typically male dominated career was nice... even though it was from the help of a rich CEO, but it still was nice to see some female power in a Chinese drama. Her best friend, Zhao di, however, did not shine. I found her character to be quite unlikeable and not much of a friend. During this half, I really felt the chemistry between the leads, the age gap didn't feel so present and watching their romance bloom was fun and exciting.

Second Half (12- 24):
Even though I couldn't finish the last four episodes I think I have a pretty good idea of how they would've went. Boring, irrelevant, business chaos. I truly love business dramas and I don't mind issues sprouting up in one that is primarily set in a desk job office setting. However, the viewer is following Sheng Nan, she's the main main character, we are with her the most, we know all her friends and background from the beginning. This begs the question: why are we now following Lu Jin and his CEO antics? It's called "Dating in the Kitchen", but at a certain point cooking scenes stop, the kitchen is barely showed, why is Sheng Nan now following Lu Jin around all the time when I thought she would be busy in her field. It was incredibly disappointing to see the once-strong Sheng Nan turn into a puppy following its owner aimlessly. The business drama was boring and uninteresting, the cliche in-law hating felt drawn out and redundant. I honestly wished this drama ended early instead of dragging in and stuffing this show with filler. This half of the drama made the actors once bubbly chemistry vanish. It instead started to feel like more of a questionable Father-Daughter relationship. What I mean by this is that you could really feel the gap between these characters at two different stages in life. One freshly starting her youth and career and the other drained by his career. In the business drama you feel more of his age, and his once youthful glow and innocent in the first half has vanished.

Should You Watch This?
Well maybe. I really loved the first half. However, I would recommend you watch the movie "This is Not What I Expected" instead. I feel as if they acting was better, I felt the age gap didn't feel so large due to their appearances, and the premise is exactly the same just concise and not packed with useless filler that was only added to get to the 24 episode mark. They tried making this a good drama, but like most Chinese dramas, they all fizzle out with a lackluster ending and you are left feeling disappointed that they tarnished a good start.

Thank You.

Leggi di Più

une romance sympathique

Le drama commence avec beaucoup d'humour. C'est un plaisir de voir nos deux tourtereaux se chercher. Ils sont drôles et bien assortis. La différence d'âge ne dérange pas (du moins en ce qui me concerne), bien au contraire. Dans la réalité, il arrive souvent que l'homme puisse avoir 10 ou 15 ans, voire plus, que la femme. Ou vice versa.

Le lead Féminin est enjouée et apporte cette extravagance et cette joie de vivre qui manque au lead masculin. Ils se complètent plutôt bien. Leur romance est mignonne, cependant je reprocherai (durant la seconde partie), des longueurs dans leur relation, devenant plus sérieux, et moins agréable à suivre. Les personnages secondaires ne sont pas les plus ennuyants que j'ai pu voir ( je n'aime pas en général les histoires secondaires souvent superflues pour moi) mais ils ne sont pas des plus attrayants non plus. Les histoires, ceux avec le petit frère et la mère, ne m'ont pas paru des plus intéressants mais se laissent suivre sans avoir besoin de délaisser le drama.
La relation amoureuse des leads était sympathique et évolue rapidement, peut-être un peu trop rapidement. Ce qui finit par enlever le piquant de leur chamaillerie selon moi.

Ce qui est par contre "stunning", sont les scènes de cuisine. La mise en scène, la photographie de la préparation des repas est vraiment superbe. Les aliments devenaient acteurs et vivants, nous entendions le bruit de la friture, de l'eau qui bout et la seule chose qui me venait à l'esprit était "comment peut-on sublimer autant la nourriture?".

C'est un drama agréable à regarder, qui fait passer le temps.

Leggi di Più

Romantic, comedy ,, Dating in the kitchen"

By the way I’m not a fan of Chinese series but this series thrilled me and won me over at first. Great selection of lead actors, their chemistry is the best I’ve ever seen
This series provides a feeling of warmth and hunger but also love
The story is perfect, every compliment and on choosing music that I especially like.
In my opinion, this is the highest quality Chinese drama ever made
I will watch this drama many more times in the future and it will stay in my heart forever.
Zhao Lu si and Lin Yushen are a beautiful couple I hope this drama wins a lot of awards because it really deserves it.
In the end I have to say I fell in love.
I invite everyone to give it a chance and join this series which is wonderful
You will laugh, at some point you will be sad and be in love
Gu Shennan and Lu Jin forever ... This is where their story begins ...

Leggi di Più

Playful and fluffy start, but beware second half and tonal shift in drama

A love story that starts out fluffy and full of chemistry and ends in an underwhelming hurrah with a completely irrelevant tangent that ruins the characterisation of the leads. To sum up, I’m felt so underwhelmed coming out of this drama, because I came in expecting something great but was severely disappointed, to the point where I wanted to drop the drama going into episode 20ish. I applaud the acting and two lead’s chemistry despite the age gap, but the characterisation of them and tonal shift really let the whole story down.

STORY
The story started off well (really well) and then went downhill, fast. I enjoyed our two leads, Gu Sheng Nan and Lu Jin's meet cute moments, loved their banter and encounters and also the cooking aspect (which was why I picked up this show, love all things food). It felt very light hearted, humorous and playful the first 10 or so episodes and I liked seeing the two grow closer and feel something more for each other. I liked the main lead’s intense devotion, love and care for our female lead.
Then things I didn't like started to come one by one
I didn’t like how the love rivals popped in for a few episodes and then completely disappeared when they got rejected. Didn’t flow that nicely, and felt they were there for props rather than being smoothly integrated into the storyline.
I didn't like how whenever Gu Sheng Nan met trouble, Lu Jin would come to the rescue playing the white knight and flout money and power to resolve the problem. Rather than work through problems together, they both liked to do things solo and keep the other in the dark.
And then come episode 20 and onwards, the introduction of a whole new character (don't want to spoil who) was completely irrelevant and unexpected and to be honest, added no value and shifted the whole thing away from cooking, food and the kitchen. It turned into a business drama, super serious and with a revenge plot that felt so out of place. The tonal shift was too extreme, and by the time they tried to bring it to an end, I was so done with our two main leads. Lu Jin came off as possessive, completely at the mercy of Gu Sheng Nan, and literally felt he would jump off a cliff for her. And Gu Sheng Nan came off as super immature, naïve, annoying and completely oblivious to how her actions were hurting Lu Jin.

ACTING/CAST
Our two leads were great, good chemistry. Our male lead was a tad better at showing his care, concern and love in general and was good with verbally expressing his feelings.

The side couple was completely unnecessary, felt so cliché and typical. I was disinterested and skipped through their bits. Xu Zhao Di felt shallow and superficial as a character and I didn’t see her growth enough and couldn’t figure out why Meng Xin Jie liked her. Their relationship progressed so quickly I didn’t feel any romance at all, it felt really contrived.

MUSIC
Nothing all that special, the intro song is nice.

REWATCH VALUE
I’d rewatch the first few episodes of the cooking and seeing them get together, but then I'd have to drop the last half of the drama.

Overall, didn’t love this, which is a real shame because it started off really well. So if you want to give this a go, just beware the second half of the drama. Keen to hear your thoughts as always xx

Leggi di Più

Give it a chance to simmer.

Okay, so I’ve read the other reviews and the positive ones I agree with. They convey mostly how I felt about this series. It has its drama, comedy, sad moments, just fun stuff. This took me out of the historical romance redundancy. It was refreshing to see an older actor with a younger one. A dynamic you normally don’t see but it works here. Mature uptight CEO learns how to live from a younger live for the moment kinda girl.

What I LOVE:
I like the fact that their problems weren’t drawn out to 10-episodes before they figure the things out. He truly and madly fell in love with her quick! I mean that’s what love does. It hits you when you least expect it, straight in the heart and soul. ML-FL chemistry was on point. I mean ML is seasoned actor, and he’s great. I love when he looks uncomfortable. It cracks me up every time. As for the FL, well it’s Lusi, (I’m biased since she’s my fav actress) need I say more! The girl can convey every emotion from 0-60. She just that good. Her cooking is fabulous, the mishaps are fabulous, the politics in the kitchen was also pretty good.

What I DONT love
Now, I totally didnt catch on with the second leads. It wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t interesting enough for me to keep track. In fact, I fast forwarded most of it. All I know is someone was a gold digger, and the other was willing to give it to her with the help of his rich boss/friend. At least this is how I saw it in the end. I was just not interested. Also, I don’t like the part that in the end it wasn’t really about cooking anymore but business and the bratty brother there was just no development into that.

Other Characters
I love the uncle, he was funny, witty, and so lovingly protective of his Neice or cousin or cousins what ever she was to him. Protective but allowed her to grow on her own. I would love an uncle like him. I wasn’t loving the grand pop too much. I just couldn’t touch on the vibe between them. ML brother, he gave me psychopath vibes. Scary, screws loose somewhere. Like if I was the ML I would lock my doors when he was around. The mom was just an overbearing beast. I mean can you blame the husband for leaving her. The secretary turned deputy director unrequited love. Let’s just say, She couldn’t compare.

Overall this was a good watch. This has been my replay background show while I work for the past week. So safe to say I liked it and rewatched it.

Leggi di Più

Adorable gentle rom-com!

I loved this!! It was adorable. I mainly started watching this show because of Lusi Zhao. I loved all of her dramas and she did not disappoint in this one.
FL - Positive, go-getter, cheerful, full of joy! mature, amazing personality! and her chef skills are superb!!! The way Gu Sheng expresses herself in the food is feastful. I realised the age gap after starting the drama ... trust me it did not feel icky!!
And their chemistry was off the charts !! Surprisingly they both acted their age and their personalities worked together so well!! ML grew on me later on.

The dynamic between these two was soothing and special. The actors and director did an amazing job with story storytelling. but the script has so many loopholes and disconnects between scenes.

It is a romantic tale, with perfect chemistry, quick-witted one-liners and everyday life. There's no better way to spend a snowy day than watching this series.

P.S: it was truly snowing when I was watching this show..

Leggi di Più

The 'Dating in the kitchen' part was charming; the rest.. not so much.

The ML is a CEO in a strict, cold, business profession; he finds refreshment in the FL's artful cooking and cheerful/mischievous personality. The FL, while struggling to maintain financial security, finds security and support in the gentle-mannered ML. The leads were yin and yang, balancing one another well, savoring the genuine connection with one another, and certainly the best part of the show. The food/cooking was a welcome third wheel and added interest to the romance. Any viewers suddenly feel the urge to up their cooking game? I know I did. The 'age gap' didn't look or feel awkward as expected. Their differences in personality and social statuses were more prominent. A larger topic to consider was the intergenerational dynamics between elders in family/business and the impact they have over younger counterparts.

Unfortunately, it's downhill from there.

The story got off to a strong start; you could grasp the 'Dating in the kitchen' theme quite well; it had a nice charm. However, the story evolved into something else - a business/family/power struggle - and there were long stretches with no food or cooking. There were several times I wondered "Does the FL still have their cooking job or are they getting an allowance from the rich ML"? It is as if that part of the story was ignored and then brought back in an abrupt way at the very end. The romantic charm quickly wore off in the second half of the show.

The supporting characters and their storylines were unremarkable, and at times, simply irritating. Li Man was the strongest support and well-acted, but ultimately let down by the writing. The story would have been more complex and enjoyable if the kitchen and business side staff weren't so dull and untalented unlike the sparkling leads who never make mistakes.

The show attended to a few social themes, but often in an inconsistent or contrary manner. For example, they would criticize an implied sexist remark accompanied by the touching of someone's wrist, but then we see the ML pinning the FL down, grabbing her wrists aggressively, and even forcing the FL to give up their address and invite the ML for personally cooked meals as a debt; I guess it's okay since they're charming and bound to fall in love.

Don't think too logically while watching this show, otherwise you may get aggravated. Just know there's some delicious food being cooked here and there.

Leggi di Più

My Daily Dose of Comedic Relief — The Haggle Queen ♚

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" - This phrase fits this drama so well and is the total embodiment of the story.

First and Foremost, WOW! Never expected this drama to be this good. I've got prejudice over this one for a long long time since I hated age gap between men and women but damn!! this drama proved me wrong and made me so engrossed and love it even beyond my imagination.

I feel like the writer and director knew what would people's opinion be over this kind of drama that's why they decided to throw us such a stoic, smug yet wacky ML and tada! it worked like magic. I mean as a viewer who had a negative opinion towards the drama even before I started watching it; Their decision to make him that way is like the biggest slap I could ever get for pre-prejudging it even before watching a piece of it and I totally deserve it.

Another thing is my beef over FLs supposed Bestfriends. I mean, they both look quite manipulative and user friendly during their introduction yet they made them so reliable and dependable as the show progresses and that's another slap on me again. SO!! There I conclude that this drama was created to bitch slap me everytime they see fit. HAHAHA~!!

Also, one last thing is the never ending hate the FL received from the MLs Mother, her Co-Workers, the Female Antagonists and so on. They all falter against such talented woman and I love it but I hated how they all used underhanded tricks to attack and set her up. Those moments truly infuriates me.

Anyways, this drama is brilliant and I never felt satisfied over a contemporary drama for such a long time (Well I've been watching costume drama for more than a year now... so... Hahaha~!!)

Story - 10, No doubts! This drama slap me over and over again to prove me wrong and I never reflected so much over a drama for such a long time. This drama satisfies and even went beyond my prejudice and expectations. It may not be perfect but it managed to pull through its main and sub plots exceptionally well.

Acting/Cast - 10, Stellar acting execution from a set of great actors/actresses. Got no complaints at all and I gotta commend how good they're as a whole. 1 actor who stood out the best for me is Lu Zheng. Like, Hell~!! His acting is on a different caliber. Probably the best among the stars of this drama. Would love to see more of him with his other acting projects.

Music - 10, Enjoyable and Fun Music. They accompanied the drama the best! They made the scenes extra colorful and fun to watch. The musis used for this drama complemented the drama as a whole.

Rewatch Value - 10, It took me quite awhile to finish it due to personal endeavors but supposedly I was to finish it within 4 days even in the middle of my packed schedule. Sadly it overlapped with my little summer get away and that explained how it got dragged for so long. Nonetheless, this drama is simply good and people need to watch it. I'm forcing everybody to. Hahaha~

Overall - 10, Everything combined, this drama is probably my best watch (Modern dramas only) so far this 2022 and there might be great one's I have yet to discover but this production cemented its prints within me. Definitely a good, sweet and fun drama to watch. A story for all ages.

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

Leggi di Più

Awesome Drama

This drama has a special place in my heart, I was introduced to Zhao Lusi through The Long Ballad (and I loved her acting in that and I thought she was ridiculously pretty). So while that was airing I went to look at her previous dramas and this was the one that grabbed my attention first and its also the drama that made me fall in love with her.

I think the fact that acting in this drama is amazing both by Zhao Lusi and Lin Shen goes without saying, but it also has a nice romance drama plot without too many overbearing cliches. I love the focus on cooking and how they filmed her career/passion as a chef. I thought the two main leads had amazing chemistry and the actor being a bit older than her added to the gravitas he brought to his role as a heir to a business conglomerate (I've seen younger actors take on these types of roles and it comes across very unbelievable, over the top or child like). I also loved how he brought maturity to their relationship and Lusy of course bought the perfect amount of cheerfulness, positivity and comedy.

Leggi di Più

It lost momentum

This drama was really very promising at first, but lost its momentum halfway. I had such high expectations that I even enrolled for a VIP in my WEtv account just so I can watch advanced episodes. In my opinion, the writer must have jumbled his/her thoughts while writing. I mean I really didn't get what the writer want's to tell his/her viewers. It lost its core somewhere. The actors were great, hands down to them. They are my favorites. I was just disappointed because I expected too much. It is a happy ending, and I know I should be happy but I am not. It bored me halfway. I am so sorry, I just watched it till the very end because I was hoping the plot could get back on track but the further I got lost. I finish the dramas I watch because I want to be fair with my reviews.

Leggi di Più

I don't really know how I feel about this one

(SPOILER WARNING):
Okay so I loved it in the beginning and I thought their dynamic of her cooking for him and him only wanting to eat food made by her/nothing compares to her cooking was super cute but once they got together, it went soo downhill for me. Their relationship was so strange and toxic??? He started treating her like a child which was creepy and I feel like she lost her entire personality. I'm usually fine with age gaps in dramas but this one was just weird.

Also, the whole introducing her as his fiancée in front of dozens of people (without her consent) instead of actually asking her to marry him thing was actually insane. And she just went along with it and it wasn't addressed afterwards???? She didn't even act that surprised?

The plot with the brother was insane as well. He basically drugged her (w alcohol) and tried to seduce her/take advantage of her naiveite to retaliate against ML. Also, whyy did they make FL seem so stupid and naive all of a sudden? Like idk if I'm going overboard but it was borderline emotional cheating with all the lying and going behind ML's back. I get that they made it so she didn't know what his motives were and she was just trying to help fix their relationship but ML literally made it clear that he was uncomfortable with her talking to him and I also feel like it's just common sense and anyone could see the tension in their relationship. I don't understand why ml didn't just explain his relationship with his little brother to FL clearly. That literally would've solved so many issues. Also, the way ML just forgave the little brother in the end too as if he didn't take advantage/se.xually harass his gf as if she was an object?? and FL had nothing to say about it either? Bro...

Leggi di Più

If you are okay with 18 year age gap (IRL)

I love Zhao Lu Si and I'll watch anything she is in, I can't believe she is 23, she acts well beyond her years. I will have to admit, the 18 year age difference between the main leads was something I knew going into. I kind of wished they picked a smaller age gap, but that's part of the plot, so at least they wrote that in.

I liked the banter in the beginning of the drama. I loved watched the cooking scenes and I wished they had more of that towards the end. Towards the second half of the show, it's more about the relationship than the cooking.

So that is the reason I liked the first half more. I also felt like the female lead had more power in the first half. I wasn't too keen when she would give in to him, but that is me. I like it when the male lead chases after the FL. I would say there is equal chasing on both sides in this one.

I felt like the last few episodes had a bit of angst and there were many moments of "testing" the FL lead. I wasn't too keen on that either.

Overall, I love the FL and I Love the cooking aspects of it. I just need something less drama filled.

Leggi di Più