Wok of Love (2018)

Messy like Jajangmyeon, just not as tasty

To sum it up - because it's so busy all over the place, no actual point gets made and it ends up feeling like a waste of time. Some scenes go on and on unnecessarily and feels rather random. As a viewer, you find yourself bounced from one story line to another but nothing actually gets told in a way that would make a proper impact.
I'm not sure if it's because of the poor directing or story, but the lead, Lee Jun Ho doesn't make an impression on me. Whereas Jang Hyuk is awesome but I feel like his character could have been used more effectively to make the story more compelling. Jung Ryeo Won is lovely but I'm not really feeling her character either despite knowing she's meant to be the heart of the story.
I'm not one to drop a drama no matter how bad it is, but this bad story telling is making me want to drop it (after all, it's 38 episodes!) - nonetheless, it does get better in the latter half (around e25 onwards), but it really took a long time to get there.

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This drama should have been entitled, “Jjajangmyeon”, it’s the only thing that is consistent, everything else was inconsistent. From start to finish, it was just Jjajangmyeon”. Characters came and gone, but not the Jjajangmyeon. Na-ah. I can’t repeat Jjajangmyeon often enough, because Jjajangmyeon is what this drama is just all about. The drama started out promising, like, it had all the ingredients for a good drama, but sadly, the writers failed to make an outstanding dish out of it. As I mentioned, the Jjajangmyeon was all that was consistent in the story, everything else was all over the place. I tried so hard to finish it, but I just couldn’t. I tried so hard to like it, the premise was good, it had my number one requirement for a watchable drama, too, that is, no overly annoying antagonists (though Sae Woo’s mother was pretty annoying, the character itself is annoying, it’s not even unrelated to the main leads). The main leads were cute, too. Most would say, they did not have chemistry, but I'd say, the story just did not allow their romance to develop enough to see it. Needless to say, I dropped this drama. It’s my first time saying this for any drama: I wasted my time on this.

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I love the storyline. I am also in love with the main couple. From what I've read, many viewers like the 2nd male lead more. But for me, I like the main couple as it is. I like the 2nd ML but only for his character and not paired with the FL. Unlike the others, I don't see any chemistry. I don't care if the 2nd ML is more popular. It doesn't matter in the story. I really think the main couple is lovable as it is.

What I don't like...

Sae woo's mother. She's annoying from beginning to end. She didn't have even a bit of lesson learned by the end of the story. Such a big spoiled brat. And it's annoying how everyone is just pampering her and walking on eggshells around her like she's some special being.

Plotholes. I also don't like it if they drag the ex plot so much but completely dropping them is so unsatisfying. At least tie the lose ends. I didn't even know what happened to Poong's ex. Is she miserable after her lover got bankrupt? I'd like to know. But she just...disappeared.

Still love the show overall that I can forgive the annoying bits but I did hope it was made a bit better.

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I love food, so this was a wonderful watch! Very heartwarming and endearing drama, with comradeship and family and even a talking horse! I enjoyed the characters here, and great choice of casting for the main leads! Character development is also great! But, too much romance for me. Not a fan of the romance here between the two main leads at all though, felt that it took too much from the drama, and gave the urge to fast forward the romance scenes multiple times. Tone down the main leads romance more than a few notches, and this drama is sincerely a 10/10 for me. It also made me want to eat the foods on screen a lot. Enjoyed it greatly.

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One of the best show with Romance in a Restaurant

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean drama series with 38, 35 minute, episodes.

Seo Poong (Lee Jun-Ho) worked hard to become a star chef and the hotel restaurant has raised the status of the entire hotel. He is on the verge of marrying the daughter of his deceased mentor not only because he loves her but to fulfill a promise to take care of her. He is also receiving recognition for his skill and anticioates a promotion. Little does he know that jealousy and greed have caused a turn of events where he loses all he holds dear. Seo-Poong swallows his pride and strikes up a deal with the former gangster loan shark who bought a restaurant to provide honest work for his friends who are also former gangsters. The restaurant owned by the former gang members failed in the shadow of the prestigious hotel restaurant. Now it looks like the star chef has vowed to turn the failed restaurant into a winning competitor to draw business and get his revenge on the hotel executives who back stabbed him. Doo Chi-Sung (Jang Hyuk) was a tough gangster but hides a kind and soft side along with a deep loyalty for those he considers friends. He agrees to help Seo Pong if he will turn the former gangsters into successful cooks. Training former gangsters with no respect for authority is a challenge Seo Poong may not be up to. Both men had chance encounters with Dan Sae-woo (Jung Ryeo-won) whose husband left her after her father suffered financial scandal and rJin. This down on her luck heiress keeps bumping into the men and tugging their heartstrings. Can this unlikely group make a successful go at the restaurant and will Seo Poong get his revenge? Which of the men will the damsel in distress choose?

Spoiler 🚨 I really liked this and am surprised this is not more prominent in searches of good Asian romantic comedies. I loved so many of the characters in this. The "thugs", in particular boss thug, Chi-sung, had great character depth. He was someone who became who he was in order to survive being orphaned at a young age. He seemed tough on the surface but, in reality, he had a warm heart and giving nature to all of those in his inner circle. Poong approached him early on to strike a deal to be able to get revenge on those that had stabbed him in the back. The love/hate relationship between Poong and Chi-sung was destined to be a great bromance. I really was not sure, until toward the end, who the lead lady would choose. Both seemed like they were great for her in their way. The story was interesting and compelling, it was well acted, the plot moved along at an appropriate pace, and it ended well. The only thing I did not like was there was some loose ends. There was an almost romance between Chi-sung and a woman he kept encountering that you never know what happens to. Chi-sung's mother - you do not know the outcome with her. You suspect that the two that end up together get married but do not know for sure. Still, it was not enough to totally detract from how good this story was. I was interested from beginning to end and was sad to have it end. I know when I get drama withdrawal that I really liked the series. And I felt that way with this one.

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Going into this one I really didn't have any expectations. I assumed I would enjoy it since I'm mostly easy to please when it comes to entertainment, but I never expected it to be this good.

Everything about this from the characters to story is amazing.

The character Doo Chil Seong is probably one of me favorite characters in entertainment. Everything about him was awesome. From the way he fights, to the way he conducts himself in high pressure situations. That's not to say the other characters weren't great either. The main romance was phenomenal, and I really felt like they loved each other towards the end.

Lets not forget about the other romance here though, the amazing Bromance. The friendship that gets established by the male leads is seriously heartwarming, and honestly made me envious.

The only downside is that the beginning is very very slow. I really havent ever felt bored watching a drama before, but the beginning of this one really made me consider dropping a drama for the first time. After the slow build the middle and end is so great, it more than makes up for it.

Also there are so many characters in this that the beginning felt very confusing for me, trying to learn who everyone was. There were times when the scene was focusing on someone, and I had no idea who they were, but had apparently been shown them before.

If you love heartwarming Romance and a strong Bromance with some cool fight scenes, and awesome food, then this drama is for you.

I highly recommend this drama

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Soggy jjajangmyeon and stale tangsuyuk

I had great expectations for this drama. However, I was disappointed. Being a good related show, I e would expect to see amazing dishes. Sadly, the show revolved around just 2 - jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk. That's fine, but even the supposed metaphors they were was flavourless and lost.
The characters themselves are very annoying. Sure, the leads had good chemistry. But what's up with their personality? My god, how can one be as shameless, as insecure and as altruistic as the FL, ML and gangster bro respectively?
The FL's mother is the most useless human being I've ever seen. She's not worth the words. Some characters just vanished into thin air. Plot lines dropped out, villains dropped out. Overall, 19 episodes seem too much for this story. I was rarely moved by the supposedly emotional storylines and scenes. Why was the FL so worried about her horse never to visit him again till the last episode?!
The actors have done a great job. Although, some of them were seriously underused. I believe that some of the gangsters deserved more screentime.

Overall, I'm quite frustrated with this drama. It could have been so much more.

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Chef's love story
Story about three people .From starting they are stranger to each other but one tragedy of their life bring them together at one place that is hungry wok .From there the story start of chef ,his love and fellow man .
A small love triangle but it is take in a way that it will not feel bad for the one who not get love because writer make entery of new character for him but their story not even start and writer leave it or stop it in the middle of the drama ,there is no story of them further.
Writer bring the concept of talkative horse which was good but they didn't use this concept much and leve that concept in the few starting episodes of the drama .
I thought chef and his love's ex spouse wouldbe sad to see them living happily
And regret to live them because they life was imbalance after living them but nothing happened like that .
As a story start with their unsuccessful marriage life so I hope that story wold get over with their wedding but nothing happen like that. But I like the ending concept of fortune cooking ,still after watch ending episose I didn't realised that drama get over,it seems to be incomplete drama ..Something is missing.
Some part of the drama I like that talkative horse concept ,then mr chef pure love story ..They look cute together. Their chemistry amazing .Her dialogue delivery make her so cute.Feeling song is good .
But still it seems to be incomplete story

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Worst drama I’ve watched to date. Should have been called Wok of Jajangmyeon

I could tell this drama was going to be trash in episode 2. At the start of this review, I’m 12 episodes deep and nothing has changed. The story is all over the place and much of it doesn’t make sense. It seems like the writers tried way too hard to make some scenes comical that they ended up just plain corny. So far, the love story is wack and judging from the reviews, I don’t foresee it getting any better. The leads are being forced together but they have zero chemistry. Poong is an asshole and he needs some emotional healing before even considering another relationship. In the beginning, it seemed the writers favored Chil Sung but decided to suddenly switch gears to favor Poong. Chil Sung and Sae Woo have much better chemistry than her and Poong. The drama is trash and it’s going to be quite a struggle to make it though. It would be much better without the romance aspect.

Soooo, I FINALLY made it through to the end and thank goodness it’s over! The storyline did get a little more interesting, so I increased my rating from 2.5 to 3.5. I’m still sticking to my opinion that it would have been way better w/o the main leads’ romance. The side characters are so strong that the leads aren’t even necessary. If this drama were about Chil Sung and all of the supporting characters, I’d give this drama a solid 7 or 8. Anyway, still the least satisfying drama I’ve ever watched and Love Alarm 2 was pretty terrible, for comparison. Just glad it’s over and now I can move on.

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UM DRAMA MAIS OU MENOS

é muita coisa pra falar, mas vamos lá.
o dorama fala sobre *vingança* não é? como esse é um dos maiores plot dentro do dorama, eu acho que foi oq mais deixou a desejar, é um dorama bom, mas deixou a desejar muito na vingança, o final do dorama foi bem paia, não foi um final ruim, mas eu senti como se fosse só mais um episódio normal, não gostei do final, deixou muitos pontos soltos, também não gostei do final do gangster (líder do bando) que era o meu personagem favorito, eles deixaram um final bem aberto entre um possível romance dele e da médica veterinária, e não era pra ser, pq um dorama grande desses com um personagem importante deram um final paia, odiei que o protagonista esqueceu daquela namorada nojenta dele e ela nem viu as coisas que ele "conquistou" no final, foi um péssimo final, e também tem uma coisa, a sinopse da Netflix é bem mentirosa, pq fala que são gângsters administrando um restaurante com um chef de comida chinesa, sendo que os gângsters poucas vezes fazem alguma coisa no restaurante, eu acho que só aconteceu uma vez no final do dorama em que todos eles cozinharam juntos, é um dorama bem estressante, a mãe da prota é uma chata, mimada, fica falando que ela não podia se relacionar com o protagonista pq ele era um pobre e divorciado sendo wue no momento elas estavam em uma situação muito pior que ele, chata pra cacete, e continuou sendo chata até o final, não suporto essa personagem. O final do dorama deixou tanro a desejar como eu já falei yma vez, eles não aprofundaram o relacionamento dela com o cavalo, sendo que quem vê no comecinho pensa que ela tem uma super ligação com ele, sendo que ele aparce muitas poucas vezes no dorama. E é isso, é um dorama mais ou menos, muito puxado por menos, não tenho certeza se é uma perda de tempo, então se vcs não tiverem nada pra fazer e muito tempo de sobra, assistam.

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Insane chemistry of the Couple and Bromance is fun and heartwarming

Actors:
This is my first drama starring Jung Ryeo Won - and her adorable interpretation of Sae-U and her chemistry with Junho was so much fun to watch. They brought us along their journey of growth, love and support of each other. Her character was written to be admired - a lady who has a mind of her own yet still retain her cheerfulness. Loyal and independent. And she’s beautiful!

Junho has serious acting chops. I always enjoy watching his acting. Not sure why he doesn’t get bigger roles since his range is so broad. He does underdog roles and romance well - something in his eyes and expression that’s so subtle and sincere.

The chemistry of the couple is so insane! They managed to portray such a believable process of finding love after failed marriages - and all predicated on building a friendship first. Their couple conversations were so honest and raw, the script played a big role in this.

You’d almost think they really cared for each other!

Characters and story:
I loved how they weaved the 3 main characters together, and in the process, addressed issues of social background, finding love beyond divorce and loyalty between friends. Overall very heartwarming.

It’s shortcoming is mainly the pace which got really slow and repetitive in the middle. Some scenes were too long too. I think it would have been great as a 12-16 episode series.

Fun factor:
I thought the series would be cheesy and passé from the title alone but, so glad I gave it a chance. Learnt a little about Chinese food preparation, tried to guess if they were using body doubles for the wok scenes or they were performed by the actors’ themselves (my guess - it’s the latter) and entertained by the romance, the family and the gangsters’ side stories.

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