Cupid's Kitchen

Good drama, wrong pairing

I must say that the first C-drama I ever watched had me hooked on this genre, and it still holds a soft spot in my heart. However, on a recent rewatch, I couldn't help but notice the flaws that I was oblivious to earlier.

The actors did a great job portraying their characters, but I couldn't help but compare Song Er to Rosy Zhao, who is way above her league. Ethan was believable until the romance part, which lacked any romantic chemistry despite the age gap not being an issue. While they played the roles of mentor and disciple well, the romantic part was a total miss.

The plot was interesting, but it dragged on for too long. The doctor breaking all the ethics and getting rewarded with another offshore job wasn't credible. The ex who was jealous and wanted to destroy the protagonist made me annoyed.

The only credible pair was the spoiled kid and Song Er. The song was enjoyable, even though it was a thousand repeats of the same sentence. The close-up shots of food were excellent, even though I saw a man's hand instead of hers in one scene.

Overall, it's still a solid and enjoyable contemporary drama, but it's not without its flaws



I always make it a point to check the bio and sometimes the news out of curiosity. It's unfortunate that Song Er's wrongdoings have caused so much harm and even led to some dramas being canceled. This is truly unacceptable.

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This drama should be renamed and called the Villain's Kitchen!! I started counting the number of villains and after I hit the 5th or 6th one, I stopped and started FF through their parts. The best part of the drama for me besides the food was the main leads. I really loved their chemistry and didn't see the age gap between them. One look at the ML and I absolutely see why the FL would be attracted to him... he was handsome, temperamental, and moody, but she held her own and wasn't afraid of him. FL was his breath of fresh air and with her incredible taste buds and her stint as his 3 day foodie tour guide, drama made her more his equal because she was knowledgeable and he needed her (as opposed to a ML who is always saving the FL). I thought their scenes together were genuine and sincere and I loved their late night talks.

I usually don't mind if voices are dubbed but what they did to Elise was really bad. I would be pretty upset if I were the actress. Her role wasn't great to begin with but whatever effort she put in, pretty much went out the door because you only noticed how bad the dubbing made her look. I still can't figure out what language she was actually speaking.. .English or Mandarin or another dialect?

This is a good filler drama (with the help of the FF) for when the villains got to be too much. I definitely stayed for the leads and would have watched a few more episodes of just them! The "8" rating is pretty much for them!

The ending... Lol!! No need to say more...

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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!!

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a little too perfect

Another cooking show that can make our mouth drooling... Although cooking in this drama not as many as the other drama, but several food still make me drooling & want to try the food.

OK the good:
+ Finally a cold ML that doesn't really change until the end. Usually our cold ML changing into soft or clingy even to our FL. But here Jiang Qian Fan remain the same until the end. Yeah he's a little bit softer but the nature of his character remain the same.
+ No stupid crazy 'evil' love rival. Even though Elise at first quite crazy, but she still put some logic into her action & stop when she must stop.
+ Everyone changing into their better self.
+ No human really evil or good. They have both of the side & sometimes we can see both side fighting in human heart, like Alice and Lin Xiao Yu (XY) for example.
+ Environment really shape you. Like the influence boris has toward XY, when you just blow hate into someone heart they will grow hate. Thank God we still has Blue that sometimes can drag XY to the earth & relax a little.
+ Of all the character I really like Blue and his mentor, Huang Shi. They really one relax people....

The Bad:
- The ending a little too perfect. Yeah I know not every drama have to have blood fight toward the end. But I think they put a little too much of perfect happy ending. Like everything just fall into their space & realize their own mistake
- They try to reach every aspect of 'food'. Like the trauma K [Victor's girlfriend] has with the food & easy solution to resolve the problem. I don't think that supposed to be that easy.

Overall this a good drama to watch. Nothing too exaggerated about this drama just enjoy the ride...

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the cooking competition

i seldom watch Chinese /Taiwanese movie but what caught me is the plot on the cooking competition from main lead to supporting role. I am not a connoisseur of food what it made me recall the some dramas watched on fine dining , the professionalism in culinary kitchen.

What i admired here was the drama can sustain professionals English subtitle team, a consideration for us who appreciates your culture as well and can't understand the language. There are some Chinese/Taiwanese drama i watch I was disappointed for past 50 episode they can't sustain Eng sub update for remaining episodes.

In the hectic work of main lead here i can see he took medically check up had he got a second opinion at least . I was overwhelmed I happened to binge watch this drama for some reason prompted me to watch past projects of main lead.

To the support or the production staff you are awesome. I hope you continue to inspire and give future roles/project on main leads.

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Poor Story with Visually Pleasing Shoots and Couples

Story-wise, there are nothing new actually. The story is quiet cliche and some plot feels a little bit forced. I think they can make it only 20-30 episode, but they put too many filler scenes. The story in general is slow-paced and get boring at the end of the series. I don't really like the ML, and how he manage his problems, especially his anger issues. But, I appreciate how the writer let each character make mistakes and learn from it. I also love that despite the love affair between them, each one of them still communicate in a mature way. In other drama, usually they'll made character like Chu Ting being as annoying as possible, but I love how they make her into someone like that.

The main couple is so sweet. They seems to be comfortable around each other. At the beginning of the series it was more mentor-student-like relationship, but you'll see that the barrier start to fade away as the story goes. At some scenes I even forgot the age gap between them. If it's not for the interaction between the main leads, couples, and the food scenes, i think i'd drop it long time ago.

Acting-wise, I have no problems with the main leads, both of them doing a good job portraying the emotions. I notice that Ethan Ruan (The ML) looks and act much mature here than in Legend of Fuyao. For Song Zuer (the FL), this is my first time seeing her acting, but I think she's one of the shining stars in her generation. What caught me off is the actors who play Blue, Elise, and Victor, I think they still need improvement in so many parts. I also found it annoying that her part is too much dubbed.

Despite so many flaws on the story, generally the series is visually pleasing. The production team seems to put a lot of effort on the food and cooking scenes. The OST is simple yet fits really well. And the relationship between the main couple and other couples here is sooo sweet.

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is the vilain likable?

the drama is about redemption. it is really unusual as we have this habit of revengeful dramas. this one makes you consider all aspects of a situation without taking side. it is very unsettling at first, then it makes you rethink about the relationships and the consequences of the characters' actions.
one of them once says "people are not bad or good, they are just selfish". and I think this was the main line for the script.
I don't agree with that, but that was an interesting way to illustrate this opinion.
I loved the acting of the main leads, which is always a good thing. didn't like the music, and loved the story. in the end that was captivating and entertaining. I definitely recommend.

when to watch: it is easy and entertaining, anytime you want to release some stress.
audience: family friendly
have fun!

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I was 8.5 until I counted the times God was mentioned and how many villains got out scotch free

Things I adored

1 The uncle of the FL. Great actor and incredible character who stood up for his principles from start to finish. It's rare to see a father written this way but it was the right way and it was heartwarming to see they never ruined his character. My heart went to him many times during his feud with that stupid daughter he had.

Things I loved

1 That it has a cooking theme. I love the premise and this one didn't disappoint.

2 The FL. She became one of my favorite actresses after Legally Romance and she proved once more that she's a wonderful actress. That said, I can't put her on the adore list and I'm sad but her character wasn't really developed and sometimes she came out as too childish. Especially regarding the romance part. She called the ML Mr. Jiang even after confessing her love, she slept on the same room but had to specify in another bed. She never stood really up to the 2FL or the cousin or anyone who wronged her. Yes she was likable and lovable, no doubt about that, but she was nowhere near the fabulous character of Legally Romance. Not her fault of course, but I have to rate with what I have.
She had some great moments when she rebelled, when she smiled, when she cried and of course she made me feel what she felt. I also liked her inner monologues and her relationship with her best friend/crush as well as her relationship with Nina, her uncle, her parents. I still think she could be much better if she had a better character development ad acted more like a young woman in love rather than treat the romance as an afterthought.

3 The ML. he's a good actor, no doubt. this is the first drama I watch with him but there's a chance I'll look for other dramas he was in. Now there were too many things I disliked in his arc and especially the last episode. He forgave the stupid 2FL who nearly killed him and he never affronted her. Not his fault, the fault of the stupid writing, but I have to take thins into account. It was bad for his character. Same for his supposedly friend, the doctor. I also have many issues with the romance part. I know in real life they are years apart with the FL but I never felt like there was a big gap between them in the drama. Yet he never kissed properly the FL except for one kiss in the last episode.

Many things were lacking in the romance part and after noticing how many times God has been mentioned in this drama I guess this is the reason. it seems for some stupid writers being in love and show it is contrary to the God's will. Effing idiots they ruined the drama for me. Other than that I have several issues with some of his actions, like asking the 2FL to get back with him. What the heck was that? No explanation, no following up, then confessing to the FL like this had never happened, a messed up arc. He also never learnt about the contract, about Lin Yan, so many things that weren't satisfying. But the last episode ruined things the most.

4 The camaraderie in the uncle's restaurant. It was heartwarming and needed to lighten up all this negativity the drama brought. There were other characters like the president of the contest, or the chef in the ML's restaurant, or Blu's mentor that were decent and nice to watch.

5 Nina, the housekeeper. She wasn't in many episodes and I hated the way she was written off for most of the drama but I loved her character and he relationship with the FL. Even more than her relationship with the L. I was happy to see her back even if it was for a reason that broke my heart. Great actress and character.

6 The best friend of the FL. He was always good to her and supported her whenever she needed it. He had no idea about her feelings and he was confused about his but he had the best arc to be honest. He learned from his mistakes and grew as a person. He respected the FL and was her first fan. He made mistakes in his personal life but he tried to correct them and for that alone he is one of my favorite characters.

7 Chu Ting, the girlfriend of the best friend of the FL. The most normal person out there and I understand her reactions all along. I'm happy she found happiness with the best friend. I also have to add that the actress was very beautiful and had great outfits, which is nice to watch.

8 The FL's parents. Great parents, great characters. I loved seeing them as a couple, but also seeing the support of their daughter and they were the only ones that provided a bit of humor in this otherwise quite depressing sometimes drama.

Things I liked

1 Blu. I didn't care much about him but at east he was a decent character and that's a lot for this drama where decency doesn't come along often.

Things I disliked

1 The lack of real romance. I expected more since the chemistry between the leads was there but the story of the competition and the illness took so much space it left no space for real romantic moments and that bothered me a lot. One of the reasons the rating isn't better. There were some heart fluttering moments but they were rare and never enough.

Things I hated

1 I guess the low rating has to do with how many of the characters were despicable, but to me the fact that there were that many awful characters was one of the reasons I kept watching. I wanted them to pay for their actions. So let's start and let me tell you the list will be longue. First that atrocious caricature of a person with more eyeliner than Boy George and the talent of a high school student in their first school drama performance. That he had a love story on top of that was ludicrous and I skipped all the scenes after a while.
That he won also was frustrating to watch and that he put up a performance to congratulate the main couple contestants irritated me to no end. Why did the writer needed that? They should leave him be the miserable know it all unethical and arrogant son of a "beach" he was all over the drama. And the nail in the coffin, he became a helper at the uncle's restaurant. Spare me the violins. A character I hated from start to finish and I never want to see again that ugly, untalented actor. He had the nerve to say his sister is a good person when his love interest asks. What a distorted view of what is good and what is bad. Unbelievable.

2 The cousin. Yes they gave her a way to redeem herself but she stays on my hate list nonetheless. The things she did and how crazy she went for a competition losing her soul, if she ever had one, were beyond anything I can tolerate as a human being. The FL vexed me to no end when she didn't reciprocate ever. Why? I'm a pushover notoriously but even I would accept things to a certain point and would never forgive her. That said, I have to admit that due to her father and the parents of the FL I was happy to see that the family wouldn't be affected because of that stupid girl. She didn't deserve Blu either, but there you have it. Whoever wrote this wanted a world where there is no accountability and everyone can be happy even when they are despicable human beings.

3 Boris. Okay first of all ridiculous to choose someone called Boris to be a villain, but it is what it is. The thing is I hated him and wanted him to suffer, but he's also the only one I wasn't too mad he got off scotch free. I get where he came from although he has no excuse to behave like a lunatic when he was a grown up man. But I can understand that when we are hurt and we see things from a distorted angle we can become our worst enemy and go too far. So there's no doubt he remains in my hate list despite the redeeming but at least there was story there. The other villains had no story, they were just villains without reason.

4 The mother of the 2FL. I think I hated her the most of all. What an awful character without any redeeming qualities. Not only she was a dangerous mother to her children with her advice and her enabling but she never regretted any of her actions. A two faced beach who I wanted to suffer though hell. She knew what her daughter had done and instead of asking her to take responsibility she pushed her to harm even more the ML. Seriously I hated her every second she appeared. I wish she paid a hefty price for her maliciousness and never have anyone forgive her. Cruel and terrible person and instead of making her pay for her cruelness they gave her a love story. Are you effing kidding me?

5 Li Yan. Another stupid character you have to hate. Going along with the despicable 2FL was his downhill. Although I can't move him from the hate list, I get why he did what he did. Well, as much as you can understand a villain. He showed early on redeeming qualities and that's something in this ocean of bad characters.

6 The doctor, supposedly friend of the ML. He was one of the worst. How can a person who vowed to protect and cure people can go along with a near murderess and forget all his principles because he had feelings for her? No, here's no way this person should be redeemed. So as I write this review I come to understand because so many people gave a lower rating than me. Because of this kind of things, the unaccountability of the villains.

7 The last episode. What the heck was that? After all we went through we had a heavy episode and not even an interesting one. Eulogy? Are you effing kidding me again? He was a gift from heaven, Who in their right minds writes this? Yes until now I had the drama at 8.5 but I'll go lower it to 8. Enough is enough. The praying, I watch Cdramas to avoid that kind of western stupid thinking and now I have to see it in Cdramas as well? I think this is the drama that had more times mentioned God and that kind of things than any other. Thank God, God's gift, God heard my prayers, and every other sentence was about God. No doubt the stupid writer chose to redeem everyone. They probably think it's their mission.

Only I watch dramas to get entertained and one of the things I expect is to have realistic arcs for the characters. There's no effing way in hell anyone would forgive any of these awful people. He wrote a letter of forgiveness because there were no terrible consequences. That is the understatement of the century. Are you effing kidding me for the millionth time?
Then we also have the cherry on the top with the musical sequence and none of the actors had any natural gift for that. It could be great if they had spent more than 20 minutes to learn how to act and if the vibe of the last episode was lighthearted. But after an awful over the top dramatic episode you give me that? Yeah, hard pass. You are idiots. Instead of giving us a few moments with the leads and a kiss or two we have that nonsensical finale. Now that I think of it I'll lower it even more which pains me since I loved the main couple, but it is what it is.

8 The 2FL. A psychotic person with as many issues and the distance to the end of the Earth. We're supposed to understand why the idiot forgave her and it is because she showed remorse. So she almost killed him, she was the reason he lost his taste buds, his sight, she tricked him to take the restaurant away, but because she went to the police after he almost died, she had a redeeming arc. I will definitely avoid this writer because I'm so frustrated I could scream.

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I hate to like this drama

Really about a 8.7. But couldn't in good faith give it a 9. A drama full of food porn with a scant side of romance. But not truly dramatic romance- emotional slow burn enemies to friends to romance. The first 20 episodes flew by, really great development of all characters. You could see the arcs building then it bloomed into a 15 different direction mess. After that, my finger stayed on the fast forward button. And was saved in the end. Sorta. I loved our leads. Thank you for all our Ethan fan service. I cried over tanghulu and can never unsee Boris doing the can-can. I hate to like this drama, but I did.

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Worth a watch

So far really enjoying this show. The only thing that is really pissing me off is the Dr. ! He finds out who was poisoning the Chef but doesn’t say anything cause he’s got some wood for the culprit… at least that’s my take… and I know they have to have some equivalent of HIPPA over there… right??

Slight spoiler??!!
So i would have given this show full marks except for the ending... sigh i didnt like the ending especially the musical number with dancing... sort of pointless! I also dont like that there were no repercussions for the Dr. I mean he knew about the poisening and didnt report it and actually helped hide it... the endi g was a let down but other than that an enjoyable show. I liked the two leads shes a vuties and ge is HOOOTTTT

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love for the kitchen, not more!

Obviously this has spoilers!!! Ha ha ha

cupid kitchen, a drama too slow, has many minutes, seconds in the same scenes, slow motion every moment.
the ex of the protagonist, is ugly in every way, very resentful and pathetic. The cousin of the very envious protagonist. I spent it jumping
scenes many times in each chapter, not even letting me finish the episodes that I passed to the next.
I went from episode 12 to chapter 15 (I didn't feel at all the emptiness of those 3 without seeing) this one, episode 15, was one of the worst and boring,
I don't know why, but it was too long for me.

I know it's about cooking, food, but let's say they could have put more scenes out of it, and not just dedicate themselves to cooking.

the protagonists had chemistry but more of an older brother, little sister, romance??? well thank you they would say, just long after the middle of the story.
chemistry appears between them with romance.

Elise, she plays the one who knows everything, and she was asking KE about his tastes, psssss

from episode 18 to 22, I really can't stand seeing the drag of the antagonist, his ex. ufff ufffff uffffff, ugly,
As if it was an obligation to dress her with a good neckline so that her feminine parts could be seen so that men would notice her, ridiculous.
and I clarify, 4 skipped episodes and I did not notice that there was a notable change in the story, everything remained the same. 40 chapters, unnecessary.

the protagonist's friend is one of the most idiotic I've seen in a long time, 22 chapters, and he still doesn't know what he wants, that is, he doesn't want
to her friend, but he doesn't want her to be with others either, her character seemed useless to me, and on top of that she's a co-star, very ridiculous.
and she had so many episodes with her unilateral love for her, it seemed too long, and it was obvious that they had no feeling!

that Boris, was it necessary???? he was a BIG IDIOT!!!! A clown!!! One of the worst characters in my 240 c-dramas watched.

after watching episode 23, I went to 25, no matter what happened to qian fan, ke song, he didn't deserve that mistreatment, anyway
he was a great idiot, rather the writer was a clown.

episode 26, the cousin uffffffffffff ufffffffffffffffffffffffffffs what a pathetic woman!!! Super envious, she lets herself be manipulated by her
of her fucking teacher, a hateful one.- He treats her like her older sister and the dumb Ke lets herself do what the stupid wants, I wish I had
slapped her crazy cousin of hers.

chapter 27, I say, the fucking dragged does not have a brother a mother who takes her to the doctor / doctor ??? what a stupid cliche
which is the one that the protagonist has to do that. really stupid!!!

I FEEL THAT THIS DRAMA HAS MORE CONS THAN PROS. I will definitely not see it again, I hope I have the opportunity to see another of hers,
and another of hers with hers, but with a more romantic plot.

I AGREE WITH THE OTHER USER, in this drama there is the WORST synchronization of the DUBBING, the truth is that it was horrible!!!!!!!!
(her cousin, the dragged antagonist, her brother, and among others)

a couple of questions in the final stretch of the drama, what was the writer thinking of making the protagonist blind? I mean, I thought it wasn't enough for me to lose
the taste, right?... and on top of that, Elise's killer says that they are worried about him, haha, how pissed off I am! Well damn, it's your fucking fault! and yours
idiot accomplice!
Then there is the protagonist's cousin, what a useless and unnecessary character! do such a thing out of arrogance and that from the beginning she was jealous of KE,
to the point that she realized that she did not know how to cook and therefore began to copy what she did in the contest.
and well the stories of victor and her 'boyfriend', boris, dr., they seemed to me, they should have finished before they started, it was really boring!.

People, this review is my point of view, it's totally my feeling when watching a drama that should have no more than 32 episodes!

I saw this drama today, Sunday, April 10, 2022, Argentina time, it was a rainy Sunday, I was home alone, so take advantage and I saw it 'entirely'
so to speak, of course I did not see some caps because there were too many, I do not understand the wave of wanting to lengthen secondary stories unnecessarily. it seems to me
that doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, I would like the people who make the dramas to read our feelings and criticism so to speak regarding what we see
and that they do not make more dramas this long unless there is a great story to tell, which of the now 241 Chinese dramas that I have seen, are told what
They were really long like this and I wanted it not to end, being a handful, I don't remember the names I'll have to investigate xD

Well this is long, I say goodbye and people, good health to all!

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