Cupid's Kitchen (2022)

Sigh

By defiantly dropping the series at episode 39 (of 40), I reclaimed some of the brain cells that were lost while watching the preceding episodes. With each episode, it became alarming to watch a script written about really terrible people not being held accountable for their misdeeds. The messaging is wrong and unjustifiable even in a fictional setting. A society with moral fiber woven with amoral, greedy, selfish, and dangerous people will someday implode on itself; however, time and time again I see this messaging being sent subliminally by most modern C dramas and it scares me.

Elise, Victor, Mrs. Quentin, Xiao Yu, Boris, Dr. Xie, and many more were horrible people yet not one of them got their comeuppance and for this I blame, Meng Yao, the screenwriter who, at 25, doesn't seem to have the requisite life lessons needed to fully flesh out such a morally gray story. As a matter of fact, I wonder if the screenwriter herself isn't a terrible person who wrote this as a wish-fulfilling prophecy.

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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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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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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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It was okay.

I have a love hate relationship with cooking dramas. The cooking aspect was okay, but regarding the characters, She seems very immature to me, and so many aspects, and then someone what snobbish. When characters are like this, I have a hard time trying to figure out why the ML is falling in love.

I really couldn't fall in the love with the FL. I really need to in these dramas. The story was a little far fetched, but I liked the ML. There was a tremendous age gap which for me was also unsettling.

Overall, I believe it could have been better.

Best I can say is 4.5

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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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Good series with some flaws

This is my first modern dram - I usually only watch historical/wuxia/costume type dramas. I waited for this drama to come out solely because of Ethan Juan (who was amazing in Legend of Fuyao). He did not disappoint in this series. Swoon worthy with sex appeal and great acting skills. That in combination w/ the FL (this is the first time I've seen her in any show) who is simply adorable. Her ability to come across as an innocent naïve hopeless romantic was spot on. She didn't do the over-the-top annoying cutesiness. Her genuine kindness and pure heart was balanced out w/ some reactive outbursts to injustice, rather than portraying her as a total Mary Sue type. She balanced out the character w/ some flaws.

Pros:
- ML and FL carried the show w/ their great acting and sizzling chemistry; you just yearn for their scenes together whether it was mentor/apprentice; platonic friendship or romance
- the cinematography, visual and audio of the food preparation was amazing; from high end restaurant scenes to mom and pop restaurants to street vendors; it left me salivating
- support characters - some of them were endearing (Uncle Lin, Kesong's parents, Nina and Da Mai), but most seemed like filler characters to add sub plots

Cons:
- the worst and most obvious was Elise's (and other foreign actors/characters) dubbing, it was painful and awkward, like watching old Bruce Lee movies where the mouth movements don't match the dubbing/scenes
- the antagonists never get their justified karma; its like the last 3 episodes the writers/producers got lazy and rushed it to tie everything up in a nice little bow and everyone lives happily ever after
- unnecessary sprinkling of broken English lines into the scenes - like why was that even necessary? The characters would be speaking Chinese...but then 1 or 2 lines for emphasis was done in English? Very awkward

Overall: I really enjoyed the series, but likely won't re-watch it.

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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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Standalone vs Adaptation

I just finished watching Cupids Kitchen and it can only be considered to be loosely associated with the novel "Heartbeat at the Tip of the Tongue".

First to Review as a Standalone Drama:

Overall if you did not read the book and watched the drama on its own, I think it is a solid drama. The male lead and the female lead have good chemistry during their arguments and playful moments. I actually wish that there was more focus on them as an official couple. While they are close and have byplay throughout, they are not an official couple till the last quarter of the drama. What stands out about the drama is that it has a more mature tone and feel than a typical rom-com and more a slice of life type. A lot of the characters are in their thirties, and it shows in the personalities and decision making of the characters. I would say that there is more focus on character growth than on actual romance. One of the main topics is what it means to be successful and winning vs happiness. It is based around a cooking competition, so this is to be expected. I would say instead of a romance that this drama follows the ebb and flow of relationships. The willingness to let go of past relationships and the courage to accept new ones. Like the cooking competition this drama has all the flavors from sweet- bitter. The side stories and characters ranged from interesting too completely unnecessary, there was more quantity of second storylines compared to quality. I surprisingly like the character of Chu Ting , you think she would be boring and irrelevant, but her poise and calmness mixed with backbone made her admirable, but the awarded for best female character will go towards the leading lady, because of her humor and whit.

Second Review as an Adaptation

The drama could barely be called an adaptation. The only similarities to the novel is the female lead, her childhood crush and the cooking competition. They threw in a few other tidbits here and there, but 90% of the drama is completely unrelated to the book.
1. Jiang Qianfan- The ML is the complete opposite to the Jiang Qianfan in the novel. He has a hot temper and is super competitive instead of cold and just wanting to pass on the love of cooking. For the majority of the drama, he had lost his sense of taste instead of being blind, he does go blind for a bit at the end, but that is like a last-minute throw in just to create some intensity at the end. He iloveable on his own, but he is NOT the novels JQF at all.
2. The storyline felt more like "what would JQF &LKS have been like if" than an adaptation.
3. Elise/Iris is an ex-girlfriend-business partner from hell that just won't go away and is as mush if not more involved in the story and part of JQFs life than Ke Song.
4. Victor and Mom Quentin are actually similar to the book. I kind of enjoyed Victors little side romance. Mrs. Quentin's was ok just a bit boring.
5. Ke Song- She is very well played and very similar to the book character. I found her fun and adorable.
6. Cousin- the cousin is a competitor in the competition and like in the book a pain in the butt. She plays a much larger role and they did a good job I think in making her into one of the "villains".
7. Song Ran- the high school crush is also very different from the book. He doesn't have feelings for KeSong initially and there is no hidden plan to be with her from the start. He does develop feelings, but quickly gets over it. All his motivation are different from the novel, his character is really not very relevant in the drama except as a catalyst and a side story.
8. I think the biggest disappointment for the people who loved the novel is that you don't get to see JQFs pursuit of LKS. In the drama they basically just come together naturally. You don't get to see him actively trying to get LKS to fall in love with him and the passion of it. As someone who read the novel, I enjoyed JQFs dedication to KS and his wanting to push her to achieve, then his passionate dedication to pursuing her. While the slow growth friendship in the drama is nice it just doesn't compare to the novel. Also, there was a less time of them as an official couple in the drama than in the novel.

Overall- If you haven't read the book it is a solid drama and very enjoyable. If you have read the book just completely forget it and enjoy the drama as "what if Ke Song met JQF before he was blind" alternative universe.

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A little food porn in an XXXcelent way! A entertaining drama with more holes than a cheese...

Several things to talk about in 40 episodes length, but it is a nice drama.
STORY – a serious hardworking chef (Jiang Qian Fan ) is searching for a person who can replace his lack of taste that is vanishing.
Boy meets girl (Lin Ke Song), a young girl who is warm, cheerful and gives colour to the black and white life and starts do endure a hard training. Lot of plots, a competition, backstabbing, etc. We can watch wonderful cuisine, great ingredients, and the richness of Chinese gastronomy.
The story is almost too fictional I think where we have an ex-girlfriend that almost killed her lover, Michelin chefs cooking in a small family restaurant, a chef needing help and hiding it from the person that can help him, etc.
However, it is an amuse trip to gastronomy, but a little too long.
Find interesting:
+ The gastronomy part, the cooking, the ingredients and the stories, etc. The presentation of the food and the way that was film was amazing;
+ The relation between Qian Fan and Lin Ke Song was nice, the comic parts, the ruthless in the training (that feeling of old martial arts movies between master and apprentice!) and even the romance growing.
+ The romantic parts between Mrs. Quentin and Huang Shi;
+ The story had many layers that did not make sense sometimes but gave complex and cliff hangers…

Did not liked:
- Song Yi Ran story;
- Elise stupid decision to make Qian Fan sticks with her, the blackmailing of Li Yan, the role of the doctor towards his patient, etc;
- There is no sense in the romantic relation between Victor (the Adonis narcissistic singer) and K (the bike mechanic)…
- Victor singing moments (is he a famous singer? Was that a kind of k-pop moment?);
- Lin Xiao actions and the way she redeemed herself;
- The extra-terrestrial capacity of tasteless blind man Chef;
- The fact that a woman with a genius taste capacity, in one month, can outperform top Chefs with hours and hours of training.
ACTING – good for most of the characters. Did not understand Elise synchronism between speech and sound.
MUSIC – I find it very good!
REWATCH – too long for me and without a particular astonishing moment to watch again.

OVERALL – resilience, bravery and never giving up as the core of Qian Fan. Many people gave up things in this drama, but he maintain the focus. First for his ambition and after because of love.

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