This review may contain spoilers
The story started familiar to another chinese movies that was on Netflix, which was the female lead vandalized the male leads car without knowing who the guy was by accident. They eventually meet do to a series or circumstances, and its her cooking that attracts the guy, who's diet was instant ramen because he couldn't eat anything else. Dating in the Kitchen was just like that, Gu Sheng Nan is a cute young aspiring cook who by accident vandalizes a strangers car that she was getting revenge for her bestie, but gets the wrong guy. Due to a series of mishaps the two end up meeting due to a fire accident in the side kitchen, as the main lead Lu Jin was a prospective buyer of the hotel, that Gu Sheng Nan worked at, by chance all the other dishes sent to Lu Jin all were not to his taste but her fried rice she made for her coworker suited his palate.
The drama was fun, but with these romantic comedies, they tend to end up being frustrating because they usually follow the stages of love discovery, admitting to love, then challenges to their relationship. Given the social status difference between Gu Sheng Nan & Lu Jin, the story did have its annoying points.
It was quick that their first love challenge Cheng Zi basically bowed out, even though they had the longest friendship, and then introducing Lu Zheng, the half brother who was fighting for his father's legacy as well as messing around with Lu Jin's fiancée at the point of the story was over dramatic.
They eventually migrated from "dating" in the kitchen to other areas to further the story, which doesn't hold true to the title. If it was more "As: I Like You, This is Not What I Expected" as alternatives then they could push the other story plots better.
Zhao Lu Si does a very good job, she's a cute actress in her female lead. Lin Yu Shen also does a good job as the cold hearted serious business first guy.
I wished they did more with the cooking, i think many people would enjoy the thought process, and recipes that would be shown during the process. While its not a cooking drama, it could've used abit more in that environment as the show runner title. Introducing the other points just extends the drama unnecessarily except for the providing fillers and giving the other cast members more of a role. Yes the points to develop the relationship further, but it also makes the story messier to clean up. Like in the case of the half brother trying to steal his older brothers fiancée out of the blue, even though he respected him and didn't really care for her until he was motivated to try to keep his dying father's last wish/legacy.
Overall the show started strong, but then started to wane as it move away from the kitchen to develop other characters, and introduce challenges to their life. It felt like they took a simple romantic comedy and overcomplicated it to make more episodes.
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Chemistry on point!!!
This is my first time writing a review before completing a series (currently waiting for ENG subs on the last 2 episodes)......just could not resist!It’s been a long while since I’ve found a drama good enough to rearrange my top 10 and this will defitnily be there.
Have to admit our FL was great in her other dramas but this one just gone and took the cake for me!
She seem so much more beautiful and grown up here with just about everything on point with her acting..Amazing enough that I’ve now put her on my top actress List.
Our ML just oozed sex appeal and a far cry from your normal boss leads that sometimes hurt or manipulate to be with FL.
I like a little a bit of obsession & jelousy from my male leads and he just acted out one that was in control, manly, sexy with so much chemistry with FL without being cruel at all.
Their relationship seems so Matured
(yes.....was getting a bit withdrawn on dramas with so much love yet only settles for pecks)
& Real not to mention hilarious & fun at most parts with no cliché or over dramatic plots!
Of course all that is also mainly due to amazing writings, haven’t finish the drama yet but honestly can’t fault anything there...maybe a little less on the friend’s romance but can’t really blame the lack of interest towards them when I’m too impatient for the next scene from our leads!
Lastly i know 2 other dramas where I felt like the music contributed big time to achieving most of the feels in romance for me and this one is the same.
Big thumbs up
Highly recommended for the Romance Lovers :)
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LIKE:
> I like the idea of how they showed that even with a huge age gap of ML & FL its still looks Romantic. The Story is not to complicated, for me i like it this way i dont need something to hurt my heart too much :D... its also Happy ENDING.. My Fave character is the UNCLE.. i shed a tear when she let GO of Nana & when she gave gift to the BFF.. his the best in the Story... also the 2nd Lead (brother) he is good in acting
DISLIKE:
> Not MUCH... i just hope that the director control the FL lead acting like a 5 years old...I like Lu Si she is pretty but her acting is really childish... the way she shouts & act childish is too much.. & i didnt find much connection between the 2 leads...
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Age Gap Fantastic For once
I haven't seen an age gap film from any place done any better than Dating in the Kitchen. It was complete perfection. I think it is up there with Pretty Woman Julia Roberts / Richard Gere & Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn/ Humphrey Bogart or later with Julia Ormond/Harrison Ford. The actor Lin Yu Shen well, he was perfection as the older man. Especially his reaction to being called Senior or Fuzzy Lu, he was just so good at controlled outrage. The beginning scene with him and Zhao Lu Si where she has messed with his car is just wonderful. She stands on tip toe for him to write his # on her forehead is just so captivating. His reaction to that well, you think he is a goner from the start. The supporting cast are all great, they back up the film wonderfully. I have re-watched this over and over. I will never get tired of it.Was this review helpful to you?
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The leading man is too old.
I like the story and the leading lady except for the leading man I think he is too old for the girl even though they put a little make on Lusi Zhao. I like the story and other character actor. I get bored when the scene will comes on Mr. Lu the leading man. The girl act very natural but when it comes to the leading man I thinbk it a litle over acting and did't act on his act. Much better he act as a villain in action drama not in romantic comedy. The romance of tiger rose is much better leading man .Was this review helpful to you?
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Such a cute drama! Absolutely worth it!
Well it's indeed a good watch.I am still new to Cdrama and 24 episodes sometimes feel like drag but this one was perfect.
The first half of the story I enjoyed a lot.
I loved the charecter development of the Leads and the supporting characters. The makers truely paid attention to the story of the supporting roles.
Now come to the leads -
Zhou Lusi (Gu Shengnan) -
Omg she is such a cutie and ofcourse a talented actor. I felt that she is the perfect Gu Shengnan. The quirky, ambitious chef with a soft heart and a cute smile, she just outdid the role.
Lu Jin-
He is perfect too. He is a businessman and he was expected to behave the way he did. He fell for her and cherished her deeply. The love from his side was so mature that none of the external things could actually move him away from her..
Also the Food prep scenes were paid actors which kept me hooked to this drama.
Well I gave it an 8 allover because I was somewhat fast forwarding in the second half. Shengnan falling for Lu Jin's brother's tricks bored me.
It's indeed a CEO romance but it's not super cringe, instead the makers showed that the same genre can be represented with different approach.
Go for it, you won't regret for sure.
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Finally A GREAT Chinese Drama
Usually Im watching CDrama as a hobby when Im bored with Korean Drama.Well, a long episodes and cliche ending story
Not mention for a mere Kissess scene
Slapstick comedy
Absurd scene
And others that I often find in CDrama.
But THIS.
IS A GEM.
I love the Female Lead. Cute yet though and very lovable.
Pairing with the Male Lead that Cool, manly and very understanding.
Love their chemistry for entire the drama, real emotion when up and down facing their problem together and keep their love soo genuine and honest to trust each other very deeply that everyone beside them couldnt have a chance to crushed their relationship, even his though yet dear mother.
Love Zhao Lusi that always can bring a lot of satisfying act when she mad, cry, angry and clueless comedy that needed in this drama.
And YESS , for a great story, kissess scene (too Bad, the hot kissess that they share together in gym were being cut ?♀️), and for GREAT YET WARM ending that VERY SATISFYING..even just a short proposal scene but it shows that the story WAS GREAT.
Thankyou ...now Im ready to watch another CDrama. Hopefully always good as DITC.
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Modern day fairy tale
Ok so firstly I'd say that if you're watching it on WeTV, don't go by the drama's information, it's totally misleading. The FL doesn't suffer from a broken love and technically she is not exactly unemployed.The story is well paced, well written with no visible plotholes. There are no super evil characters and most of them are pretty likeable. There's also the steamy romance between our main leads.
Then there's Zhao Lusi's charming acting and the ML's mature acting. Despite their age gap they were a great couple. None of the characters were unreasonable or toxic. Misunderstandings were cleared up pretty quick. The main couple didn't have any unnecessary issues and none of them was over possessive or controlling. The FL was childish and kind of immature, but understanding and kind. The ML was mature and wise and very considerate. But my favorite character has to be FL's uncle lol he was so fun. Her best friend was also so funny.
One plot twist that I didn't really expect was the ML's brother.
Overall this was one great watch. I really liked it. Would recommend watching it.
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Wow, wow, wow
The first ever modern C drama that I'm rating 10 stars and it is all thanks to the juggernaut that is Lin Yu Shen who must be one of the top 2 charismatic actors I've ever watched.I'd initially dropped Dating in the Kitchen a few months back but immediately came back to it after watching LYS's mesmerizing performance in Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber and somehow everything just clicked this second time around. The depth of emotions from LYS and Zhao Lusi was palpable and it has to be the first time a male lead has ever cried of heartbreak convincingly. My heart ached and rejoiced with our ML as he navigated dating a much younger woman who was from a completely different level in every way. Their joy, love, laughter, and tears pulled us along as they grew to trust each other even when others repeatedly tried to break them up. I'm so happy that I watched this.
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This review may contain spoilers
I was excited to start this drama because I really love both of the lead actors and felt like they would have interesting chemistry onscreen. In that sense I was completely correct. This is one of those rare dramas where the age gap really works. The dynamic is certainly stern, commanding older male lead and bold, bubbly younger female lead, but I feel like they do a great job of showing how that can be a really joyful and beautiful dynamic. In reality, I'm not so sure if this would really work, but in the magical world of dramas I think it's very successful. Rosy Zhao has this infectious energy and earnestness that's very charming, and Lin Yu Shen brings a moody, intense, and weightier presence to the screen. Together I think they make a great pair. But while their scenes together are some of the loveliest and most intense romantic scenes I've seen in a drama in a while, I feel like the rest of the drama is a lot weaker and really drags down our leads. There are certainly bright moments. I like the focus on social class, I like the sort of fish-out-of-water aspect of each of the leads stepping into each other's worlds, but I think that there are too many repetitive aspects of the rest of the plot. There is a lot of scheming family members, misunderstandings, and even fights between the leads that are really hard to watch as a viewer. I was really invested in this couple and the plot brutalizes their characters in a way that wasn't very enjoyable to see onscreen episode after episode. It's not that I don't like a dark or tragic or serious plot, but I think this one was just too melodramatic and clunky for the drama.
Overall, great leads with exceptional chemistry, but an uninteresting and sometimes painful plot that gets more repetitive and draggy the longer the drama goes on. A nasty brother bent on revenge and using the unsuspecting female lead in his schemes is very 2005, and I wasn't interested in it in the least.
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Classic
Well......... Where do I start? First of all, I did really want to watch this but after a period of wait, I kinda lost that interest in watching. And fast forward to a few weeks, I decided to watch the first couple of episodes of it and it was hilarious. I laugh so much in the first 10 episodes. This is one of the classic Poor women who meets a rich man and the love triangle and the mother that is unwilling to accept the FL. ( but later she does and when I mean later it literally the last episodes ). In this drama, you will find a lot of comedy and romance at the same time. Even though their age gap is quite big but doesn't let that fool you, you are missing out a lot they have a lot of chemistry today. At first, I was kinda shocked by the age but everything played out really well. There is kinda a love triangle but overall it didn't bother me much but there won't be anything evil plotting for the other leads but ML's mother was something. ( not going too much detail cuz don't want to spoil it,, ). And just to add there is kinda a tiny bit of a revenge plot that was against the ML but it won't begin later on. ( kinda weak revenge tbh ) Overall, a very funny and romantic Chinese drama to enjoy without worry about the plot too much.Was this review helpful to you?
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Rom Com with a Touch of Drama
I liked Lu Jin throughout the series from beginning to end. He never wavered in his love, he was composed even the way he handled the conflicts. I think I liked Lu Jin more too because of Li Yu Shen's portrayal of him. The little gestures and expressions made it all work with his character.I found Gu Sheng Nan for the most part too immature. Don't know if she's too nice , naive or just plain not have some common sense. I felt that she took Lu Jin's love for her for granted. Maybe Lu Jin just was too mature for her.
Whenever the two of them would have some sort of misunderstanding - I think it really is when Sheng Nan is in her not so intelligent state of mind - he would usually be the one to say he is at fault. So I actually liked the part wherein he finally got mad and did not talk to her. But he still did it in such a dignified way.
Other mentionable characters:
Uncle Gao = as the series went I liked his character more and more. He put sense into Gu Sheng Nan.
Lu Zheng = he was the evil character not by choice cause he was really likeable when he first showed up. I'm glad it all worked out for him and did not remain evil.
All in all it was a good drama.
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