Nice, light, sweet, and uncomplicated story
This is a cute and light show that does not derail into melodrama three quarters of the way through or get bogged down by annoying exes and villains. Everyone is likable and mature. At no more than 25 minutes if you skip the credits, it's also short and sweet -- a good candidate if you are looking for something easy to watch, but also seeking something with better acting and production values than most of the short-length, modern C-dramas that are proliferating everywhere.If you are looking for something more sophisticated, however, this isn't it.
All the friendships are just really nice and supportive, the relationships are healthy, the side couples are not annoying or draggy. The villain is kind of bland, and there are returning exes, but they generally resolve nicely in their own way and do not drag on for too long either. There is a brief 2ML/childhood friend that comes onto the scene, but that too is handled with grace and maturity and also does not drag.
It's also nice to see Zhang He in more leading roles after watching him in supporting roles over the years (Three Miles, Love O2O, etc.). He might not be the most amazing actor, but he holds his own and is very likable in this particular role. (He also looks amazing for 38.)
Some might find it all just too vanilla, but overall, I thought it a very pleasant watch with a story line that moves along at a reasonable pace. In my view, this is currently rated low at 7.7 and is worth an 8, even for what it is.
(Caveats and other notes: Like so many modern C dramas, colourism unfortunately comes up briefly in a couple of off-hand remarks. The quality of the dubbing was also very hit and miss. I had to completely ignore clear issues of conflict of interest and ethics as well, especially during the competition at the end. Finally, I found it hilarious that one of the main characters unrealistically held two very demanding full-time jobs.)
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Some Healing Love but Not Much Healing Food in this Drama
This is one of those dramas where it doesn't stand out but it's not bad either. It's one of those dramas where you just watch in your spare time or while waiting for another drama. It is an easy drama to watch as in it doesn't really give you much frustration, stress, or headaches. It's an enjoyable watch for me but still has its flaws.Things that I liked about this drama:
* Chemistry of our ML & FL together
* Mature & short love triangles: I normally hate love triangles, but the writer actually wrote it pretty well for this drama. There were 2 short ones, one in the beginning from FL's childhood friend and one towards the end, the ML's ex. Both may still have some feelings for the leads, but both were non-toxic. Both were also supportive for our leads in the end of the love triangle arc. Best part, this love triangle arcs lasts for only a few episodes.
* Love the intro and ending osts to this drama
* A Happy & Sweet Ending
My issues with this drama
* Story plot is lacking: It seemed promising in the beginning with a heartbroken FL & a traumatized ML's past but the writer didn't follow through with the idea for the whole drama. Instead, it ended up being a company focus drama with few scenes about the FL's & ML's personal issues.
* Not enough food emphasis: For a drama that has healing food in its title, there wasn't much food representation in this drama as I would've liked. There were also lack of scenes where it showed that food provided comfort and healing.
* No purpose of the old geezer CEO pulling dirty tricks to take down Zheng Dao. This was a nuisance to this drama and really made me annoyed with this drama a bit. This guy pretty much got away with his evil tricks as the writers went down the route of all is forgiven after quickly showing a pity scene.
* Transitions from scene to scene have been out of place/random at times. It doesn't flow well going into the next scene in certain episodes. There was probably a lot of filmed scenes that had to be cut.
* Way too much company scenes and not enough scenes where our leading couple are together without the company aspect to this.
Overall, it's a decent drama with a happy ending. Main couple was great. Though the story plot had some good ideas in the beginning, it wasn't implemented well throughout the drama. Also, don't expect too much when it comes to the food content or even the healing aspect of this drama, as majority of the scenes were about the company.
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WAS EXPECTING MORE...
I honestly was expecting more from this drama, the named seemed interesting... This drama really has no storyline, at least not strong enough. It was so boring that I had to drop it.Female lead is a food magazine editor and male lead is a chef/ ceo of the food magazine. The male lead is the boss of the female lead. Initially they kinda headed butts but the male lead eventually falls for her.
The male lead struggles with not being able to cook food because of a past hurt relationship with an ex.. He gets headaches when he tries. Female lead goes to a popular restaurant which the male lead is the head chef. She tries to get a spot so she can taste the chef's speciality and write a report on it.... So i dont understand why the male lead is able to make the food for her. ( she doesnt know that the male lead is the chef.
in terms of romance the second female lead gets her first kiss before the female lead, which is a no no in my book. The leads had very little chemistry, didnt feel the sizzle or the heart skip a beat.... Also this drama is lacking in romance between the leads... however this drama is probably the very few that actually start their relationship by holding hands ... haha almost all dramas start with a kiss and then confession.
There really was no main point, or plot, just the male lead's restaurant getting accused of being eating there and food poisoning. Also the female lead's personality doesnt shine much and she isnt that much of use.
This drama barely shows any delicious looking foods. I was kinda expecting that the food would heal the male lead or female lead but that was me thinking too much haha.
Skip this drama...
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Male Lead's Smile is The Best
I agree wholeheartedly with the other review. The storyline of this drama is weak. The female lead is just so so character wise, acting wise and look wise.I push through episode to episode just to see the male lead. He has such a beautiful calming smile, so sincere I would watch even the worst drama ?.
Not all is bad. Even though the plot is just ok, at least the female lead is not one of those stupid FL like in lots of other drama. She's reasonable. The lead also has a good chemistry.
There are also funny bits here and there. The ML and FL are both likeable characters. And no evil 2nd ML and 2nd FL!
I have zero interest in the second and third couple. The second couple is the FL's best friend and a rich guy who went undercover as a normal guy to get to know the girl he met once and fell head over heels with. Third couple is ML's bestie and a young girl he seemed to know since they were young (I was so not interested I just fast forwarded, so I don't know much about them).
In general this drama is nothing extraordinary to write about. The lead couple has not much storyline, hence they had to use 2nd and 3rd couple to fill up the time!
But overall I enjoyed watching this drama. If you want something calming to kill time, then give this a go, why not?
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Light drama with a simple story
Light drama, focused on the romance between 1 editor and her food magazine chief editor (with little room for cooking).Good points: No villain, little love ▲, mature romance, but above all the ML is excellent (much better than the other actors in the series, whose characters lack depth/realism).
This series, while pleasant, is not memorable either, and the FL in particular, is far from being always convincing.
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Drama léger, focus sur la romance entre 1 éditrice et son directeur de revue culinaire (avec peu de place pour la cuisine).
Bons points : Pas de villain, peu de love ▲, romance mature, mais surtout le ML est excellent (bien meilleur que les autres acteurs de la série, dont les personnages manquent de profondeur/réalisme).
Cette série, agréable, n'est pas mémorable non plus, et la FL en particulier, est loin d'être toujours convaincante.
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Relaxing and Fluffy
Given it‘s short duration there is little room for drag or fillers. I liked that it was quite relaxing and not blood pressure raising, which I expected given the synopsis and theme of it being healing - but rather than seeing it as a healing drama I‘d say it’s a light romance drama with some spicy scenes.Every side character that is supposed to disrupt the peace of the leads is dealt with rather quickly and nicely.
The ML is described as cold but falls short of in the best way possible…I mean a man that calls his cat his daughter and expresses genuine excitement of the thought of getting together with the FL, is just adorable.
There are some spicy scenes and if you’re clever you’re gonna pick up on some naughty jokes.
I liked the friendship theme of this drama, there were only a select few supporting characters but most of them were besties and no evil female character. The FL lives with her uncle (who is her age) and her best friend, which makes for comfy scenes when they’re hanging out.
If I had to pick something negative about this drama it would probably be, that it’s light and sometimes a bit shallow. There is not a lot of depth, even in terms of healing - but it’s wholesome and fluffy.
I loved the ending because it left me with a smile :)… a drama that can easily be binged in 1-2 days
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Cute Series more about healing than food
This series focused on people within the food industry that were battling different kinds of traumas and happen to start working with each other. It is a light series that doesn't take itself too seriously yet kept in step with the challenges of rivalry and competition. The budding romance between the leads had a touch and go in chemistry at times. However, they stayed in step with conveying care and focus. At times, certain office scenes seemed stagnant and unnecessary. The ending episodes seemed rushed to tie up loose ends that could have been weaved throughout more strategically. Even though there are 23 episodes, with a better edit and smoother transitions a solid 20 episodes would have gained a better rating. All in all, it is worth the watch if you desire to see a light romance series.Was this review helpful to you?
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Not worth it
Honestly, i had so much expectation because of the male lead, but the story development is very slow, and the focus is much more on their work rather than their relationship development between the main leads. There is no balance between the two.I found it quite boring even after 20 eps... Plus , I felt like many scenes felt awkward and silly. Even the development of the supporting cast was so much better than the main cast's. I felt like they could have been much more to watch in this drama, but it did not happen.I wasted my time.
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Worth looking Into
I enjoy this drama with a strong woman cast. i like that the male characters were supportive to the female characters. I did not care for the evil old man character. it was to corny for a big business man to act so despicable. I enjoy the story of the female lead being a food blogger and the male lead having many weakness. There where many great characters in this drama that I would have like to know more about, such as the doctor and her uncle who live with the lead female and worked in the same company. Overall I think this drama is worth while for a look. The leads have a strange relationship but a cute romance.Was this review helpful to you?
