Connoisseur Turns Pervert and Chef Turns Tart
I've watched the movie version of this drama, “This Is Not What I Expected”. When the drama aired, it received a lot of good comments and I started watching and liked it a lot. However, by the end of episode 5, I decided I couldn’t continue anymore even though Zhao Lusi’s performance is hilarious for the first 2 episodes which I liked.Gu Sheng Nan (Zhao Lusi) is like a humpty dumpty; everywhere she goes, she brings havocs. Zhao Lu Si herself is like a "shǎ bái tián" (silly, fair, sweet). Her portrayal is so adorable with not only a bubbly character but also slightly dumb-witted (occasionally) which makes her very endearing. I like how they have used food to convey messages which only a connoisseur can understand and appreciate. Initially the dialogues are unexpectedly good and funny. Then they become ordinary and predictable.
As the story develops, I begin to be put off by how Lu Jin (Lin Shen) coming on to her, knowing she’s just a young financially insecure girl and himself a wealthy and powerful middle age man. I’m in no way against such relationships, but I’m turned off by how he seduces her, and she does likewise. This makes the relationship very artificial which I totally dislike.
By episode 5, Lu Jin turns into a pervert and she becomes a cheap tart. I find the relationship of the male lead and female lead better in the movie (This is Not What I Expected) where their falling in love more natural without all the seduction parts as depicted in the drama here. I also dislike her girl friend Xu Zhao Di who uses people and is terribly materialistic. And I dislike how the personal assistant willing to be used and becomes a willing victim for Xu Zhao Di because he likes to show off.
As how the story goes from here, I cannot see myself liking it further, so I’m dropping it. It is very rare for me dropping a series, but I’m afraid this is one of them.
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Trying characters
OVERALLGive this drama a try if 1) you have high tolerance for annoying characters, 2) you like dramas with heavy second-hand embarrassment. Skip if 1) you can't stand the above and 2) you are looking for a realistic, well-written love story.
THE STORY
I recently noticed that C-dramas sometimes don't start well but redeem themselves later on, so even though it's not my style, I really tried to push it and watch as much as I could of this drama, despite not being impressed by episode 1. I toughed until episode 5. Why? First, there is absolutely no likeable character in this drama. FL is a mess who takes one bad decision after the next. Although she's good at what she does, there really isn't any aspect of her character that would aspire love so it's hard to understand why ML suddenly (really, out of nowhere) seems to be falling for her. ML is just your typical cold and aloof guy, but with a negative twist: he's also clumsy and kind of...silly? So he's also not that likeable and you're also not sure why FL suddenly starts to care about him. FL's friends are absolutely HORRID, of the worst secondary characters I've ever seen in C-dramas. I wasn't able to care about anybody in this drama. Second, the humor is everything I hate in dramas. Lots of second-hand embarrassment, mostly on FL's part but also on ML's part. Some slapstick too.
On the positive side, I love how good FL is at her job, and all the scenes linked with cooking were the best. I also have a feeling FL is meant to start the drama on the low and grow into a better person, learning to break away from the bad influence of her nasty friends. In that sense, the drama is quite promising. The problem is that she's starting too low, and I have low tolerance for second-hand embarrassment. This is the end of the ride for me.
THE ACTING
I suppose it's okay. No chemistry between the leads, from what I could see, but I also just saw the beginning.
THE MUSIC
Too much background music, all the time. Childish quirky sounds too. I think it wasn't helping.
REWATCH VALUE
Low.
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Awful actor
Reasons I dropped this series:1 I gave this a chance because anything that has to do with cooking is on my favorite list of series. Then I watched a few minutes and realized that even for that kind of plot I couldn't watch this actor any longer. I know I have a problem, but he reminded me of a pervert and my stomach clenched each time I saw him. I know it's not fair but I'm one of those women who hate mustaches and even if the person is the sweetest in the world they give me pervert vibes. I also find the actor too old and not handsome at all so the deal is sealed.
2 The age gap trope is one I hate, but again because of the kitchen theme I wanted to try it. I don't think he's good enough to make me get over my disliking of age gap stories.
3 That's a bit more complicated. I don't find the main actress beautiful at all. I find her plain and rater unattractive, but I can't understand why since I find her great in Hidden Love. Go figure. Not that I think she's beautiful in Hidden Love but I'm able to love her because of the story and her talent. No such luck here.
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This review may contain spoilers
Super Ick Age Gap Romance
Having seeing the FL and her unique beauty and charm in a historical drama i thought oh ill watch this and went in blind. I wish i hadnt The age gap here is way too obvious and ick. 18 yrs FFS. What is that about. I wonder if there is a 31yr old man out there sleeping around enjoying his life and can do that for another 8 years and then my now 13yr old will be 21 ooh and if shes lucky she can get with him without experiencing anything much herself but thats okay shes just a girl. That is the conceit and imbalance in these horrible male fantasy romances. Women lapping them up is just hilarious.The message for boys is hey guys spend your 20s and 30s having a great time have loads of experiences travel work play sleep around let off steam and then you can just marry a 20 yr old girl after all that WHOOP.
The message forGirls just marry an old guy with a job (a good one if your lucky) and give him babies and count yourself lucky. Stupidage gapdramas like this perpetuate the misfuided notion tbatage gap marraiges and romances are normal and desirable. They may be for men (i mean lets face it, its a great deal for the guys) but for women its just imbalance and selling short.
Chemistry!!! Romance !!!!!!!!!
LOL LOL LOL TRASH F RIGHT OFF
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une romance sympathique
Le drama commence avec beaucoup d'humour. C'est un plaisir de voir nos deux tourtereaux se chercher. Ils sont drôles et bien assortis. La différence d'âge ne dérange pas (du moins en ce qui me concerne), bien au contraire. Dans la réalité, il arrive souvent que l'homme puisse avoir 10 ou 15 ans, voire plus, que la femme. Ou vice versa.Le lead Féminin est enjouée et apporte cette extravagance et cette joie de vivre qui manque au lead masculin. Ils se complètent plutôt bien. Leur romance est mignonne, cependant je reprocherai (durant la seconde partie), des longueurs dans leur relation, devenant plus sérieux, et moins agréable à suivre. Les personnages secondaires ne sont pas les plus ennuyants que j'ai pu voir ( je n'aime pas en général les histoires secondaires souvent superflues pour moi) mais ils ne sont pas des plus attrayants non plus. Les histoires, ceux avec le petit frère et la mère, ne m'ont pas paru des plus intéressants mais se laissent suivre sans avoir besoin de délaisser le drama.
La relation amoureuse des leads était sympathique et évolue rapidement, peut-être un peu trop rapidement. Ce qui finit par enlever le piquant de leur chamaillerie selon moi.
Ce qui est par contre "stunning", sont les scènes de cuisine. La mise en scène, la photographie de la préparation des repas est vraiment superbe. Les aliments devenaient acteurs et vivants, nous entendions le bruit de la friture, de l'eau qui bout et la seule chose qui me venait à l'esprit était "comment peut-on sublimer autant la nourriture?".
C'est un drama agréable à regarder, qui fait passer le temps.
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on passe un très agréable moment devant cette rom-com culinaire
Je n'étais pas très convaincue par le ML au début (grand écart d'âge et physique peu compatible avec le role), mais ce drama est accrocheur, le rythme est soutenu (pour qu'on ne se lasse pas une seconde) et l'alchimie pétille au sein du couple.Il y a bien entendu, les inévitables triangles amoureux, mais pas trop de twist / ruses, et les malentendus ne durent pas trop longtemps.
Les acteurs sont excellents et développent une jolie romance.
Au final, on passe un très agréable moment devant cette rom-com culinaire.
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Amazing drama
Sangat bagus, awalnya saya ragu menonton karena jujur saja kurang suka aktor prianya tapi setelah menonton episode 1 saya tidak bisa berhenti lanjut.Akhirnya pasangan ini adalah pasangan beda umur yang paling saya gemari, chemistry keduanya sangat bagus hanya saja saya kurang suka bagian akhir menuju ending, saya berharap ada season 2 untuk pasangan ini.
Zhoulusi memang best karena siapapun aktor prianya pasti punya chemistry kuat dengan dia.
Saya sangat mengangumi itu, saat berakting dia seperti tidak sedang akting.
Intinya drama ini bagussss.
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kisah cinta yang unik
cerita yang menarik. alur cerita yang tidak terduga antar para pemain membuat drama ini layak ditonton, tidak membosankan sama sekali. akting para pemain yang sangat keren membuat penonton terbawa perasaan saat menonton. dipastikan tidak akan menyesal setelah menonton semua episode nya. kisah cinta dengan pria yang lebih tua sepertinya memang sangat menarik dibandingkan hanya percintaan remaja biasa. pria tampan yang mapan serta kunis tipis adalah hal baru dalam drama china. tentu saja sangat menarik.Was this review helpful to you?
A déguster !
Une comédie romantique chinoise comme je les aime. J'ai passé un excellent moment !Déjà l'histoire, certes c'est une comédie romantique, donc forcément, il y a une romance. Mais finalement pas que... Et j'ai apprécié ! Il y a des rebondissements tout du long, mais qui ne durent jamais sur je ne sais combien d'épisodes. Et jusqu'au dernier épisode rien n'est simple, mais du coup je ne me suis carrément pas ennuyée.
J'ai trouvé d'ailleurs la deuxième partie du drama encore meilleure que la première, au lieu de s'essouffler comme parfois cela peut arriver.
Ensuite le couple principal : On aborde un sujet sensible et c'est très bien : La différence d'âge. A partir du moment où les gens sont adultes, et consentants, l'amour n'a pas d'âge. Et j'ai trouvé cela magnifiquement bien traité par les deux personnages. Le lead masculin ne m'attirait pas du tout, mais au final, leur romance m'a tellement touchée, je les ai tellement adoré à construire cette histoire que tout le monde essaie de détruire, que j'ai finalement été complètement embarquée. Clairement, ils ont faits vibrer quelque chose en moi.
Le petit plus : J'ai adoré le côté culinaire. Les images sont superbes, surtout au début du drama. C'est dommage, c'est un peu abandonné par la suite. Mais on salive devant son écran !
Une romance vraie que l'on suit, et pas uniquement sur les derniers épisodes, des affaires de famille, des sujets sensibles, le poids des familles... Bref, même si comme dans tout drama , on retrouve les mêmes ficelles, je me suis carrément laissée embarquer. A déguster sans modération ;-)
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Cute and light romance with a real manly
I watched this drama in two days basically, to take a break from the more complex plot dramas that I'm watching, the story is good, that typical cliché of rich man and poor girl with the relative against because of social status, but one thing that Dating in the Kitchen did very well and differently from others that have this same story is that the rich protagonist did not give in to his mother's wishes and separated from the female lead just because his parents were against it, He did justice to the role of an older man, because if there's one thing that makes me anxious, it's when I see parents controlling their 30-year-old son/daughter in the dramas.The secondary couple didn't really captivate me this time to be honest, but the main couple, WHAT A COUPLE, they delivered cuteness, chemistry, I fell in love with this actor, a true manly man, attractive and acts very well, Zhao, as always, rocks in the roles she plays. I was just bothered by this male lead's brother appearing out of nowhere and being a complete asshole for the main couple, But with the exception of that, it's a light and enjoyable drama to watch when you want to see something less complicated, quick, a break from the crazy plots and stories full of twists, angst and drama of historical Cdramas haha.
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