Dating in the Kitchen (2020)

If you are okay with 18 year age gap (IRL)

I love Zhao Lu Si and I'll watch anything she is in, I can't believe she is 23, she acts well beyond her years. I will have to admit, the 18 year age difference between the main leads was something I knew going into. I kind of wished they picked a smaller age gap, but that's part of the plot, so at least they wrote that in.

I liked the banter in the beginning of the drama. I loved watched the cooking scenes and I wished they had more of that towards the end. Towards the second half of the show, it's more about the relationship than the cooking.

So that is the reason I liked the first half more. I also felt like the female lead had more power in the first half. I wasn't too keen when she would give in to him, but that is me. I like it when the male lead chases after the FL. I would say there is equal chasing on both sides in this one.

I felt like the last few episodes had a bit of angst and there were many moments of "testing" the FL lead. I wasn't too keen on that either.

Overall, I love the FL and I Love the cooking aspects of it. I just need something less drama filled.

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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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This is a truly believable age-gap love story.

I firmly believe that whether one likes or dislikes an age gap in a relationship is subjective and depends on one's age, life experience, and physical attraction. In the specific case of this drama, Zhao Lusi's youthful and vivacious character with a high-pitched voice is paired with a mature and older male character, creating an alluring contrast. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this drama but understand that individual preferences may vary.

I absolutely adore characters that are absolute geniuses in their respective fields. It's a pure delight to watch them in action. And there's nothing quite like a drama that features a genius chef and a brilliant businessman defying all odds, including social class and age difference, to fall deeply in love with each other. It's a perfect story that leaves me absolutely spellbound.

I absolutely maintain that a better-looking or more attractive male lead would have been a grave mistake in casting, and would have detracted from the authenticity of the story. It's a well-known fact that businessmen generally don't achieve success at a young age, and how many of them are really model-worthy? I can't think of a single one. So, in my opinion, the casting was spot-on.

Although ML was not conventionally attractive, it does not mean that he was unattractive. He just did not fit the typical male actor look that we usually see paired with Rosy Zhao. I must say, I found it incredibly refreshing and completely believable.

I want to give a special mention to the uncle character who was portrayed as a straight guy (thanks to the Chinese censorship who forbid lgbt+ charactes in dramas) but had all the mannerisms of a gay man. He was absolutely hilarious.

Overall, it was an excellent drama that I'll definitely watch again with pleasure.

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I go straight to the point... what I LIKE & DISLIKE... again this is just my personal opinion.... NO HATES!!
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.

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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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