I don't even know where to start. First of all the ratings: for me it's 2 stars only, one for Wang Zhuo Cheng (Victor), the second one is for the food.
I can't even tell how excited I was about this drama and how disappointed I became! Seriously, one of the (if not THE) worst dramas I've ever watched.
The amount of negative comments I gave on youtube for each episode is uncountable. I can hardly find any positive about it. Let's see how it went for me .....
Plot: the concept is good. I Like the master chef losing his taste and an average girl "comes' to the rescue with her excellent sense of taste.
The romantic part, lovey-dovey couple concept was a total no-no for me. I didn't buy it. First of all Ke Song is way too young for Oliver. Second of all, Oliver's character made it hard for me to believe he has genuine feelings for her.
Ke Song: naive little girl, always forgiving her cousin even though she is nasty to her so many times. Her character development is good, though. Growing up to the task of participating in a competition and finally accepting and following the ridiculous training regime. She became the rock for Oliver, what he doesn't deserve at all.
Oliver: arrogant, narcissitic chef who thinks the world revolves around him. Putting Ke Song through many hardships then confessing love is hard to digest for me. I found him disgusting from the beginning and couldn't like him even after knowing about his past, what he went through. He behaved in such disgusting ways with Ke Song that I couldn't like him at all. Taking away her phone? forbidding shower after9? let's her sleep on a couch in a room with no doors while he has a cosy room? not allowing her to eat just because she isn't dressed properly for breakfast and is late a few minutes? kicks her out? etc.... what is this if not a rude, disgusting treatment of another human person???
Elise: this woman was getting on my nerves every single minute. maybe because the actress is brilliant, as they say: the more you hate a villain proves the actor is great.. what blew my mind and made me almost throw my computer out of the window was when Oliver forgives her at the end because "no harm was done" wait what????????????????????????? So it is "no harm" that SPOILER: he lost his sense of taste completely, then got blind and almost killed himself????? what the heck??????????????? she felt guilty? oh boy she should have, really. turned herself in? could have done it way sooner. She made another man got arrested just because of her stupid scheme? she dragged a doctor into the story, too? (well it was not hard since he was into her like crazy) AND all this because she couldn't get over the fact that they broke up and she just wanted Oliver back and make him dependent on her? Selfish loser she is!
the cousin: I understand she became this rigid, selfish, overcompetitive girl because of Boris, he brought the worst out of her. She showed her true side as soon as it turned out Ke Song got into the competition and her beloved master chef chose Kesong over her. So, basicaly Boris didn't need to do much work with her, she was disgusting from the beginning. I also don't understand this Blu guy sticking to her like glue. After all the things she had done to her cousin and even confessed to them he was still with her. Her crying scene at the and was not necessary. Absolutely not convincing.
Victor: Wang Zhuo Cheng, actually I started the whole drama just because of him. I liked him the most. I just couldn't understand the romantic side story for him, it was totally unnecessary. His character development was also good, SPOILER: the shared 1st place was really nice from him.
Let's move on to the music: I like the songs in this drama, they fit the story well, but the singer's voice sounds to me as if she has just woken up, or totally bored with the songs.
After all these negative comments about htis drama let me tell you guys what REALLY pissed me off: the music and the singing in the episodes!!!!!!
They clearly put a lot of effort into creating artistic scenes with the foods and yes, they're magical, true art! BUT if they had the time and money for this, how come they did not care the slightest about how the singing is portrayed in the episodes? what do I mean by that? Let's see, the woman singing in the bar: clearly she IS NOT singing, and when she does, her lip movements and the song is not in sync. There is even a few seconds part where her lips are not moving but the song is on. what????????????
Victor: I got to know that there is a dubbing law in China, but why? still don't know. I guess because of the accents and all and here comes the case of Victor. It was hard but got used to it after a while that Wang Zhuo Cheng's voice is dubbed. Seriously, this guy has the sweetest, most warming, relaxing, deep, soothing voice I've heard and they dubbed it. His original voice could have fit better with his character. But when he sang in the bar, now that was the part when I screamed with anger! Zhuo Cheng is a musical singer (I guess he has a contract which does not allow him singing in dramas or what, that's why they dubbed him singing too) so why not allow him sing? Instead, they used a voice which does not suit him at all. Also, when Victor is singing, the song is not in sync with his lips moving. These kind of mistakes make the dramas6films less enjoyable to say the least.
I could go on commenting on this drama but it's enough I guess.
So to sum up, the best thing about this drama is the cooking and the fact that I could learn a thing or two about foods, cooking methods, ingredients etc... those parts I liked the most.
Will I rewatch it? Well, maybe only the episodes with the competiton. Those were really great.
For me this drama was disappointing.