I wanted to love this drama- allegedly its part of a Happy T-drama series (Happy and Love Forever, Sunny Happiness (which was good) , and this one) that reused the same actors and built upon each other. I really loved Sunny Happiness because although it wasn’t original it was realistic and the “co-incidences” were low. Fresh off the drama high from Sunny Happiness I dove into Happy Michelin Kitchen ready for an intense drama marathon. I was sorely disappointed. Happy Michelin Kitchen also looks to be a knockoff of “Coffee Shop Prince” but there is a reason why it is always better to get the real thing.
The Good. A few handsome guys and interesting cuisine are the best points of this drama. I like strong female leads and this drama has one. There was also some really nice scenery shots and the flashbacks were at a minimum until the last few episodes.
The Bad. Its an awesome concept to reuse characters and actors from previous dramas- that way the dramas have a common thread. HMK re used characters but changed the personalities making it sooo confusing and difficult to accept and care about the new character being portrayed with the same actor, same name, same title, different personality. Speaking of characters, never have I been introduced to so many characters with back stories that I just didn’t care about. There was an overabundance of side stories and side situations that made my head spin- I could keep up but I just didn’t care. I like strong female characters, but for every strong female character there is generally one weak female character; I am okay with that – this is drama land after all. In HMK for every strong female character there is one weak female, one sick female, and one evil female (there are a lot of characters) clearly out numbering the men, and antagonizing the leads.
The one thing I dislike about most T-dramas is the tendency to go overboard. In MHK, there are accidental deaths, accidental pregnancies, secret births, miraculous healings, business take overs, plotting, a bunch of near death experiences, and heir issues. Way too much drama going on! The story line is polluted with all of the side-drama causing it to be forgettable, but it probably couldn’t stand alone anyway.
The Ugly. This drama is fashioned to initially resemble “Coffee Prince” DO NOT BE DECEIVED! I wrote this review so no more of my drama friends would be caught by this evil trick. This drama is nothing like Coffee Prince. Cheryl looks awful as a tomboy and to be honest I kept looking at her and saying “these people do not see her boobs?!”in disbelief. The costuming department should have been fired, because 80% of the actors looked like they shopped at a thrift store for people bigger than them. The hair/ makeup department should have been fired because not only was Cheryl’s wig an awful mess but too many characters looked old, shiny, or like their hair had never seen conditioner. And i saw Texas hair!! (big poofy kind of hair)
In short unless you love whiny, angry, creepy looking characters in situations where everyone is unknowingly really close, don’t watch this drama. Save yourself some anguish and time and just watch Coffee Shop Prince- or anything else. God Bless the subbers because I would have quit subbing around episode 5.
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While in the beginning it had a Coffee Prince feel to it. It quickly lost that feel. To me there were too many story lines, and way too many characters that did not need to be there. It easily could have been done in 16-20 episodes.
In the last 6 episodes did they change writers? They were some of the best written episodes of the series. Not the worse drama I watched definitely not the best.
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This review may contain spoilers
A good drama, different from 1st Prince coffee shop, with a cute romance
The start: gender drama version TW of 1st Prince Coffee shop:- poor but hardworking and warm "tomboy" + rich rebel and playboy heir.
- everyone ends up working in a "Prince restaurant"
Eye-catching!
Notable differences, however:
- the rich family is dispossessed of all their property (or almost)
- love triangles are multiple and complex,
- everyone has a +/- dark past (which we will discover later),
- economic rivalries are strong.
There are a few lengths in the 2nd third of the drama where we get bogged down a bit in economic rivalries and the cooking part.
But the main couple is super cute, with excellent chemistry (even if it really lacks skinship). Congratulations to these two actors!
The side romances are also well developed, with complex characters, which evolve subtly.
The whole is quite credible although there are "dramaland" parts (coincidences, very small world, sometimes you need to be indulgent, ...).
The OST are appropriate, without being particularly memorable.
The images are of good quality, especially the kitchen images.
Overall, I really liked this drama.
=> If you don't expect a story like 1st Prince Coffee Shop
=> If you do not compare with the previous duets of the actor couple
You will have a great time!
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