I started watching it by accident, because I noticed Park Jung Min's name in the cast list. Since I'm an SS501 fan and I have a particular attachment to Jung Min... I started watching it JUST for him, but it wasn't long until I got hooked on the actual drama. Beware though, for the first few episodes you will have to put up with an overload of sweetness and some pretty bad acting from Jung Min. Since he was the only reason for watching at first, I didn't have high expectations at all and just wanted to see him, so of course I kept watching. But if you're not a crazy Jung Min fan and are easily turned off by overly sweet moments, don't drop the drama after the first few episodes! You won't know what you're missing! Jung Min's acting improves considerably over the next few episodes and they gradually lessen the sugar a little bit :P but you will probably get used to it anyway.
To sum it up in a few words, this show has a very sweet and comical kind of romance accentuated by the playful character of Jung Min, good chemistry between the leads, some amusing bits and even some controlled drama. With emphasis on CONTROLLED. It's truly controlled in this one. They don't go overboard with it. It's just enough to keep the story going. I admit I cried at one point during the show (exactly halfway through) but that was the most emotional bit of the entire drama. Nothing exceeds that intensity afterwards. What I particularly like about this one is that there's no evil witch interfering with the main leads! She's actually interfering in the wrong couple, the other side of the love triangle, which only pushes Mi En more towards Xi Huan (Jung Min), so in other words the evil witch in this show actually... somehow... helps the leads to get closer. Which would've been beyond my wildest dreams for Asian dramas *-*
I just can't keep it short, I'm sorry. I'm trying though... There's something else I need to add about it: it's a very soothing drama. I think that's the word that fits it best. More than it is romantic and more than it is humorous, it is soothing. I enjoyed every second of it. I was always eager to watch another episode knowing it will put me in a good mood, because I could expect nothing bad from it. It is that kind of light drama that you can actually connect to and get attached to without risking to stir up a tornado of emotions inside of you. I especially appreciate how they handled the ending. In all the dramas I've watched so far, the ending disappointed me, even if just a bit. But this show's ending was just perfect. I could not have asked for a better ending. And it's not just the ending actually, they managed to handle all the romantic moments brilliantly. Most of the time, dramas have a hard time portraying key moments like confessions, proposals, endings etc. Because for the sake of emphasising the romance and importance of the moment they end up diverting a bit too much from the characters' personality and make the moment overly-romantic and awkward. I'm happy to say Fondant Garden had absolutely no awkward moment like that. I'm very appreciative of the fact that they managed to make all the romantic moments and especially the ending, fit to their personalities.
Music: Very fitting for this drama's style. It complements the mood of every scene perfectly. There are a few songs that will forever be stuck in my head: The intro song, the one Jung Min sings (he's got a remarkable voice!) and So Good by Kimberly Chen which was my absolute favourite from the entire show.
Acting: As I said above, it is lacking in the beginning on Park Jung Min's character, but it gets a lot better as the show progresses. The rest of them impersonated their characters flawlessly. Though some may say Jian Man Shu wasn't very believable at first. To me she was ok, except on very few scenes, maybe.
Give this drama a go! You have nothing to lose. You will either fall in love with it or just end up not connecting to it if it's not your style. In any case, it's not a waste of time, at the very least there will be some sweet moments that will remain in your mind :)
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Park Jung Min is seriously adorable in this, so if you are a fan, you will enjoy him in Korean (for parts) and in Taiwanese (dubbed). He brings so much to the character of Han Ji/Pu Xi Huan. Even though this is a comedy, he brings a lot of cute expressions that make him that much funnier.
The music for this drama is fairly well done. The opening theme is very cute, and on film, the opening theme is probably one of the most creative and bright in dramaland. The dramatic moment song is also beautiful. Both songs will stick with you.
The story itself is rather light hearted, although there are elements of melo laced within. Like any rich boy/ not as well-off girl drama with brothers, there is also family drama. Those parts are harder to get through, particularly in the earlier episodes. The drama as a whole doesn't really pick up, in my opinion, until episode 5, but the first four episodes are important for story development (so don't skip them.)
Overall, I found in Fondant Garden a much better drama than I expected from the outset. For a pick up drama (not one I wanted to watch initially), I rank it up there. It certainly is one of my favorite Taiwanese dramas, at any rate.
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It is a typical Taiwanese rom-com, but there were some features that made it stand out.
The characters were totally likable and even the 'bad' ones weren't as hateful as usual- well they might have been at one point maybe, but they at least had some quite logical explanation for their behavior.
The lead in this drama is actually a "good guy"! It happens so rarely that it's worth watching just for that reason.Park Jung Min is so freaking adorable and his character develops so well too. You just got to love Xi Huan (Don Ji^_^).
The only thing I have to complain about is that some plot lines were not so well-done(some unnecessary), and some ending solutions were too shallow (e.g. you despise someone for half the drama and suddenly you start to get along with them).But overall I wasn't too annoyed with that, and I still enjoyed this drama.
Quick word about music: some background tracks were overly dramatic and cheesy. Some made me laugh - like super bouncy confidence track for Mi En. But Park Jung Min song is really beautiful and gets me emotionally- so I rate the music high.
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Story: A straight, dummy-tested and proven formula:- heir to some wealthy business family pretends to be penniless to be with the woman he loves while his half brother plots to take over the family business. Throw in cakes and pastries and you get Fondant Garden. Personally, I am not adversed to recycling of storylines, especially when it appeals to the psyche and expectations of the audience it aims to attract (in this case - young fangirls of Park Jung Min's). Most successful dramas do not come from new and exciting storylines, but they come from the characters, the setting, the chemistry and the dialogues. This drama is no exception to this rule.
Acting/Cast: My biggest beef with the cast is the lead female actress. The woman cannot act to save her life! She was probably given the role because of her petite form and cute face. Other than that, a blown up doll could do a better job to excite the audience! The savior of this drama comes in the form of the two blokes - Park Jung Min and Kingone, especially Kingone! Jung Min's acting was a little shaky and inexperienced in the beginning but as the drama progresses, his acting improves a lot, to the point that he outshone the female lead by leaps and bounds in the final episode! I also like the fact that Jung Min is putting in serious effort into his Mandarin and his Mandarin is amongst one of the best for a Korean artist. Kingone is an experienced actor and I have been following his acting career for a while now. The bloke never acts in a leading role, preferring to be a supporting actor instead, but I reckon it is high time that he be offered a leading role in his own drama soon! Kudos to the supporting cast. They become the pillar in which this drama derives its successes from.
Music: Sweet sweet melody that reminds you of sweet young love. I particularly like Kimberley's "Ai Ni" (Love You) and Park Jung Min's "Bad Person".
Rewatch value: This is one drama that does not require much IQ power to watch. It is good entertainment for escaping the stress and realities of life. It brings out the closet Cinderellas in all of us.
Overall: Minus the poor acting of the lead actress and the mediocre storyline, I am giving this a 8/10 simply because of Kingone, the sweet music and rewatch value.
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It's a very cute romantic comedy drama.
Pretty much a pretty boy who comes from a rich family, just wants to have fun etc. So he pretends to be penniless and works in a pastry shop with the main girl.
I liked the cast for the most part. I didn't realize Jungmin was in this at first. Pretty surprised but his acting was A+ His expressions were perfect. Whether it was a happy, sad, frustrated, or cute expression. Kingone is always spot on. I love his acting. The main girl I didn't really love her all that. Same with her friend. I found them both to be annoying at times.
Music was okay. The opening theme was cute (as well as the graphics of it) and I absolutely loved the song Jungmin song Bad Person & Kimberly's Ai Ni. Both fit perfectly.
Overall this was such a refreshing drama to watch. At times I felt like the drama was dragging on a little bit but it's still one of my favorite Taiwanese dramas. Would definitely recommend this to first time tdrama watchers ~
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The cast was ok overall with Kingone being the most experience of the lot. Hes d second male lead and started off well before his chacracters faults and choices made it downhill journey. Our lead actor is fresh faced Park Jung min. Hes cute alright but his character is immature and even after i cross 2/3 of the drama his character didnt grow on me. Still cutesy most of the time and lacking in substance. Its either the fault of the actor being one dimensional or the script and directing or both. The main actress Man Su acting as Mi En is equally cute and visually looks a good pairinh with Jung Min. But again the script and plot layering too deep on cliche sweetness, i didny even enjoy their interaction and relationship much. So in the end im not sold on their romance and find myself waddling in muddy paddyfield. Each episode feels longer and hard to get by.
I saw some people enjoyed this drama. So i have to say its really a matter of taste. Im a dark chocolate lover but being forced-fed with overly sweet white chocolate. Thats how it felt. So if you dont like the overly cute fluffy without substance drama then this drama isnt cut out for you. As in my case.
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a comedy turned bad
It starts as a very sweet romcom, with nice faces and funny encounters, mouth-watering recipes and everything... The mature ML has great chemistry with the FL, but the writers decided otherwise, and despite the reciprocal love and tenderness of this couple, they make some twists and pair the FL with the immature younger ML ! Honestly, i didnt like this, it's like saying that being hard-working, dedicated, sensible etc etc values nothing on a personal level! Also, it's nothing funny when you pull out the amnesia trick and make the ML forget the love of his life.My guess is that the director was biased and wanted to give credit to the popular korean ML...
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Story---Okay...I am Korean drama addict and i was expecting it to be different...In this i hate the only thing that..in almost EVERY taiwanese drama the main leads get together in almost last episodes!The first episodes main girl is with other supporting lead and have quick romance...I am pure girl and i hate such things like this!But the idea of this story was really good i think!I love all sweets so this was like...like heaven for my eyes!The whole amnesia thing was also very good but as i said...i hate the thing about getting-together-at-last-episodes.
Acting----I love Park Jung Min and his smile is addicting..he was cute and bubbly and all things u can think of but main girl...I think she didn't tried hard...I didn't see like BIG chemistry in this..Yes there was but for me good chemistry is when i think they are couple in real life too!
Music---Kimberly Chen did amazing job with her song that was played there so often so i fell in love with it!^_^
Rewatch value----Since i last saw it i rewatched it 3 times i think and only my favourite moments...As i said above i hate the one thing in taiwanese dramas so....That's why i am kind of angry?Anyway to those who love sweets keep rewatching!<3
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Story: Again, the first few episodes were alright. It was easy to tell where things would go and what purpose characters would serve in the story. Some characters, like the grandma, were simply caricatures and had no personality beyond hating one character. After episode 8, the plot goes in circles and becomes repetitive. The show itself felt too long. Each episode could have easily been shortened to 45 minutes to save the viewers time.
Acting: Kingone Wang was stellar in his role, Park Jung Min was very good at the cute and energetic scenes but left much to be desired as far as emotional depth went. I found the two female actresses to be annoying, and they weren't very good actresses.
Music: The music was nice and sweet. Nothing I would put on my iPod, but decent.
Rewatch Value: "Fondant Garden" isn't the type of drama you would rewatch. It brings nothing new to the world of dramas and most of its scenes can be found in other dramas.
Overall: Its okay, but there's so much better out there. I would recommend skipping this one.
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Grandma really was something else. She made me really mad!
Other than those 2 characters I thought this was a cute drama.
Wang Kingone is gorgeous.
I always love watching someone else make cake!
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