I think I set myself up for failure with this drama. I waited patiently to binge this show and was met with a twinge... of disappointment. Perhaps I over hyped it up in my head? Don't get me wrong it was certainly cute, but it wasn't lacking in its ability to give me a headache with the absolutely ridiculous way some things were written. I mean......c'mon there is only so much evil a girl can take.

So what were the issues for me?

1. Strong start full of intrigue that ended up feeling up like a major 'catfish' in the end. I think this drama was not paced well, a lot of the important moments happened very early on in the drama and left the middle and end feeling lack luster.

2. The male lead. Visuals? All there. Romance? Not really babes. I liked how he was not afraid to be emotional during really trying times, but I felt like he didn't add to his relationship to the FL (she was soooo cute btw). It was like the drama would create a cute moment b/t the ML and FL and then it was over and BLAH. It was not lasting and honestly I was more invested in his medical issues that his portrayal of his love for the FL. Sad tbh because they looked stellar together.

3. The romance. I usually pride myself in being able to read between the lines and follow subtle cues that indicate the building of a budding romance, but if I am being frank there were something cute going on in the beginning that simmered out in the middle episodes and then felt like it was dumped onto the ending. I could not distinguish where the leads started catching feelings and where they definitely fell in love, especially the ML. I am sad to say that the romance felt like an after thought overshadowed by unnecessary IMO villains in the show and other added issues.

4. Tons of villains and no justice! Like actually I was aghast at this part of the drama. Elise (ML's ex gf and bff apparently) was detestable, committed crimes, lacked common sense, was dubbed terribly and just WOW! Elise was the most horrible drama villainess I have encountered in a long time and never gets her karma, which was all the more frustrating. The doctor who helped Elise because he had a crush on her was equally as despicable, I am dumbfounded by how he escaped it all unscathed. The third villain, the FL's own cousin was also aggravating to watch, so mean and hateful for really no reason because she gave the go ahead on the the situation that made her angry in the end. She at the very least had some karma come her way. Then there was 'little cheater' Victor, who truthfully should have been disqualified the first round for what he did, it made me want to slap him through the screen. UGH! Boris(ML's old friend turned enemy and the cousin's mentor) was also annoying but he had a successful turn around by the end of the drama, so I am more forgiving of his character. But jeez, all of these damn villains and they took up like 80% of the screen time with all of their schemes, hardly was there any time for the ML and FL. The amount of skipping I was doing to watch the best parts was ungodly, I almost gave up half way through. It was all too much, it made me question whether or not the leads would even have a semblance of happiness in the end.

5. WHY DID NOBODY SAY ANYTHING!!! The amount of times the villains did something to the main leads and nobody would say anything about it. No disqualifications from the cooking competition, reporting illegal activity to the police, speaking up to defend themselves, or even direct scolding. It made my blood boil. So many opportunities to put an end to the madness and make those in the wrong pay for their distasteful actions and nothing. Believe me I was seething through the majority of this drama.


Redeeming Qualities:

1. The FL, played by Song Zu Er was so enjoyable to watch. She was cute, funny, and had a toughness to her. I first saw her in
"To Fly With You," a drama about ice sports and set on a college campus; I was a fan immediately. TFWY has become a fav C-drama for me and I highly recommend it over this one. Her acting here was good but the story line was just a whole mess unfortunately. I look forward to her future projects.

2. The background music was lovely. Several songs were added to my playlist. I highly recommend looking up the OST or Shazaming as you watch.

3. The food p*rn was top notch, it was delicious to watch. Made me mad hungry every episode.

4. The cute parts with the main leads were so sweet and almost made all the frustrating parts disappear from my mind. Their pairing was so visually pleasant. ( I recommend just looking up clips of the fluffy parts and sparring yourselves the agony of the drama tbh.)


If you like torturing yourself through makjang type dramas and crave lots of villain screen time this is the drama for you! I think this drama would have been amazing if the writing was better, there was too many characters to hate and the unpleasant moments outweighed the cuteness and romance that was supposed to be between the leads. In theory its a riveting drama, but laid out in front of me, I was left feeling like I wasted lots of time. I wish that it measured up to expectations more given how much time I invested in it. I am a generous rater so I won't say it was deplorable or give it less than a "6" bc it did make my heart flutter every once in a while and was still watchable....for the most part (skip the middle eps honestly). I will never rewatch this, it stressed me out far too much but I will look out for more works by the ML and FL.


*I author this with respect to all participating actors, actresses, directs, screen writers, etc., these are simply my opinions nothing more and nothing less*