S. Yue Michaelis

Natsuki Obana (Takuya Kimura) is a chef, specializing in French cuisine. He runs a restaurant in Paris that has earned 2 stars from Michelin Guide. Natsuki Obana is confident, but he suffers from pressure trying to attain 3 stars. An unexpected case takes place. Due to that, he loses his restaurant and colleagues. Under a very difficult situation, he meets female chef Rinko Hayami (Kyoka Suzuki). They decide to start a restaurant together and struggle to make the restaurant 3 stars. (asiawiki-2019)


Ahhh my kind of drama. I love to see underdogs getting together and fighting for the same goal, defeating the most powerful rival along the way. Yes, in a "One Piece" kinda way. There has to be a "leader", someone that glues the team (in this case, Obana and Rinko together); there has to be a common goal (to make a 3-stars Michelen restaurant); there has to be nakamas that come one by one (old coworkers from Obana, who used to resent him but who were also his best friends); there has to be good and capable sidekicks outside their team (the guy who sells the best vegetables in Japan); there has to be more grand rivals (a more expensive restaurant + a food connoisseur) and of course, there has to be a sort of competition that brings the best and worst of all teams.

The camera angles were excellent and it helped to make the food look even more delicious. Since this is a gourmet drama, there are tons of food screens, and many dishes were mouthwatering. I confess I prefer my meat to be well done (not rare) so everything that was meat was a bit MEH for me. But it is an inspirational drama at the same time, it made me long for a talent, the same these guys had and that made them spend hours and hour and even the whole night, to make a dish perfect.

As for the cast, my favorite was Suzuki Kyoka (Rinko), such a fine lady! The boss in the restaurant, the one that risks everything to have a 3-stars restaurant. Not only she is a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL lady, but she was also one of the best actors, in a veteran cast. The other one that I liked a lot was Onoe Kikunosuke (Tango)... he is a Kabuki actor (therefore, his strange features) and I have to say, are all stage actors so good?? So far, when I encounter a stage actor, i am amazed at their talent, they are even better than mainstream actors, by far. Yes, Kimura Takuya is good but not THAT good. And I still saw him as Kimura the entire drama, seems like his roles are all copies of him.

The worst I have to say was Tamamori Yuta (Sorry Tama!). It is not that he is a bad actor, but among all the veterans he was kinda bad, specially when he was shouting and pouting. So I am not even bothered that I didn't see his spin-off or that the subber didn't sub the last 5 minutes of every episode. Yes, I was a bit lost at the end, with his relationship with his girlfriend, etc, but it wasn't important to the main story, so it was fine.

ED song was MEH, 2 points out of 10. Didn't like the voice, and didn't fit the story.

Inogashira Goro, a private merchant who personally runs his imported dry goods business on his own. Being a man of a few words, he prefers to live an uncomplicated, solitary lifestyle. He smokes but doesn't drink alcohol. He also has a very healthy appetite. In between meetings with clients in various towns, Inogashira makes it a point to visit different eateries, try out their tasty dishes, and discover the best way to eat them. These eateries are real places in Tokyo serving the actual food featured in the drama. ~~ Based on Kusumi Masayuki and Taniguchi Jiro's manga of the same name (mydramalist-2012)


For anyone who likes to watch Gourmet channels and/or Travel shows, this would be highly enjoyable and recommended. It doesn't really have a plot: Goro-san has a job that is related to importation goods, so he goes here and there to meet his clients. That takes around 3 minutes of the show. Then he walks down the neighborhood where he is visiting, makes some remarks about the place, while we the audience can enjoy beautiful sights of the Japanese town. There are mostly in Tokyo, but he also visits the outside, like Chiba. That takes around 3 minutes as well.

Then, he suddenly stops and makes a funny expression. "Ah... I am hungry". Zoom out, zoom out, with a funny OST. This happens all the time, and after that, he goes looking for a restaurant/dining, which is mostly a familiar, cozy, simple one. He orders his food.. it is always different, but 99% of the time, one of his side dish would be rice. Goro-san loves rice (there is an episode where he even eats his neapolitan spaghetti with rice!). Actually, he loves any kind of food. He is the happiest man on Earth when he is eating. While he is eating, internally he is commenting about his food. ""Ii janaika", is mostly his remark XD He loves it, he is so happy to have picked THAT place and THAT food. And how he eats! You wonder how such a skinny man can eat so much and be that thin. Sometimes he orders 2, 3 different things. And he eats so fast, even when the food is super hot.

The last 3 minutes is the author of the dorama going to the same dining and eating almost always the same food. My, how happy his author is! You can't help but be happy with him, he is 100% smiles.

I loved this, I realized I had to have my dinner first before watching an episode, since all dishes are mouthwatering.