3.5/5 stars
Trading the sun-drenched treks to some of Hong Kong’s most far-flung corners that featured in his idiosyncratic romantic comedy Far Far Away (2021) for the nocturnal intimacy of private domestic spaces, writer-director Amos Why (real name Wong Ho-yin) has created an ideal companion piece in The Dating Menu.If the dates between Sham Ka-ki’s IT professional and five attractive women in that earlier film were quirkily amusing, the encounters between Lo Chun-yip’s free-spirited drifter and his four dating app matches here strike a very different tone: laid-back yet bittersweet in their search for human connection.
Lo plays Hark Lam, a talented chef whose instinctual refusal to face reality sees the Japanese omakase restaurant he opened with two long-time friends suffer financially in post-pandemic Hong Kong. His stubbornness also prevents him from getting over the girlfriend he broke up with three years ago.
《廚師發辦》THE DATING MENU｜香港正式預告｜8月21日 準時發辦
Now living out of his compact camper van, Lam is encouraged by his pals to explore a dating app. But instead of moving on, he looks to the past, seeking to meet every “Zelda” he matches with – “Princess Zelda” being the username of his anonymous internet chat room crush 20 years ago.
Dining and Cooking