{"id":77763,"date":"2026-08-19T21:28:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=77763"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:28:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T13:28:53","slug":"review-the-dating-menu-movie-review-a-drifter-chef-looks-to-connect-in-wistful-romantic-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=77763","title":{"rendered":"Review | The Dating Menu movie review: a drifter chef looks to connect in wistful romantic drama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/08\/18\/45198b66-2069-45df-bda2-50f309aa5ed8_09454f97.jpg?itok=JsVTwMoN&amp;v=1787023146\" \/><\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><strong data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa17\">3.5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Trading the sun-drenched treks to some of Hong Kong\u2019s most far-flung corners that featured in his idiosyncratic romantic comedy <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Far Far Away<\/em><\/span> (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 <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Dating Menu<\/em>.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">If the dates between Sham Ka-ki\u2019s IT professional and five attractive women in that earlier film were quirkily amusing, the encounters between <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Lo Chun-yip<\/span>\u2019s 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.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">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.<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"methode-html-wrapper oembed-wrapper e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"e2gky7d0 e1drg7e30 e1ciypty0 ehdmpxk0 css-1avyp1d e1hpd36k0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<div class=\"e1hpd36k3 css-79hwxn e1x11wau0\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-VideoTitleContainer\"><default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"25\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 25\" fill=\"none\" data-qa=\"SCMPYouTubeVideoFooter-StyledVideoRecorder\" class=\"css-1nnwg93 e1x11wau1\"><default:path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M22 6.22926V18.4315L17.5463 13.9868V17.8655C17.5463 18.1618 17.4383 18.4248 17.2228 18.6531C17.0067 18.8829 16.7498 18.9967 16.4537 18.9967H3.13414C2.80989 18.9967 2.53968 18.8829 2.32425 18.6531C2.10808 18.4248 2 18.1618 2 17.8655V6.79519C2 6.49893 2.10808 6.23665 2.32425 6.00688C2.53968 5.77858 2.80989 5.66333 3.13414 5.66333H16.4537C16.7498 5.66333 17.0067 5.77858 17.2228 6.00688C17.4383 6.23665 17.5463 6.49893 17.5463 6.79519V10.674L22 6.22926Z\" fill=\"#001246\"\/><\/default:svg><\/p>\n<p>\u300a\u5eda\u5e2b\u767c\u8fa6\u300bTHE DATING MENU\uff5c\u9999\u6e2f\u6b63\u5f0f\u9810\u544a\uff5c8\u670821\u65e5 \u6e96\u6642\u767c\u8fa6<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">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 \u201cZelda\u201d he matches with \u2013 \u201cPrincess Zelda\u201d being the username of his anonymous internet chat room crush 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3364289\/dating-menu-movie-review-drifter-chef-looks-connect-wistful-romantic-drama?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3.5\/5 stars Trading the sun-drenched treks to some of Hong Kong\u2019s most far-flung corners that featured in his idiosyncratic romantic comedy Far Far Away (2021)&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[809,9337,913,8816,28533,739,1543,28,9222,28534],"class_list":["post-77763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-chef","tag-connect","tag-dating","tag-drama","tag-drifter","tag-menu","tag-movie","tag-review","tag-romantic","tag-wistful","wpcat-33-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}