Review of Fry Me to the Moon /
今天的她们

In the period right before I went to study abroad in Busan, South Korea, on a fully funded government scholarship, I was on such a massive drama kick. I was watching a lot of content in general because I’d turned in my master’s thesis, which meant I was finally free from the confines of school, even if somewhat temporarily this was happening.

I especially was interested in watching more Chinese dramas, even though I honestly only really know about the big ones coming from Mainland China.

During this time I was also having a big phase about relearning Mandarin, as I realized I was forgetting what I studied throughout all of these years.

That’s how I landed on Fry Me to the Moon. I was scrolling through the Chinese section on Viki when I saw it, and if you know me in real life, I’m such a sucker for food. Food shows especially hit all of the right notes within me, so when I read for the synopsis for this, it had me hooked immediately.

And that was how I binge watched this show! Let’s get into the review before I ramble too much.

The story of three women and how they became involved with one restaurant in Chengdu, China.

We have three main female characters in this movie: Lu Zhen Zhen, Liang Qing Ran, and Gu Man Ting. We first get to know Lu Zhen Zhen in this series, as her return to Chengdu from working in another city sparks the events that happen within the series.

Turns out the restaurant she was working at, with her boyfriend Si Yuan, is taken over by a capital company led by Qing Ran. This is what forces Zhen Zhen to return home.

Gu Man Ting, who is struggling with her marriage, also has a problem with the capital company. Her father’s beloved restaurant has been struggling financially, and eventually it’ll lead to the restaurant being taken over in a hostile manner. Zhen Zhen tries to help her out, but then they couldn’t escape that debt.

They’re thrown out of the restaurant by the capital company, and then they decide to take matters into their own hands and start a new one. Man Ting’s father dies because of the stress of losing his restaurant, which leads to even more motivation to take down the capital company.

As we get peeks and glimpses into their romantic lives on the side, the two women decide to open up a restaurant right down the street from the restaurant that was stolen from them. With a slightly more upscale topic, it looks like they’re going to do well.

But then the capital company gets involved in such scummy ways, putting them back in trajectory with Qing Ran. As Qing Ran struggles with her job too, she realizes the value of her work and has to make a difficult decision on how to proceed.

Lots of drama involving the restaurants throughout the course of this show, as well as some well defined love towards the regional cuisine in Chengdu.

Some of the food shots in the show were absolutely gorgeous, and I wanted to eat the food right off of the plate that in front of me on-screen. I wished I could go to China and their restaurant! It felt like artistry, which was odd for an Asian drama in that sense.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this drama! It had the right balance of focusing on the romance along with the girls and their individual stories.

I felt like I got to know the characters, but it wasn’t fueled solely by romance. That tends to be my gripe with the more popular Asian dramas, as I’m someone who believes that romance isn’t the only way to propel a story.

I do enjoy those dramas occasionally, but it is refreshing to see something do it differently.

I say watch this show if you’re interested in the premise. Give it a chance! I was so surprised by it, as I had literally never heard of the show, and finished it pretty quickly.

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