Story 06/10, Character 05/10, sound 07/10
The source story is fairly predictable as the modern day chef tries to make sense of ancient China, playing her cooking skills to stay alive. The entire arranged marriage and winning the spouse over with fabulous food ... well ... that would probably still work today, as the old saying goes "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach". The sound, music and OST are all good.
What lets this entire arc down is the main character is the stereo-typical whiny heroine everywhere except the kitchen (where she's a supremely confident Boss Lady), and at times it got so annoying I wanted to slap her. This is a shame because the story having a mix of comedy, romance, drama and food is actually not too bad.
Art 10/10
Everything else aside, this is a very, very pretty anime. The scenery is gorgeous and the food looks very tasty.
Enjoyment 08/10, overall 07/10
If you turn off your brain and just go with the flow, this is an easy to watch anime with nice touches throughout. I wish there were some more character development, but I am guessing this is based on a comic so there might be a season 2.
Subs 10/10
Shout out to Mizore x 33 for the wonderful, humorous subs with current anime pop culture references, interesting vignettes and historical references explained. These subs alone were worth +1 points in Enjoyment.
Foodie Rating 08/10
* 10/10 Visual appeal of food - mouth watering
* 09/10 Reaction of characters to food - the reactions are pretty over the top and quite creative, but not ecchi.
* 08/10 Difficulty or complexity of food featured - Has a good mix of simple and complex - some of these recipes are not for beginners.
* 05/10 Preparation or Cooking Instructions - it's show, don't tell. I could figure out some of them but a narration would have helped a lot.
* 08/10 Desire of viewer to cook or buy dishes featured after watching show - Now craving fried rice, and cold desserts.
