HKIFF Film Review: The Dating Menu 廚師發辦 (2026) - Hong Kong
Reviewed at the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2026
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critic Circle of Australia)
I rated it 7.5/10
Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
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A Multi-Course Meal for the Soul - Here is a film about hunger—the kind that rumbles in your stomach and the kind that keeps you awake at 2 a.m. scrolling through faces that all start to blur together. Amos Why and Frankie Chung's "The Dating Menu" understands that these hungers are not so different. Both are cravings we try to name, to portion out, to make sense of before they consume us.
The setup is deceptively simple: a weary chef (Lo Chun Yip, doing beautiful, understated work) designs omakase menus for four different women he meets through dating apps. Each dish becomes a love letter he can't quite write with words. The camera lingers on the food the way Bergman lingered on faces—with reverence and a touch of melancholy. A steam egg with tofu and minced pork isn’t just a dish; it's hope. An Italian creation without feeling is the taste of something ending before you're ready.
I am a sucker for movies that trust their images to do the heavy lifting, and this one has confidence to spare. Two of Hong Kong cinema most promising - Rachel Leung and Renci Yeung are the standouts among the "dates," bringing performances that feel lived-in rather than performed. They don't exist to teach the chef lessons; they arrive with their own baggage, their own quiet desperations. When Leung's character eats too much prawns or guys that caused the skin allergies, you've met this woman. Maybe you've been her. Yeung is the successful hardworking business woman whose lingers in childhood memories crossed reality of where to go next. It simple ends before it can begin.
What elevates "The Dating Menu" beyond its rom-com skeleton is its honest, unsentimental portrait of post-pandemic Hong Kong. Amos Why, who explored similar terrain in "Far Far Away," understands that small restaurants aren't just businesses—they're churches, support groups, lifelines. The film's anxiety about rising rents and disappearing customers isn't window dressing. It's the quiet dread humming beneath every beautiful shot of international cuisine.
The flaws are honest ones. The episodic structure (Woman #1, Woman #2, etc.) gives the film a slightly choppy rhythm. Some courses are Michelin-starred; others are merely competent. The second act sags in places, and you may find yourself checking your watch during one or two of the weaker vignettes. The "Zelda" framing device—a childhood crush who haunts the narrative—works more as a structural necessity than an emotional anchor. It could’ve been so much more.
But here's the thing about "The Dating Menu": it isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. It's trying to remind you why the wheel matters. In an era of algorithm-driven loneliness, where we swipe through human beings like Netflix thumbnails, this film proposes a radical alternative: sit down. Look someone in the eye. Share a meal. Be awkward. Be real. Try again.
I left the theater hungry. Not just for sushi, though definitely for good old traditional Chinese food. Hungry for conversation that isn't mediated by a screen. Hungry for the kind of accidental, messy connection that no app can promise. That's not a bad thing to feel at the movies. That's the whole point. It will make you believe in second helpings. (Neo, 2026)
