This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans Review: No Beans, Nor Sizzle
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
When Chef Oab’s love life goes up in smoke, he cooks up a contest to find a worthy heir for his bean-free restaurant. But little does he know that his top contestant is secretly working for the shady businessman trying to take it all!
Directed by Nui Suttasit, the Thai series “This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans” (รักนี้ไม่มีถั่วฝักยาว) is based on the novel “No Beans and Love Me More” by Ninepinta. The eight-episode show stars Sailub Hemmawich Kwanamphaiphan and Pon Thanapon Aiemkumchai as leads, Oab and Plawan, respectively. Oab’s restaurant has a curious specialty – they do not serve dishes with long beans because his ex-girlfriend Khaosuay (Belle Jiratchaya Kittavornsakul) used to be allergic to them. Hence the title “This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans.”
Episode one begins on a funny note that sets the stage for a mild ‘enemies to lovers’ transition between the leads. Plawan turns up at Oab’s restaurant to make a video log about the food, even though the place strictly prohibits cameras. An angry Oab throws Plawan out of the restaurant when he catches him recording, so the two get off on the wrong foot.
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Benz Atthanin Thaninpanuvivat plays Methas, an arrogant, unscrupulous businessman who wants to buy Oab’s restaurant and tear it down for a bigger project. But Oab wants his restaurant to continue running, so he hosts a competition to ensure someone truly passionate about food gets to take over his place. Plawan strikes a deal with Methas to enter and win the competition, but as he spends more time with Oab, a romance brews between the two, complicating Plawan’s plans to betray Oab. A secondary plot focuses on Methas slowly falling for Plawan’s best friend JJ (Garfield Pantach Kankham), who becomes Methas’ physiotherapist. The obnoxious millionaire falling for his feisty physiotherapist made for a more exciting romance drama.
It’s hilariously silly that Plawan is a young model who loves to eat but cannot even cook a decent omelette, yet becomes a serious contender in Oab’s competition, which is heavily cooking-based. I wish he had better credentials or some cooking experience to make the plot slightly believable, but fine, let’s pretend people become amazing chefs in a matter of days. However, Pon Thanapon Aiemkumchai doesn’t possess the charm to play the protagonist. Not only is his character shallow, childish, and annoying, but Pon is also unable to elevate Plawan’s personality to be endearing despite the flaws. Sailub Hemmawich Kwanamphaiphan, on the other hand, is great as the moody, strict, perfectionist Chef Oab, who has a kind heart.
Pon and Sailub were paired romantically in the racing-themed drama “Pit Babe” and didn’t leave much of an impression on me, so I didn’t even mention them in the review. In “This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans,” Sailub proves that he is lead material and can helm a show on his own. The same cannot be said about Pon Thanapon Aiemkumchai. Yes, there’s some decent chemistry between the two, but the secondary leads – Garfield Pantach Kankham and Benz Atthanin Thaninpanuvivat as Methas and JJ – are more entertaining. It would’ve been more fun to see more of Methas and JJ’s romance, with Garfield and Benz having a slightly more believable romance.
Aon Kasama Khamtanit plays a contestant called Kluea, who also likes Plawan (for no good reason), and there’s some conflict there. A scene in one of the later episodes shows Kluea trying to kiss Plawan when he is sleeping, and it was extremely infuriating to watch. Why are shows still portraying characters who are supposedly ‘good’ trying to engage in non-consensual intimacy? If it came from an antagonist, I would still understand the creepy, unacceptable behavior, but Kluea is portrayed as a nice guy with, well, an unhealthy crush on Plawan. Belle Jiratchaya Kittavornsakul as Oab’s ex also makes an entry in the second-half of the show, triggering some jealousy and insecurities (obviously) in Plawan, just when things were getting serious between him and Oab.
“This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans” is gratingly predictable. The first episode itself establishes what the primary conflict is going to be about, and the creators don’t even try to surprise viewers in any way. A lot of the food scenes and plating scenes were fun to watch; the cinematography for the cooking bits is sure to make viewers hungry, but the plot failed to keep me engaged.
If you’re up for a no-brainer romance with food as its primary theme and plot as the secondary priority, “This Love Doesn’t Have Long Beans” might be a decent one-time watch.
Rating: 5 on 10. Watch the series on iQIYI.
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