A TASTE OF LOVE

‘Prodigy Chef’ - MA YUI learns that his boss, a Chinese restaurant owner CHUI will come for dinner, so he prepares some of the restaurant specialties for him. CHUI appreciates his cooking and feels sad about his son SHEUNG YAU. Two years later, after CHUI’s funeral, the present chef for the restaurant goes on strike. SHEUNG YAU kicks him out and says that he can handle the restaurant. This comforts his mother KUK. CHUI’s illegitimate daughter GEE) inherited half of the restaurant. She is wondering whether she should give up teaching to run the restaurant. SHEUNG YAU is not interested in running the restaurant. His uncle JOE suggests he should sell it and tells him that someone is prepared to buy it for $2 million. The potential buyer is CHUI’s long-term enemy KUNG, the owner of another competing restaurant. When SHEUNG YAU finds out that GEE holds half of the restaurant shares, he tries to persuade her to sell it.… ...

YAU scares off customers, hoping to make GEE give up the restaurant. PUNG suggests hiring YUI to be the chef. GEE finds out that YUI is selling fish soup in a street store. When she invites him to work in her restaurant, he will only consider it if she knows how to make a tasty fish soup. GEE’s friend, YEE suggests her to ask a famous chef SUN. SUN invites his boss, YUEN and two other critics to try his new recipes. They love the dishes and say that no one can beat him in cooking, but this reminds him of his colleague YUI. SUN loves MAY, but she is being difficult. GEE finds out the recipe for fish soup, but YUI still turns her down and annoys her. PUNG tells her that he will be convinced if she mentions CHUI, so she talks to him again but he still turns down her offer even though he is shocked to learn that CHUI is dead.

GEE announces she will give all staff a 30 % pay rise if the restaurant makes a profit. Everyone is excited and works hard. When YAU sees them serving customers well, he feels betrayed and only finds out that they are just acting later. GEE meets YUI during a student home visit. He is reminded of CHUI’s help when he sees her cooking for her student. He agrees to work for her on condition that he is in charge of everything. YUI kicks YAU out of the kitchen when he is not co-operative. YUEN’s daughter, PO is back from Swissland. YUEN asks her to work for him, but she feels awkard as she studied music instead of business which YUEN expected of her. SUN advises her to tell YUEN the truth. YUI moves to Lamma. He is upset when he looks at the wedding ring, which reminds him so much of MAY.

YUI decides to attract more customers with the restaurant’s specials. GEE has also set some rules for the employees. JOE secretly destroys some promotion boards. GEE knows that KUK hates men who have a mistress, so she dares not to tell her her real identity to preserve CHUI’s image. Everyone is late to work on the first day. GEE is forced to deduct their salary. There are not enough crabs in stock. GEE has to rush to Aberdeen to buy some. Finally, the daily income rises. Everyone but YUI is excited. Some customers complain that the dishes PUNG cooked are too small. YUI forces GEE to punish him. She feels awkard and eventually PUNG leaves. YAU challenges YUI’s cooking in order to keep PUNG. However, YUI wins. GEE asks everyone to admit their wrongdoings if they want to keep PUNG. Meanwhile, KUK arrives and criticises her for firing PUNG.

PUNG tells KUK and GEE that he has wanted to retire for a long time and relieves them. PO gets on to YAU’s boat to take some photographs. He thinks that she is a thief and she accidentally pushes him off the boat. YAU threatens to leave the restaurant if PUNG leaves. YUI scolds him for wasting his cooking talent. Everyone sents PUNG off, but YAU is scared of saying goodbye to him. SUN tells MAY that he likes her a lot, but he reminds her of YUI. She turns him down with excuse. On DONALD’s wedding anniversary party, PO sings a song for him and causes some gossip which annoys YUEN. YAU starts to worry when he does not hear from PUNG after he left. Later he finds out that PUNG did not go back to his home village and starts looking for him. All the employees decide to leave when they see YUI not caring about PUNG.

GEE criticises YUI for not having a team spirit, so she leaves to look for PUNG with YAU. A customer tells YUI that his cooking is much better than his attitude towards others. PUNG is delighted when he sees YAU and GEE inviting him back to the restaurant. YAU assumes that GEE likes him, so he promises her that he will learn from YUI. GEE works very hard in the restaurant, so YEE tries to persuade her to quit. She turns down her suggestion because she has promised her father to take care of YAU. YAU overhears their conversation. JOE’s plot of taking advantage from selling the restaurant to KUNG is exposed. YAU decides to sell his boat. GEE tries to ask for a deferral from KUNG who is in love with her from first sight. YAU, GEE and YUI go to Lau Fu Shan to buy some oysters. Both YUI and GEE have picked up some oysters which are bearing pearls. The shop owner says that this is an unbelievable coincidence, which makes GEE happy.

MAY agrees to go for a concert with SUN. On the way to meet him, she sees him being close to PO and thinks that he is dating two girls at the same time. In fact, PO was being dragged to a ball by YUEN and in order to leave for a recording session, she lied to YUEN saying that she was dating SUN. SUN is upset when he does not see MAY at the meeting point. Everyone notices that YAU likes GEE. They try to pull them together in a party. When YUI finds out that YAU is drunk and has walked into GEE’s room, he rushes in. GEE knows that he has already realised her secret. When she asks him to keep it, YAU overhears it and feels humiliated. SUN urges PO to clarify their relationship in case MAY has misinterpreted it. She suggests to meet MAY and explains to her in person. However, she causes more confusion during the meeting. YAU is embarassed to see GEE again the next day. NAR is joking with them and makes him leave angrily.… ...

KUK finds CHUI’s cook book for YUI and GEE hoping that it could boost the business. JOE reminds GEE about their one month pledge. YUI kicks YAU out of the kitchen because his heart is not in it. He tells him that GEE works so hard for the restaurant only because she wants to fulfil their father’s last wish. That night, it still needs a couple of thousand dollars worth of business to balance the expenses. Suddenly, a big group of neighbours come to have night food. GEE knows it is YAU’s trick and is delighted. SUN announces in front of his colleagues that he only likes MAY and impresses her. YUEN interrogates PO about her relationship with SUN, she tells him the truth and says that she only wants to be a singer, so YUEN orders her to finish her degree in Swissland. SUN wants to resign but is turned down by YUEN. He tells him that PO has left home. PO and YAU have an argument again.

YUEN cuts all financial support to PO. She cannot pay her bills. Luckily, YUI is willing to pay for her. NAR tries to work less, so she suggest YU to work in the restaurant and try to get close to YAU. She also plays a trick to get GEE to hire more staff. PO sees the employment notes in the restaurant when she thinks that she might have to sleep on the street. NAR is annoyed when PO is hired first and assumes that YUI has a plan for her. However, he tells GEE that PO looks like his dead sister. Although MAY knows that SUN is very good to her, she cannot accept him totally. He has a business trip to Taiwan. When he learns that MAY has a cold, he asks someone to send her congee straight away and impresses her. She then decides to start over with him and forget about YUI. GEE loses YUI’s wedding ring.… ...

SUN learns that YUI is working in Lamma and decides to pay him a visit. When he sees the order, he is sure that the customer is SUN. He asks to see him after the meal but he avoids him. PO sees SUN and tries to hide from him, but he has spotted her already. He sees YUI at the pier and tells him that he is wasting his time in Lamma. Although he wants to compete with him again, he turns him down. SUN wants to serve some famous cooks before the Internation Cooking Meeting and YUEN supports him. YAU is jealous of YUI’s care towards PO and plays a trick on her. SUN’s ‘Ancient banquet’ is praised by all the good cooks and brings YUEN pride. May is surprised that SUN is not very excited. He shocks MAY when he says that he still has a competitor, YUI.

MAY is confused, but she decides to treasure SUN after talking to YEE. KUNG gives GEE a matching shirt and makes everyone realise that he is persuing her. The Regional Committee wants to elect a “most representative seafood restaurant in Lamma” and holds a competition between KUNG’s and YUI’s restaurant. YU and KUNG fail to ask some outside cooks to help. In order to compete with YUI, SUN voluntees. YAU and PO have an argument with KUNG. He finally suggests to have a bet on the competition with the restaurant sign. YUI disappears with an excuse. In order to save the restaurant sign, YAU has to be the competitor. He loses the first two rounds, so he decides to cook the third dish in his own way. Although it is appreciated, he still loses. SUN senses something wrong with the whole contest and is disappointed to find out that he is not competing with YUI.

YAU is depressed with the failure. YUI explains to GEE that he has left the competition in order to inspire YAU. YU and KUNG come to take the restaurant sign. Although GEE is reluctant, she obeys the deal. YAU asks YUI to be his mentor. YUEN feels shame when he sees PO working as a waitress in Lamma and asks her to come home, but she insists on doing whatever she likes. YUI is delighted when YAU pays attention to his teaching. JOE is shocked and happy when his mistress, CHING, becomes pregnant. She asks him to buy her a flat. GEE visits her student HONG and his sister. Meanwhile, YUI is cooking for them. She is moved knowing that YUI has been looking after them.

JOE cheat KWAI out of $500,000. NAR discovers his plot and blackmails him a posh handbag. WONG suspects that JOE and NAR are having an affair and tells PUNG about it. Somehow, KWAI and KUK overhear it. KUK interrogates NAR over her relationship with JOE and learns about CHING’s present, so she and KWAI look for her. YUI teaches YAU how to cook lobster with eggs. PO and YU both support him. KUK and KWAI follow JOE to CHING’s place but are found out. When JOE gets home, he asks KWAI to accept CHING because of her pregnancy. Both KUK and KWAI are heartbroken.

PO’s album is suspended half way through. She decides to finish it with her own money. YUI lets YAU practise with real lobsters and delights him. YUI coughs a lot. GEE tries to persuade him to quit smoking in order to save his sense of taste. She even swaps his cigarettes with finger biscuits and candies. KUK is shocked when she learns that JOE and KWAI are having a divorce. GEE invites her home to have a chat. Meanwhile, a fire breaks out. She graps a few important belongings and leaves. KUK sees CHUI’s picture among her stuff and realises that he had a mistress. She is enraged at GEE lying to her. GEE tells YEE that it might be time for her to leave the restaurant. JOE finds another man in CHING’s home and thinks that he is the plummer. In fact, he is CHING’s lover. GEE says farewell to everyone in the restaurant.

YU knows that PO wants to earn some quick money, so she plays a trick on her but fails. Later, she is impressed by her kindness and honesty, so they become friends. YUI bumps into MAY and SUN. SUN realises they had something from their facial expression. MAY later tells him everything about her past with YUI. He promises that he will treasure her and moves her. YUI makes KUK understand how much GEE loves her. When she learns that GEE is sick and no one is looking after her, she brings some congee to her. She also invites her to live with her. A food critic, ALAN, invites YUI to join a big cooking competition. He mentions that the winner will become a famous cook’s student, but YUI turns him down. GEE knows that he still misses MAY, so she tries to let him understand that joining a competition is not for fame but for confirming his own talent.

CHING tells JOE that she is pregnant with somebody else’s baby. He decides to commit suicide when the others are sarcastic towards him. Somebody publishes a bad criticism in a newspaper about the restaurant and confuses everyone. A junior cook, CHI, learns that PO has a sore throat, so he cooks some sweet soup for her immediately. In order to save enough money to produce her record, PO takes a few jobs. She finds out that it is YUEN’s man, BEN, who wrote bad criticism against the restaurant. In fear of dragging the restaurant down with her, she resigns. YAU scolds YUEN for not understanding young people’s enthusiasm. He also brings him down to the pub where PO works for her dream. YUEN, YAU and the others set up a plot to let PO win $100,000 which thrills her. YUI decides to join the cooking competition. He has to choose an assistant between YAU and CHI. MAY and YUI meet in a supermarket.… ...

SUN is excited to learn that YUI is attending the cooking competition. However, MAY seems very calm about the news. YUI sets a test for YAU and CHI, but they both fail. YAU asks YUI what he is cooking in the competition. He does not answer him and pulls GEE away to have a walk with him. They start talking about their relationship with the restaurant and understand each other more. YAU notices that GEE likes YUI and asks KUNG to leave her alone. He accidentally tells PO that the money she won was from YUEN. Although she apologizes to YUEN, she insists to sing. He allows her to date YAU and makes her happy. YUEN takes SUN into the board and thrills him. When he is about to tell MAY the good news, she tells him that she wants to emigrate to somewhere and puzzles him. YEE sees GEE having lunch with YUI, so she advises her not to get so involved with him as he was MAY’s ex-boyfriend.

GEE is not convinced that YUI is a playboy who will go out with two girls at the same time, so she tells him that MAY is her friend. But YUI only tells her to let go of the past. YUI gives YAU and CHI another test. Whoever’s dish attracts most customers wins. SUN tells MAY that he is quitting his job. MAY asks if he can really let go of his career in Hong Kong, he says he cannot leave her and moves her. MAY meets her ex-boyfriend MARK and finds out why YUI misunderstood her a few years ago, so she rushes to find YUI. He says that she should treasure SUN now and follow her fate. GEE knows that YUI has let go of MAY totally and feels relieved. A man comes into the restaurant and asks to have 2 ? catties of Kei Wai shrimps for making shrimp paste. His request annoys everyone. But all the mistery is solved when YUI calls him ‘Mentor’.

YUI’s mentor, the Cooking King DOO, comes to the restaurant. YAU asks him to teach him some cooking tricks but he only tells him to learn from their restaurant sign. YAU accidentally breaks the sign. YUI finds out the secret to make the most delicious dish from its crack. GEE encourages him to make a difficult dish in the contest. GEE loses her pearls when she is shopping with YUI in the wet market. The next day, YUI recovers them and has them made into a necklace for her. MAY becomes anorexic and bulimic. She tells GEE that she cannot forget about YUI. She asks to get back with YUI when she wakes up seeing him. YUI finds out the secret of fish and lamb smell. GEE also learns how to make lamb smell stronger. MAY faints at the Wishing Tree. YUI realizes later that she has been praying for him. GEE is disappointed when YUI has to stay with MAY instead of going to Juhai to look for a herb with her.

On the competition day, SUN proposes to MAY, but she tells him that YUI is always her beloved. He suddenly realizes that he is only YUI’s replacement. YUI is surprised and hugs her, but GEE is hurt seeing them together. MAY asks YUI to cook a fish in the competition and GEE is disappointed to see YUI using a ‘SO MAY’ in his dish. Finally, SUN wins the competition. He asks YUI why he changed his mind and tells him that he will not let go of things that he loves. YAU scolds YUI for not being serious with GEE. When MAY visits YUI in the restaurant, he delibrately makes her clothes dirty. GEE gives YUI his wedding ring back when he sees MAY off at the pier and tells him that what is happening to all of them is fate.

DOO meets YUI in the restaurant and points out that he lost not because of his selection of main ingredients but because of his lack of emotion in cooking. YAU is shocked when he learns that both YU and PO are in love with him. YUEN has a stroke, so PO has to quit. After she has left, YAU realizes that he loves her and decides to tell her his feelings. MAY decides to resign in order to be close to YUI. PO introduces YAU to her father’s restaurant to work as a junior cook. YUI thinks it is a good chance to train him up. YU finds out that PO and YAU are dating and feels cheated. After PO apologises to her, she accepts everything is fate. On his first day working with SUN, YAU finds him very nice. GEE is jealous when MAY massages YUI. MAY notices there is something between YUI and GEE, so she decides not to work in order to watch YUI.

PO decides to work for YUEN after his stroke. In a board meeting, BEN proposes to enlarge their seafood business. KWAI dresses up brightly and shows off with her French boyfriend, JEAN. JOE asks KUNG to treat JEAN, however, he tells JOE that JEAN is a famous bachelor. He is even willing to pay JOE $2 million to get KWAI. JEAN is the ambassador for the French Gourmet Association. He invites YUI to a ball and asks if he would like to work in France. MAY is tempted but YUI turns him down. SUN is outraged when he reads a complimentary article about YUI and his restaurant saying that he is the best cook in Hong Kong. He suggests to the board that their Seafood Harbour project should be situated on Lamma and should buy off all the seafood restaurants along the sea front. GEE and the others are frustrated that they have to move out in half a year. MAY takes the chance to ask YUI to move to France.… ...

YUI and GEE look for another location for their restaurant. They finally find one and she even pays double deposit. MAY finds out that they have found a new location and tells everyone that she and YUI are moving to France soon. It still need another $200,000 to pay the deposit. GEE bursts into tears feeling that she has failed to keep the restaurant. YUI suddenly says that he will not leave the restaurant because of her. GEE is surprised and hugs him. MAY sees everything and leaves quietly. In the airport, YUI tries to explain to her, but she says everything is fate and relieves him. Later, she is knocked down by a car and falls into a coma. SUN blames him loving GEE and causing her to commit suicide. GEE blames herself for what happened to MAY, so she invites KUNG to be the chef and forces YUI to leave.

SUN beats YUI up. He threatens to kill him if anything bad happens to MAY. YAU notices that YUI’s right hand is hurt and guesses SUN did it to him. SUN admits that he is harsh to him because he was YUI’s student, so he quits immediately. He meets DOO unplannedly and decides to become a gourmet and travel around the world with him. SUN tells GEE that the company has reserved a restaurant for the winner in the Lamma cooking competition. YUI volunteers but she turns him down. KUNG fails to make the ‘Matching Fresh’, but YUI refuses to teach him. Before the competition, KUNG suddenly has a stomachache. Luckily, YUI shows up, but his unhealed hand brings him embarrassment. Although GEE’s restaurant wins eventually, SUN fouls the result because GEE breaks the rules. PO is very disappointed with SUN’s act. The restaurant is closing down, GEE invites everyone to have a happy meal together. She decides to go on holiday.… ...

PO informs YUI that GEE is leaving. MAY suddenly wakes up when she is on the way to the airport. She tells SUN that she did not commit suicide. He is sorry that he blames YUI for the accident. Two years later, YUI is earning his living by selling fish soup again. YEE tells him about GEE’s recent life and asks him when he will visit her. He lets fate take him on. DOO wants to eat congee which is prepared by both YUI and SUN because he might die from cancer soon. But… SUN sells the restaurant to YUI. He finds CHI and the others to help. MAY meets SUN again. He quits his job in the big company and is a real cook again. On the restaurant opening day, everyone comes to celebrate except GEE. A new gourmet star comes and orders three rare dishes. How will YUI handle them? Who is this new gourmet? Will GEE be back?