Reasons to watch: FOOD and cuteness. I really liked this one despite the ups and downs. Although it got very melodramatic, each dramatic plot arc never carried on for too long and was also resolved within an episode or two. A great drama for those who like their food, cute couples, nice guys, and can tolerate some melodramatic tears. The cast and characters are one of the main reasons why I kept watching. Our two leads are great: I loved Jasper Lin and Puff Kuo's bantering chemistry. Jasper Lin also has one of the greatest smiles in the world. My heart melts just seeing it. But other than our leads, our supporting character cast is full of characters who are quirky and likable. I don't think I disliked a single character at the end--even the worst of them have some sort of redemptive quality. I am a huge fan of both Jasper Liu and Puff Kuo after this. They made Ah Jie and Kai Qi into lovable, multi-dimensional characters. I think it’s very easy for coldness in a character to come out flat and wooden on-screen (eg. Suzy’s performance in Dream High), but Puff Kuo added a lot nuance and personality to the coldness. Jolin Chien's character Cheng Hao Wei also deserves a shout-out for being one of the greatest second male leads to grace dramaland. Also shout-out to Xiao Yi for being an adorable child. Unfortunately, Pleasantly Surprised does suffer from a lot of melodramatics and one particularly unnecessary and random plot arc in the second half. The first half of the show is GREAT. I wish the drama had kept up the food aspect afterward, but seemed to abandon food in favor of drama (as dramas tend to do.) The second half is when all the crazy plot twists and melodramatics happen, but I think that it was handled well in that the drama never gets drawn out for too long (usually resolved within the next episode), and our dependable supporting characters who work at the restaurant are always around to provide some comedy to ease the tension. I loved the characters enough to tolerate the plot twists, and would definitely rewatch for the food and cuteness!