Bambino
Posted on February 7th, 2010
Bambino
[Rating: 7/10]
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Ban is an confident and enthusiastic university student who dreams of becoming a chef. One day circumstances bring him to work as a kitchen-hand in a popular Italian restaurant in Tokyo. There he gets a real eye-opener to what it is really like working in the restaurant-business.
Firstly let me get his off my chest… I did not like Ban, no matter how much I tried to. He was arrogant and whiny throughout most of his traineeship and frankly, the staff at the restaurant were doing well without him. I felt like he hadn’t changed much by the end of the show. At one point watching him was like watching a train-wreck and I was so glad he got his act up eventually, sort of. The reason why I’m giving this show a more than just passable rating is for two reasons – I love the rest of the cast, and the show itself was an interesting all-rounded insight into the various aspects of running a restaurant. The ‘management trio’ as I call them (ie. Miyuki, Kuwabara and Yonamine) had such great chemistry that I could watch them all day. They were just so at ease and in-sync with each other. And coincidentally they are played by three of my favourite Japanese actors – Uchida Yuki, Sasaki Kuranosuke and Kitamura Kazuki. Miyuki totally has the two men wrapped around her finger. It was nice to see them in more laid-back roles that I normally see them play. The rest of the cast were alright, and featured many notable names, in fact if you ware familiar with Japanese dramas you will recognise most, if not all of the main cast, who range from Karina to Sato Ryuta… And man, the food looked really delicious, and that I live within walking distance to the ‘little Italy’ of my city certainly made me crave Italian food and dessert while I was watching it.
While the main character was a bit of a mood-killer, I still do recommend this show because it is light and entertaining to watch especially if you are a foodie or someone who enjoys cooking.