THE DATING MENU (2026) review, cast and showtimes

Name: THE DATING MENU
Genre: Drama
Released: 2026-08-20
Duration: 102 min
Cast: Lo Chun-Yip, Lo Chun Yip, Renci Yeung, Rachel Leung, Crystal Cheung Man-Ka

What it is about

While trying to keep his struggling business afloat, a chef goes on a dating app in search of Zelda, his crush from his chatroom days as a teenager. For each Zelda he meets, he makes a tailor-made meal to fit their story. Putting a spotlight on the city’s struggling restaurant sector, indie filmmaker Amos WHY and his co-director Frankie Chung’s unconventional and bittersweet road movie follows a rootless man who turns to his memories to avoid confronting his unknown future. Is it better to drift with uncertainty, or to stay in your comfort zone whilst tethered to a sinking ship?

What to expect

A chef on the brink of losing his restaurant scrolls a dating app looking for Zelda, a handle he remembers from a teenage chatroom. Each woman he meets gets a dish invented for her story — the meals are the movie’s real set-pieces, and the kitchens and backstreets between them sketch a Hong Kong hospitality sector that is barely hanging on. Amos Why and Frankie Chung co-direct, keeping the tone dry and unhurried; the lead drifts rather than chases, and the movie is more interested in what he avoids than what he finds. It will try the patience of anyone after a rom-com, but it earns its 102 minutes with anyone who likes a drama that sits in a mood and stays there. Cantonese with English and Chinese subtitles. Rated IIB. Opens 20 August across 16 cinemas and 12 districts, standard format only, tickets from HK$60.

Cast