Ramen Shop: Eric Khoo’s drama works with the idea of the curative power of cooking, that satisfied taste buds conquer all; it’s a beautiful, sweetly naïve idea. The story is heartwarming but slight, and doesn’t give much space for the characters to become more than one-dimensional figures. The performances are fine, neither memorable nor horrible; Mark Lee is fine in his small role, as is Beatrice Chien; the protagonist Saitoo Takumi is serviceable. The film is leisurely paced, and has a fine musical score. The cinematography is unremarkable in general, but DoP Brian Gothong Tan photographs the cooking and the food particularly well, making them very enticing (and mouth-watering).