Season 1
8 episodes Apr 15, 2026
- 1 Episode 1
- 2 Episode 2
- 3 Episode 3
- 4 Episode 4
- 5 Episode 5
- 6 Episode 6
- 7 Episode 7
- 8 Episode 8
Made with Love
2026
Returning Series • 1 Season • 8 Episodes
PG13 · IndonesianDirector: Teddy Soeria Atmadja
Overview
To save the family business, ambitious chef Luka must team up with newcomer Dennis when he joins her mother's restaurant. The only catch? She hates him.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Returning Series
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 8 episodes
- First aired
- Apr 15, 2026
- Last aired
- Apr 15, 2026
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S1 E8 Episode 8 (Apr 15, 2026)
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Kitchen as Confessional
I’ve never worked in a restaurant, but I’ve eaten in enough of them to know the difference between a place that cooks and a place that performs. Made with Love (or Luka, Makan, Cinta, if we’re being precise) is the latter—a glossy, sun-dappled stage where every dish is plated like a promise and every argument feels like it’s happening in slow motion, just for us. That’s not a complaint, exactly. There’s something hypnotic about watching people move through a space that’s equal parts sanctuary and battleground, where the clatter of pots isn’t just noise but the soundtrack to a family unraveling and stitching itself back together.
Teddy Soeriaatmadja, the show’s creator, has said he wanted to make something that felt like a warm embrace, and in many ways, he succeeds. The series is set in Bali, but it’s not the Bali of postcards—no surfers, no infinity pools, just a family-run restaurant called Umah Rasa, which translates to “House of Taste.” The name is literal: this is a place where flavor is memory, where every recipe carries the weight of the past.
Luka (Mawar Eva De Jongh), the prodigal daughter and aspiring chef, returns home after years away, only to find her mother Sari (Sha Ine Febriyanti) has hired a new sous-chef, Dennis (Deva Mahenra), a stranger with a knack for making everything Luka touches feel like a mistake. The setup is classic: the prodigal child, the interloper, the matriarch who refuses to choose between them.
What’s less predictable is how the show uses food not just as a backdrop but as a language—one that speaks in spices, in the way a knife hits a cutting board, in the silence between bites.
Take the scene where Luka and Dennis prepare a dish together for the first time. It’s a simple thing, really: a Balinese lawar, a salad of minced meat and vegetables, but the way the camera lingers on their hands—his steady, hers trembling—tells you everything you need to know about their dynamic. They don’t speak.
They don’t need to. The tension isn’t sexual, not yet; it’s professional, territorial, the kind of friction that comes from two people who both believe they’re the only ones who know how to do this right. When the dish is finally plated, it’s beautiful, but you can see the cracks in it—the herbs not quite aligned, the sauce a little too heavy on one side.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.6/10
"A warm, beautifully shot kitchen drama with rich atmosphere and relationships, held back by a grating lead, flat romance, and technical rough edges."
The show draws praise for its vivid Indonesian setting, colorful production design, and emotional focus on personal growth and the mother–daughter relationship, which some find binge-worthy and deeply moving. At the same time, Luka’s behavior and arc come off as entitled and unconvincing, the romantic pairing lacks spark, and issues like naive kitchen realism and distracting sound mixing make the experience feel uneven.
What viewers praise
- Lush visual style Crisp, carefully framed images and bright, colorful design turn the restaurant and its surroundings into an inviting, almost holiday-like backdrop.
- Emotional character journey The story of Luka’s self-discovery and her complicated bond with her mother lands strongly for some, delivering episodes that feel heartfelt and tear-inducing.
- Engaging side relationships Connections with colleagues, competitors, and customers broaden the world and give the restaurant staff their own engaging highs and lows.
- Appetizing food and ambience Food presentation, dinnerware, and interior details are repeatedly singled out as beautiful and memorable, enhancing the culinary theme.
Common complaints
- Frustrating main character Luka is often viewed as childish, selfish, and unwilling to take responsibility, making it hard to root for her as a credible head-chef figure.
- Weak romantic thread The central love story is described as awkward, predictable, and lacking chemistry, with some feeling it actually drags the series down.
- Questionable kitchen realism Smiling, harmonious kitchen dynamics, odd hierarchy details, and unprofessional behavior break believability for viewers familiar with real restaurant work.
- Uneven pacing and finale Later episodes, especially the last one, are criticized for dragging and feeling overlong compared with the more engaging early installments.
- Distracting audio design Loud background sounds and bells frequently overpower dialogue, creating an amateurish feel and making scenes harder to enjoy.
Recommended for
Culinary drama enthusiasts Indonesian romance drama seekers Mother-daughter relationship stories Character-driven coming-of-age arcs Food-focused comfort-watch fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThey had to send knife videos home
Mawar Eva de Jongh filmed herself chopping after wrap. That is the item. Not a leaked fight, not a salary. latestnetflix.com's take is that Netflix put three leads through a kitchen and then graded the homework.
Sha Ine Febriyanti, Mawar, and Deva Mahenra spent three months of pre-production on hierarchy, plating, and knife work under working chefs. Ine told CNN Indonesia at a Menteng presser that the intense stretch was the kitchen, maybe almost half of prep, holding a knife, cutting onions, plating. They also had to learn the chain from top to bottom. Deva said they barely ate on set. They tasted. He called the pressure real because professional chefs watched every move, helpful on one side and a load on the other. Mawar said after group practice they went home, practiced again, and sent videos so the team could check progress.
Umah Rasa hired the rival.
The series is Luka, Makan, Cinta. English title Made with Love. Teddy Soeriaatmadja directed and produced. Musa Tambunan and Ruly Sjafri produced with him for Karuna Pictures. Eight episodes landed on Netflix on 15 April 2026. Mawar plays Luka, sous chef and daughter. Ine plays Sari, owner and head chef of Umah Rasa in Bali. Deva plays Dennis, the outsider Sari trusts when Luka is not ready. Adipati Dolken is Valdo. Asmara Abigail is in the company. What's on Netflix ran the English landing in March with the streamer's one-line hook: she hates him. Tatler Asia sold kitchen rivalry and family inheritance, not beach tourism. Teddy's name, after Lovely Man and The Architecture of Love, is the prestige tag they needed.,,
The mother-daughter bruise is the actual engine. Sari does not wait for Luka to grow into the pass. She brings in Dennis. That is a casting choice with teeth. Ine as the head chef who will not sentimentalize her own child. Mawar as the heir who has to plate under a man she cannot stand. Deva as the professional who did not ask to be the family problem. CNN Indonesia's press day made the work sound unglamorous on purpose. Hierarchy. Onions. Videos at night.,
Then a Bali kitchen charted.
Kontan, citing Netflix's global non-English list for 13-19 April 2026, put Made with Love at number 6 with 2.4 million viewers. Top 10 in 28 countries from the Americas through Asia. Sitting next to Bloodhounds, not a K-drama clone, an Indonesian restaurant fight. IDN Times counted 18 soundtrack cues, three of them Ardhito Pramono, with "Rasa-Rasanya" glued to the food-porn intros. Netflix Indonesia posted Mawar and Deva matching food to personality a day before launch. The clip is still the easiest look at the pairing they sold.,,
Nobody in March was printing a 2.4 million week. The March write-ups were date, cast, and the hate-him logline. The gossip worth keeping is the boot camp, the mother who hired the rival, and a chart run that arrived before the recaps did.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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