Cook at All Costs is a new Canadian cooking reality game show that brings a unique way to achieve 25,000 Canadian dollars. Season 1 has 8 episodes, each about 30 minutes long. Each episode consists of different judges and competitors who will take back the money they have won. The series is available in the English Language and is only exclusively available on Netflix.
The official Netflix descriptions read: “Cook at all Costs is a Canadian competitive cooking reality series that sees three home cooks bid on ingredients to create dishes that will impress celebrity guest judges —and win the cash left in their bank.”
– Cook at All Costs Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
I can’t cook, for real, but if a game show is going to offer me 25,000 dollars when I create randomly create a dish with the ingredients they provide, I think I can win their hearts. Ask me why, because including me, all the chefs will simply get a box of ingredients we won’t be able to see until we buy it. Pretty interesting, right? Luck alone plays here, so I think I’ll win. Guess this mindset is what most of the contestants had, and that’s why they failed. Haha, jokes on me.
Apparently, in every episode, three chefs will bid on three different boxes that will have ingredients which they can’t see. But every box has a specific utility that will make the chefs to think and choose wisely. I liked how this “bidding” strategy was kept as the base concept of the entire show. While it isn’t new to let chefs choose a surprise box, having this as the entire show’s main core concept was intriguing.
I loved how the chefs somehow used the ingredients they got and tried to work their way. Another notable function was the additional ingredients that would come by for them once again to bid on and win. It was quite interesting to see the chefs bit around 1000 dollars for a pack of potatoes. Literally, damn. Potatoes for a thousand bucks, omg. But again, that shows how competitive the chefs were to get an ingredient.
Overall, I loved the cheerfulness of the home cooks, and the concept of taking an unknown ingredient box and bidding for the ingredients they deadass want. It was pretty hilarious to watch them raise their bid money for cheap ingredients—shows how money influences people, ROFL.
Cook at All Costs: Host and Judges
Alright, I like Jordan Andino, personally. In fact, I have seen his exemplary cooking videos, and he is a hot and fine-looking man. But seeing him as a host showed a different side to him. Sorry, Jordan, but why was he rubbing your hands together like a TikTok sheesh guy? Once he did it, it was fine and understandable because the room might be cold. But why was he rubbing his hands together every time he spoke? That alone nagged me, but hey, Jordan is a great cook, and he exhibits himself in a humble way throughout the show.
Moving on to the judges, when the first episode’s judge was shown, I was excited! It was my cooking queen, Esther Choi. Esther is one of my favourite chefs; even Uncle Roger can side with my opinion! Speaking of the judges, including her, everyone was extremely good at giving unbiased opinions. The remarks were precise and rich in detail, which made me nod my head whenever the judges picked the winner. Maybe it’s just me, but whoever I thought would win in each episode did win. So does that mean I am capable of judging… never mind.
Wrap-up
Cook at All Costs did really give out a decent show with wonderful judges, good-looking food, competitive home cooks, a prize money concept, a wonderful kitchen set-up and the host, of course. This show is binge-worthy as every episode covers a specific genre of food with different people. Hence it did not feel stale.
Did the show really blow my mind? Not really. It was fun to watch, but nothing that shocked me in any way. So yes, if you enjoy watching people battle each other for the money, go ahead.
Cook at All Costs is streaming now on Netflix.
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