To call this a sequel to Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman is a misnomer. The only common bond between Joyful Reunion and Lee’s culturally-charged 1994 comedy is its focus on food.

To that end, director Jui-Yuan Tsao’s film—chosen as the Dim Sum Movie at this year’s Your Kontinent festival—will at least satiate foodies. Long tracking shots in a restaurant kitchen coupled with molecular-level snippets of hyper-colour vegetables are enough to make most people’s mouths water. Where Joyful Reunion falls short is that too many unnecessary details and storylines pepper the film, and they ultimately detract from the good stuff. This meandering plot can hardly be called an accident when you have six writers credited to the screenplay.

The film introduces a father and his two adult daughters living in Hangzhou, China. Much to his daughters’ disappointment, the aging chef (played by Kenneth Tsang, whom audiences may recognize from Memoirs of a Geisha) announces that he has decided to sell his successful vegetarian restaurant after experiencing symptoms of Alzheimer’s. 

With dad not his usual self, there’s a lot on oldest child Wa-er’s plate. The young woman (played by Beijing stunner Si-yan Huo) has to decide whether or not to break up with her oblivious-to-everything boyfriend—a Taipei-based video-game developer—while keeping her younger sister on track and managing a luxury spa.

The plot thickens when Wa’er’s boyfriend brings his aunt to Hangzhou, a city she grew up in but fled during the Chinese Civil War. Ya-lei Kui (who appeared in Eat Drink Man Woman) portrays meddling Aunt Pai Ping and serves up most of the film’s comic relief. While her timing is sometimes forced, she’s charming to watch on screen. Consider it unnecessary subplot No. 6, but Pai Ping happens to be an avid ballroom dancer, so expect to see a good 10 minutes of film dedicated to over-the-top twirling.

The “reunion” in the title is between Pai Ping and the aging chef. We’re asked to believe that these two young lovers were separated by war half a century ago and the taste of a special soup brings them back. There’s no surprise in this outcome, however— Tsao makes sure audiences are glutted with flashbacks long before the fairy-tale ending arrives about 100 minutes too late.

Joyful Reunion gets its Canadian premiere at the Your Kontinent Richmond International Film & Media Arts Festival, at Shiang Garden Restaurant (2200-4540 No. 3 Road, Richmond) on Sunday (July 21).