IGN writes: "Certainly there are plenty gamers out there who could use some help in the kitchen. Disguising that help as a "game" is a pretty brilliant idea -- as long as it's done well. What's Cooking? Jamie Oliver is half interactive cookbook and half food prep game, but neither portion is strong enough to make the title a worthy purchase. The game aspect is terribly unintuitive, and the cookbook doesn't offer anything its physical counterpart can't for cheaper."
A look at the world's most popular cooking sims. Which ones will actually teach you something about cooking, and make you a better cook? Which ones were designed purely as entertainment? Which are good and which are bad? The article serves as a side-by-side analysis of all the top cooking games to figure out the above.
Worthplaying writes: "I will be honest: I think using the DS for purposes such as this is a fabulous idea, and something that should be thoroughly explored. What's Cooking With Jamie Oliver? is not, however, more than a token effort, using a simple and bland system to accomplish little more than a real cookbook and kitchen would bring. Tying in a half-baked (ha ha) clone of a years-old game that's been aped a dozen times brings no additional value to the fold. You are better off in almost every way by using your money to purchase a cookbook or a culinary lesson, or perhaps going out and having a bite at a restaurant".
Game Revolution writes: "My friends are all well aware of it, but people who read my reviews on GR probably don't know that at home I'm a cook – a very serious cook. Due to a small, and honestly quite silly run-in with the campus police early in my first year of college, I was moved out of regular student housing and into housing for "problem students". This turned out to be an awesome upgrade, namely my own apartment with a full kitchen.
I had already discovered that the campus cuisine tasted as if the food had been trying to pledge a frat, died during hazing, hidden in the house basement, and discovered by the janitor several weeks later. Then reheated and served."
