Tastefully Yours

It started ok, but...

So. The idea might be interesting, yes, but the execution...... Well, a lot of plot contrivances going on. I really "love" it when people can't speak a full sentence without interruptions or getting cold feet. And then they don't wanna listen to each other, don't wanna talk it out. This cringy, forced drama is always "the best". And yes, I'm talking about that lousy episode 8 (also leaking into episode 9, obviously). The last episode was dumb with the "plot twist", and the so-called endings to different stories. I was going "c'mon, just end already" since mid episode. Not that the other episodes are so much better. And the logic.... Geez, the logic... Its like the screenwriter forgot what he wrote earlier. Aka, plot hole.
Yes, there are some good things around, like the chemistry between actors, the acting (beside some meh moments, like her trying to be sad/crying, it was pretty good for all of them), some of the (silly) funny parts (like in ep 10: "if you don't mind me asking, which high school did you go to?"), but thats it. Ok, maybe some of the soundtrack too. But the directing is bleh, the cinematography is ok only if the scene really needs it to be. The pacing is a little weird, sometimes going full power for no real reason. But the worst parts are all about the script. Plot holes, plot contrivances, some subplots that make you think there are more things going on but actually they are a dead-end. And so on, and so on, and so on.
So. It started kinda ok, but it turned more meh along the way. I'm rating it a 4 just for the acting, some landscape shots and some food stuff (I was hoping for more details about recipes, but... oh well...). Return value? I don't think so.
Have a lovely evening.

Read More

Short and Sweet! I'm developing a taste for snack-sized dramas.

"Tastefully Yours" is part of the current trend of short and sweet, heartwarming RomComs about the food industry. Yes, it's full of the basic plot beats you'll expect, but the cast is entertaining and even surprised me with some emotional moments. If you're a fan of romance dramas where enemies turn into lovers, this is a 10-episode version in a classic KDrama style. I appreciated that this drama didn't try too hard to be original, didn't stretch out the story too long, and didn't take itself too seriously. Yes, some of the jokes are corny and some of the tears are melodramatic, but by the end, I was fully invested in the fate of "Jungae".

Kang Ha Neul and Go Min Si are definitely an attractive duo, with both actors playing to their strengths. Kang Ha Neul as Han Beom U may play the classic spoiled, arrogant, and ruthless male lead, but he does it with a smiley charm that makes it hard not to find him endearing. Go Min Si as Mo Yeon Ju is cold and stubborn, with an admirable and cool edge, which balances out Beom U's goofy antics. I think they are very cute together, with a sweet chemistry, but don't expect anything intense between them. This drama keeps things very PG. There is way more banter than sparks.

The rest of the cast plays characters that are either quirky, unscrupulous, or a little of both, but the performances made them all feel pretty real and less two-dimensional than the way they were written. One standout example of that to me is Oh Min Ae as Han Yeo Ul. It wasn't until the very end, during a surprisingly tearjerking scene, that I realized how well she played her character all along. What this cast does very well is make this simple, silly story work. That's harder than they make it look.

Would I watch this again? Surprisingly, yes. It's far from perfect, and there are parts of the story that I liked a lot less than others, like the sudden second lead storyline, but the pace of the drama is quick enough that I wouldn't be tempted to skip anything. If I were in the mood for a quick romcom fix, I could easily binge this in a day or 2. There aren't any memorable rewatchable scenes, but there is a lot of food porn, and being a Kang Ha Neul fan is enough to keep me engaged. I guess watching him on screen is like comfort food to me. If it's so bad, why does it taste so good?!

Overall, this drama may be made from stolen recipes of KDramas past, but it was tastefully done. If you're looking for a more filling drama, I get why this may be disappointing to watch, but I'm starting to like snack-sized dramas more and more.
I would compare this to fast food take-out more than gourmet fine dining, so deciding to watch should depend on what you have an appetite for. The overall message is that food is about more than ingredients and acclaim, and is instead about the thought and heart behind making it. That is certainly not a new concept, and the message is pretty heavy-handed, but by the end, it totally got me straight in the feels.

Read More

Tastefully, Uncooked.

This drama had the potential to be SO MUCH MORE. It just fizzles down. To give you an understanding of what watching this drama felt like... Imagine Uncle Roger, watching Jamie Oliver's egg fried rice video for the first time.
He starts off with high hopes and aspirations, because egg fried rice has his favorite ingredients. But the recipe starts getting weird after the most perfect prepping up. But he doesn't give up on Jamie Oliver's video yet, because he hopes things will get better from now on. Then he sees Jamie Oliver put water on the half-cooked rice, and he ends up putting his foot down, seeing the atrocity unfold in front of his eyes. Now, imagine you are Uncle Roger, and the atrocious egg fried rice video unfolding before your eyes is Tastefully Yours. It went the exact same route as Jamie Oliver's egg fried rice recipe. It started off weird, then got a little decent, and then just suddenly decided to FORGET ALL LOGIC and became such a convoluted mess. When the writers forgot what they wanted to show, they decided to bring in a big actor to bring extra intrigue. But the extra actor just brings with him confusion and ZERO intrigue. Then, when they got tired of the big actor, they decided to gift wrap his story in a neatly tied bow and scoot him off the set.
The only saving graces in this drama were Jungjae's coworkers, Noonim and Cheung-Sung, and Bomwoo's mom, played by Oh Min Ae. And it truly hurts when a drama with such good actors takes this bad of a nosedive midway through the series. They had so much potential; the drama could be so much more. But towards the end, it became just another rip-off of Culinary Class Wars (They even called influencers and chefs who came to CCW >_< ) . I think had they taken lesser-known actors, it would've made better sense, but wasting the potential of two of the best actors in the Korean industry is just sad. Do better, kdrama. There's only so far that food can take you.

Read More

"K-dramas don't drag it out these days," they said, and they started dragging it out

Objectively speaking, I don't think this drama deserves such a low rating, but because of how frustrating it became to watch at some point, and how it completely took away all my enjoyment in the second half, I feel like this rating sums up my feelings best.

The first four episodes were generally enjoyable slice-of-life, with characters I quickly connected with and comedy that, while quite specific, somehow landed well for me most of the time. Then came episode five, still relatively decent, but already teasing the catastrophe to come. And then came episode six. That's when I completely lost it, and so did the drama, at least in my eyes.

It introduced such an unnecessary character that maybe could've been bearable if he appeared for like two seconds, but no. He quickly became so overwhelming that his very presence ended up regressing the leads instead of helping develop them in any way.

Han Beom U started out interesting but quickly turned into a loser, supposedly in charge, giving orders left and right, yet somehow incapable of telling his own people to stop doing things they just shouldn't have done. As for Mo Yeon Ju... she's just a mystery to me. I feel like I saw a different version of her every episode, to the point where I can't tell who she's really supposed to be. It's like someone had many ideas for one character and decided to cram them all into one, and that's how Mo Yeon Ju was created. It's almost funny to me how much I ended up disliking her at some point, despite really liking the actress who plays her.

The whole Sufforo plot really had the potential to simply give the female lead more background and depth, and with that, it could have naturally helped develop the relationship between Beom U and Yeon Ju. Introducing that unnecessary character I mentioned earlier really wasn't needed for that.

Also, the chemistry between them... well, it just wasn't there for me. It might sound weird, but I honestly felt more chemistry between Go Min Si and Kang Ha Neul than between the characters they were playing. It's like they connected with each other, but couldn't connect with their roles.

Because of all this, while the remaining episodes were objectively "better" (still not good, in my opinion - that feeling from the first four episodes never returned), I couldn't really enjoy them much because what happened earlier had already left a bad taste in my mouth. The conclusions in the last episode to more or less everything also didn't help.

Acting-wise, everyone did a relatively good job, even though I just personally didn't really enjoy the performances that much because I didn't vibe with the characters (Kang Ha Neul and his expressions were truly one of a kind at times). Visually, it looked really nice, with some great use of lighting. Sadly, as a number one OST listener, I can't recall a single song or any BGM.

In the end, this drama was simply a disappointment. What started out as a possible new comfort watch for me quickly turned into a mess, with characters I connected with quite quickly but who became insufferable just as fast. I guess sometimes even 10 episodes is too much.

Read More

Not what I ordered

Disappointed, but not because it’s bad.
I had high hopes for Tastefully Yours, and to be honest, it’s not a bad drama at all. But it just wasn’t what I expected — and that’s where my disappointment lies.

The first few episodes had me completely hooked. The setup was charming, the chemistry between the leads was promising, and I was ready to fall in love with their story. But then… I don’t know what happened. Somewhere along the way, I just lost interest.

Maybe it was his overly childish behavior, or her cold and distant attitude. Maybe it was simply the direction the story took — not quite what I was hoping for. With the real-life chemistry these two actors clearly have, the show could’ve leaned more into the romance, into the physical connection, the spark. Instead, it felt a bit emotionally flat and lacking in depth.

That said, if you’re looking for something calm, light, and free of anxiety-inducing drama, this could still be an enjoyable watch. Just don’t go in expecting too much heat or intensity — or you might walk away feeling the same bittersweet “what could have been”.

Read More

light, modern, charming with a little romance

The cooking is what got me hooked because I love food. I always admire work and I was looking forward to watching this.
I realized that his feelings did change and one point it seems he forgot about stealing the recipes
When her ex made an appearance and everything that came after that was just frustrating because he was delaying telling her the truth.
After the truth came out, I really thought he would try and try harder to talk to the FL and try “pleading his case” to let her know how sorry he was but in my opinion, he was giving her time?

I have no words to say about his mother, I’ll just leave it there and just watch it yourself.

For chef Jang and the other guy that worked for him are both selfish and heartless and will do anything just to be on top in their restaurant field.

At the end, the restaurant deserved all the recognition it got and that’s because of the Chef Mo and her team- they did everything with their passion and heart.

Overall it’s a light, modern, charming romance drama.

Read More

Cute, Needs Development

I was interested in this show because of Kang Ha Neul, who’s always fantastic, and because I love food. The concept was promising and looked for a heartwarming watch.

The acting, especially from KHN, was fantastic. The FL also did a good job, and I fell in love with the supporting cast.

The story felt only half-finished. Sometimes I like a shorter series, but ironically this one could have benefited from a normal 16 ep run. Even though it only ran for 10 the pacing felt off—it dragged at lots of points and wrapped up too fast in others.

I personally didn’t have a problem with the ending. It felt realistic that it wasn’t a clichéd victory for the good guys and sent a message that we must live our lives for ourselves and what we believe in; things may not be perfect, but we can find things in life that make us happy. My problem with the story was the half-developed relationship between the leads. I saw hints of romantic chemistry, but it had way more potential.

I did like the ML growth, it was done fairly well in the last 3 episodes. However, because of the shorter run, it felt rushed. A longer series would have added in more examples of his growth. The trailer implied we would get concrete examples, but it was very limited. I also wish we learned more about the FL and her cooking journey; the times we did I was left wanting a bit more and way less of the ex-bf. While it was nice to see her tie up loose ends, two whole episodes was too much time to devote to the ex.

Visually, it was beautiful. I felt the passion and care that went into each cooking scene, and I felt lighthearted.

Overall, it was cute. Would I watch it again? No. But I will commend the actors for giving their best, despite feeling like their characters had more to offer.

Read More

Could've been more tasteful... but it's fine (dining) overall.

SPOILERS

It's basically a comedy with fine dining food thrown in. I knew that from the get-go. I wasn't expecting a meaningful series and that made it delicious enough for me.

Not a binge watch. Nothing major really happens. Not a shocking plot. I slotted in one or two episodes in between other dramas. Worked well.

Go Min Si (Yeon Ju) was lacklustre as the lead and putting her next to Kang Ha Neul, Kim Shin Rok and well, all the rest of the cast (who could act in various degrees), just deflated her balloon even more. She was boring to watch.

So I, ahem, kinda brushed her aside and turned my attention to the food and other characters.

Are you a foodie? I am. I love looking at a feast and often pause the video to admire each dish laid out on the table. Not much pausing was done here as the focus was mostly on that one beef dish popping up every now and then. Still, it made me want to taste it. It fell short on yummy food for the foodie viewer in me.

Some nice info on food prep and raw ingredients. Decorating with garnishes and pretty plates could've been better - it seemed too simply tossed in to be a delightful touch.

What I really like about 'Tastefully Yours' were the friendships that took time to develop and the characters who slowly changed, especially Beom Wu, Chun Seong and Sun Woo.

I'll just talk about Beom Wu.

He was at first an arrogant, pushy, cold-hearted business rat, then a desperate guy and finally a man in love. From a hard-core recipe thief, Beom Wu felt shame and his confidence shaken by guilt when he caused hurt to Yeon Ju and her restaurant. Kang Ha Neul nailed it with his honest acting.

Some actors did go a bit slapstick with the expressions, but was within tolerance. Kim Shin Rok (Myeong Suk) was unpredictable and fun. Oh Min Ae (the mother) held her own with elegance. Bae Yoo Ram (Yu Jin) was a good support between Jung Jae restaurant and Hansang. He connected the two places for a comfortable switch to and fro.

Tropes and cliches abounded; could've been more tasteful... but it's fine (dining) overall.

A very raised-my-brows twist that I didn't see coming was in episode 9 that linked to an earlier scene. Too big a spoiler for me to detail here,, but it was very good.

This is my Number Three review. I hope you enjoyed my article. Thanks for reading it all the way to here :)

Read More

Promising storyline with disappointing delivery

Review


5/10 is my rating. “Tastefully Yours” begins with an irresistible foodie premise but sours into frustrating character arcs, inconsistent romance, and major narrative blind spots that undermine its culinary charm.

Spoilers

This drama had the potential to deliver a rich, emotionally satisfying story grounded in food, culture, and personal growth—but what it served instead was a shallow, frustrating series that consistently undercut its own best elements. The most glaring issue is the romantic dynamic between the leads. While the female lead, Mo Yeon-joo, is portrayed as a proud, guarded chef, her treatment of the male lead, Han Beom-woo, borders on cruel. She mocks him, flirts with her ex in front of him, and then disappears without a word—only to hang up on him when he tries to reach out. Which was not too surprising as she had cried when the ex came, a clear sign she still had feelings.

Instead of letting her go with dignity, Beom-woo follows her across countries, abandoning all sense of pride. This isn’t romantic—it’s embarrassing. He had established himself as confident and desirable in Seoul, and yet spends most of the series groveling for someone who offers him nothing but scraps. It brings to mind the old saying: “If you love someone, let them go. If they come back to you, they’re yours. If they don’t, they never were.” Yeon-joo never truly came back—not emotionally. And Beom-woo never stopped chasing a version of her that didn’t exist. The imbalance in their dynamic made the romance feel more painful than poignant.

The series also drops the ball on multiple subplots. Shin Chun-seung (Yoo Su-bin), the son of a respected gukbap chef, quietly leaves his family’s restaurant to work at Jungjae—but we never see any meaningful reaction from his father. There’s no pride, no disappointment, no exploration of generational tension. It’s a thread left completely dangling. Likewise, Beom-woo’s original rivalry with his brother—who deceived and betrayed him—is abandoned with barely a shrug. There’s no payoff, no revenge, no resolution. He simply accepts it and moves on, stripping the story of any narrative weight.

Another repeated frustration was the obsession with recipe theft. If stealing culinary ideas is such a common threat in this fictional world, you’d expect some professional-level protections. NDAs, secured documentation, legal contracts—anything. But instead, characters are reckless and paranoid in a way that feels implausible and lazy. It’s not tension—it’s sloppiness.

Even the emotional moments fall flat. The “meet the parents” dinner where a Korean father suddenly accepts his French in-laws just because the food was good is a perfect example. The show wants to convey that food bridges cultural gaps, but it skips all the necessary emotional groundwork. One good meal does not erase deeply held beliefs, and the instant resolution felt more convenient than heartfelt.

And then there’s the matter of the Sapporo arc. Yeon-joo disappears without saying goodbye to anyone, not even her closest colleagues, and Beom-woo’s reaction is to track her down and make a grand romantic gesture. But nothing about it feels earned. She treats him with indifference and rejection the entire time, and instead of growing from it, he just continues to follow her like a lovesick puppy. The emotional labor is entirely one-sided, and the show never gives us a reason to believe their love is mutual.

So many promising elements—like the hinted chemistry between Beom-woo and the former head chef from Seoul—are introduced and abandoned. These wasted opportunities pile up, making the drama feel incomplete and confused about what it wants to say.

In the end, Tastefully Yours looked beautiful but lacked substance. The food cinematography was lovely, and the atmosphere had moments of charm. But the emotional heart of the story was hollow. With stronger character development, clearer arcs, and a more balanced romantic dynamic, it could have been a standout. Instead, it’s a disappointing mess of undercooked ideas and overused tropes, served cold. I think having only 10 episodes played into this as well as it provided limited time to develop characters and relationships and finish subplots. A few minutes of each episode you could fast forward through as it replicated the ending if the last episode. So they even wasted more minutes rehashing the previous episode’s ending.

Synopsis

This is a 2025 South Korean romantic comedy centered in a restaurant culture. There are 10, 60 minute episodes.

Han Beom-woo (Kang Ha-neul), is the second son, a chaebol heir who has grown up competing with his older brother for their mother's, Han Yeo-ul (Oh Min-ae) approval. To outpace his brother and expand their ever-growing culinary empire, Beom-woo has used some questionable methods. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Mo Yeon-joo (Go Min-si), a spirited chef, when pursuing a particular dish she was making. Yeon-joo's stubbornness in sourcing the best ingredients, tailoring the menu to whatever she decides to cook (rather than marketability) and keeping things small have nearly bankrupted her. Beom-woo’s brother, Han Seon-woo (Bae Na-ra), and celebrity Chef Jang Young-hye (Hong Hwa-yeon) conspired to get Beom-woo displaced in the family business so Beom-woo shifts to developing Yeon-joo's business. At first the lively chef and spoiled chaebol repeatedly clash and argue but as they come to realize what the other has to offer the business, they start to function as a team. As they work collaboratively to safe the restaurant, they realize they have growing feelings for each other.

#TastefullyYours #HongHwaYeon #BaeNaRa #GoMinSit #KangHaNeu

Read More

Slow-Burn Drama with a Hint of Romance and Love for Cooking

Unlike some other reviews, I personally enjoyed this drama. Kang Ha Neul and Go Min Si delivered outstanding performances, bringing warmth and depth to their characters. The story centers around a love for food and cooking, with subtle hints of romance woven throughout. Yoo Yeon Seok makes a brief but notable special appearance.

While the pacing is slow and the plot doesn’t offer any major twists or cliffhangers, it’s still a decent watch if you appreciate a calm, character-driven narrative. Romance isn’t the main focus, and the storyline remains simple and predictable.

What truly stood out for me was Kim Shin Rok’s performance—her role here is a complete departure from her intense character in Undercover High School, showing her versatility as an actress. Overall, it’s a good one-day binge if you’re a fan of the cast.

Read More