Bon Appetit, Your Majesty

Fantastic Premise Build Around Food, but Neglects the Meat of Story with Filler

As soon as the FL mysteriously traveled 400 years into the past there was instant intrigue. Her disbelief at her transition and resulting responses to the situations she encountered was highly entertaining and hilarious. Her journey to the past did not erase her love for cooking and food. Thus from the moment she arrived in this new world, food played an integral role in driving the story forward.

Unfortunately, the story eventually gets lost in political mischief and cooking competitions. The latter of which didn’t hold the magic that was the earlier stories. And the former, having the potential to add some interesting layers to the ML and overall story but did not receive the attention needed to develop in a way that would make the audience care.

The leads had nice chemistry. But I wasn't particularly invested in their love, mainly due to the ML, who was the king, ill-tempered and immature. He spent more time threatening violence and feening for the FL’s tasty dishes than than being crafty and cunning when dealing with his enemies. He would leave the palace and venture into the out of regions and fly off the handle at the most inopportune times. Even worse, in the end, this guy abandoned his kingdom and his people, that was in chaos, to run to the future after the FL. Not a good king, nor a good character at all.

That said, the lead actor in this, Lee Chae-Min, was fantastic. He did a great job with the material. This was a great series to start but lost it's charm halfway through and was unable to regain it through the end.

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I honestly don’t know how to review this because while everyone seems to find some flaw in it, I actually found it kind of flawless.. Everything about this drama worked for me.. Yes, even the vague ending with no clear explanation of how he got to the present and ended up with the FL.. I believe it was meant to be open to interpretation and honestly I am satisfied with that..
Even if you argue that the flaws can’t be ignored, I feel they are immensely compensated for by the strength of the script and the performances.. The writing carries such emotional weight and the actors breathe life into it so convincingly that the few imperfections barely matter.. For me, this is a drama whose emotions feel alive.. Remarkable on a technical, aesthetic and narrative level, it stands out as an outstanding piece of work..

Well, the opening paragraph turned into one giant, incoherent mess.. But I suppose that’s alright.. It’s a reaction that came from feeling, not analysis and maybe that’s better than trying to make it sound perfectly organized or polished..

Honestly, casting Lee Chae Min as the male lead was a bold move but it paid off.. Many people doubted the choice and were openly criticizing but he didn’t disappoint for a second.. I actually thought YoonA would have to carry the show but LCM was so good that he even outshone her in several moments.. I am genuinely happy for him and really hope he keeps picking strong scripts from here on unlike Crushology and Hierarchy, which were honestly, complete dumpster fires..

The drama avoids unnecessary distractions.. We know what we are getting and who the bad guys are.. Even though romance is one of the central themes, it’s not presented in an overly grand way.. I was mainly in it for the romance and the cooking and I was satisfied with both.. Honestly, half the drama revolves around cooking competitions and they are surprisingly fun to watch.. I mean, how could they not be?? The characters reactions whenever they tasted her food, along with those silly but hilarious CGI sequences were pure entertainment..

The supporting cast were great.. They were fun to watch.. I hated Kang Mok Ju the most but I liked that she never begged for forgiveness or showed regret for betraying the King.. Even in her final moments, she stood by her choice.. I wished the bad guys had suffered more, their deaths felt too easy.. They killed so many characters I cared about.. The last two episodes were basically a Korean version of the Red Wedding and it was brutal to watch..

I wanted to mention a few other things..

In the present timeline, when the royal kitchen cooks turned out to be her colleagues, I thought that was a really nice touch.. And when they mentioned the Michelin reviewer, I totally thought it would be the lady who used to taste the King’s food..

I really wish this drama had been longer, maybe around 16 episodes.. Seeing him come to the present and figure out how to live here would have been so much fun to watch.. Imagine him trying to be polite when he’s literally a king, that attitude alone would have been a pain for everyone around him, but hilarious for us to watch.. And when he finds out history painted him as a tyrant?? I would love to see his reaction.. Plus, it would have been nice to see how the couple adjusts to their new life together.. If it had been 16 episodes, we could have had all of that..

And honestly I hate how Netflix keeps butchering the subtitles.. When the King called Ji Yeong ' my other half ' they translated it as ' companion'. That scene would have had so much more impact if it were translated properly.. A lot of people are missing the real emotion because of these lazy translations..

Overall, beyond its narrative, Bon Appetit, Your Majesty shines just as brightly.. The visuals are stunning and beautifully rendered.. It’s a drama that manages to be exciting, nuanced and visceral.. It all comes down to whether you connect with the drama’s emotional core.. I understand some of the criticisms but personally, I didn’t share any of those issues.. For me, it was a good drama with strong performances from the leads and an equally good supporting cast.. Even with its flaws, the script leaves you feeling satisfied and happy by the end..

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80% Cooking – Food cinematography is great and the over-the-top tasting reactions were fun and entertaining. But the show leaned too heavily on cooking, leaving little room for meaningful character growth.

10% Romance – The love story never reached that “soulmate” depth. It felt more like “you’re my type, let’s see where this goes,” rather than a bond powerful enough to alter fate.

10% Palace Politics – The political intrigue was shallow and underdeveloped. Threads were left hanging, missing the chance to add richness and tension to the story.

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Pretty Plates; Plot on a Diet

Aesthetically pleasing visuals and good looking leads minus plot and character development gives us Bon Appetite, Your Majesty.

If I had adjusted my expectation going into it, I might not have felt let down. Due to all the hype and buzz the show created on the internet, my expectations were way up there. The show did not deliver.

There is no plot to begin with. Because of that, there is no development for any character. Every character is a two dimensional version of themselves. It makes for rather a bland and spiceless (pun intended) rom-com. Rom part of the rom-com is missing, and the com part is okayish.

The visuals are aesthetically pleasing. Cooking and dishing scenes are fun to watch. Plus, we get a good looking pair as leads. They also play the parts assigned to them pretty alright, just not enough to make for a memorable show. Again, with practically no story to begin with, they have no way of showing much acting skills. Yoon ah has been doing similar roles for ever. So she effortlessly strolls through it. Lee Chae Min may have potential. He does his part well too, but I did not find anything extraordinary there. I think he may get better with time as he gains more experience. There was a lot of hype about their “sizzling” chemistry. I found it underwhelming. For me, it was like watching two good looking people in a frame. There was no particular spark. So when their inevitable kiss happened, it was no big deal for me. Meh..Kang Han na plays the same pretty, petty, plotting antagonist. No big challenge for her.

I loved Yoon Seo ah’s Gil Geum. She made me lol with her twitchy nose and unique bulldog like abilities. Innocent, faithful and loyal Gil Geum was like a breath of fresh air.

The music is alright. Costume and production are what you can expect from a Netflix show.

It’s not a bad show if your expectations are adjusted. Mine were not. So it turned out to be an underwhelming watch for me.

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Great language skill displays otherwise nope

If you're here for a kdrama with substance this isn't it. But there are gems that make some episodes worthwhile.

Let's get the cons out of the way:
- The political plot is just the typical "royal relative wants to usurp throne because he feels more entitled to it" BS. Yawnfest.
- The romance angle fails to lift off from more than the suggestion of Stockholm Syndrome since the male protagonist had no qualms killing the heroine from the word go. Plus, can't say a married guy who has a habit of forcing women into sexual slavery makes for a winner.
- The heroine's reactions to many situations are just dumb and unrealistic.
- Many unrealistic behaviours occur at tense moments.
- Those above really made me want to quit the show on episode 1 however, the pros do make viewing with watching but only in the relevant episodes...

Pros (and it's really quite worth it, imho):
This is one of the few Korean shows that really put in an effort with correct language skills. The heroine's French isn't 100% but is closer to the correct diction then other kdramas I've heard. Moreover, the actors taking on Ming characters really put in a great effort with their Mandarin pronunciation, especially Jo Jae Yoon, as Tang Bai Long. Although his pronunciation isn't 100% comprehensible he nails the natural speaking tempo of the language way better than most attempts I've heard. It was a real pleasure listening to him each time. He cements his acting prowess when he speaks Korean back to his competitors, acting as though he's not a native Korean speaker by being "clumsy" in his speech with it. I was floored and impressed by his attention to detail. He really made the whole show worth watching for the cultural exchange aspects between the Ming and Joseon competitors
cooks.

Conclusion: If you're a language buff, it's worth watching the first and other episodes with the Ming cooks in them. If you're looking for a good kdrama, possibly give this a miss.

Jo Jae Yoon's acting is a 10/10 in an otherwise 1.5/10 series.

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Promising Beginning Not lived Up To in the Closure

I love the characters and story set up by the makers. What hurts my heart is that the actors, especially the stars, are all so good and deserved stronger and more balanced closure—which they didn’t get. The writers, directors, and producers had a great idea, but let us down with a 5-minute wrap up of what could have been a thrilling final 2 or 3 eps. I would like to see them admit they squandered the gold they had in that story and give us a second season which focuses on those two wonderful stars and the dramatic, thrilling love story in the future that was right in front of all of them.

Major Point: Even if some viewers do like the 10-minute ending, stylistically alone it is off balance with the rest of the series. Tons of time on pots of food for episodes, but hardly a whiff of the actual love story across time. They blew the opportunity to do so much more with our leads and the love story across centuries.

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Lazy Writing: Tyrant to Softboy Overnight

Everything from romance, character arcs to plot was underdeveloped. The idea that she could cure illnesses instantly with food makes no sense. The tone swings from serious to comedic with no warning.

A plot that wandered off course. Premise vs. Delivery.
The show begins with a compelling setup: King Yi Heon is introduced as a tyrant, the consort is a villain, and palace enemies. The promotional material including the trailer and official synopsis clearly paints him as a dangerous ruler: " She’s forced to cook for an infamously temperamental tyrant, King Yi Heon, a ruler with a killer palate and a deadly temper.” But after just a few episodes, his personality and plot direction flips. He becomes a softboy with barely any explanation. The show tricked viewers into watching! Expecting a slow-burn romance and emotional unraveling through food, only to deliver a rushed character rewrite. The show shifted direction fast, abandoning the premise.

A plot that feels like three different dramas stitched together.
1) Political danger, cold tyran king etc.
2) Then: Sudden romance shift. The king becomes a softboy. The Ming cooking competition begins and drags on.
3) Almost near the end: Whiplash back to political rebellion, betrayel, romance THAT DID NOT get explored.
Final episodes: tries to tie everything together in a rushed way.

Romance sucks, then "I LOVE YOU." all of a sudden
This drama is barely a romance. It teased a gradual emotional connection, her capturing his heart through food. Instead he falls too fast. Her perspective is glossed over, and she acts like a frozen robot pretending to be into it. There is no buildup.

Female Lead: Very hard to connect with.
Despite being the protagonist, she rarely showed emotional depth and wasn’t layered at all. She stops questioning her surroundings, doesn’t act on her knowledge. She was passive in romance scenes, often reacting with blank expressions or minimal dialogue. Was that the actor’s fault, or the script’s? Both. An actress who CAN NOT express emotions in a real way. Her character arc lacked growth: she didnt evolve, reflect,

Lacks depth: dilemma and his trauma.
The fl knows the historical consequences. She’s aware of the bloodshed and the villains. Her dilemma—whether or not to tell him—is a an important conflict. But the show forgets it.
The Ml trauma about his mother, his complicated relationship with the queen, and the palace enemies are not explored meaningfully.

The Ming Cooking Competition:
The Ming storyline did NOT fit in the story and dragged out way too long. Four out of twelve episodes—one-third of the entire drama—were wasted on a subplot that barely moved the story forward

This drama promised tension, emotional depth, and a romance. It delivered none of that.

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The writer must be sick

I watched this drama because my boyfriend recommended that this show is fun and i need to watch this. Sorry for telling you this babe, but i won't trust your recommendation ever again. so, this show was starting strong in the early episodes, but again and again, the writer ruined the last 2 episodes! aarghh, like wtf dear writer, you waste so much potential with such beautiful with good-acting-skilled actors and nice osts!!

!!! spoiler alert!!!
wtf with the ending??? at least show us glimpses of scenes of how the majesty goes to the future!! it was nonsensical and out of logic if the ending just finished like that. i know the writer must be already lazy enough to finish the story and just put all of the trivial things that usually happen in time-traveling drama. And all the emotions that i felt while watching this drama were all 'almost'. it is sad, but not sad enough to make me cry. it is happy, but the way the scene portrays the emotions was not good, so i'm not happy enough. The feelings of 'almost' make me not satisfied at all watching this drama. so sad that i wasted my time watching this.

Watching this drama feels like eating a good appetizer, but with a very bad main course and dessert. wasting time. will not rewatch this.

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We were robbed

I went into Bon Appétit, Your Majesty with high expectations, but after completing all twelve episodes, I was left disappointed. What could have been a truly engaging historical-meets-modern drama fell short of its potential. Comparisons to Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo do this series no favors — it never comes close to delivering the same depth or impact.

To be fair, there are many things this drama gets right. The cast, cinematography, storyline foundation, and costume design all showed promise. The series successfully blended comedy, emotion, and drama in the early episodes. However, by episode six, the momentum stalled. What began as a weekly highlight quickly became a chore, and I ended up binging the last half of the series simply to finish it rather than out of excitement.

As a fan of Yoona, I wanted to love her performance here. While her presence undoubtedly anchored the show, it was Lee Chae-min who truly carried the drama. His portrayal was compelling, confident, and full of charisma — he stepped into the role with the energy of a true lead. His performance makes me eager to see more of his future projects. Unfortunately, the writing didn’t give his character the context or depth he deserved, especially regarding how he ended up in the future.

Yoona’s character also felt underdeveloped. Her futuristic advantage seemed reduced to little more than her cooking skills, which, while charming, felt underwhelming given the stakes of the plot. For a supposed romance drama, her lack of urgency in pivotal moments — particularly surrounding the king’s fate and key political events — left the story flat.

The show’s biggest flaws came from rushed storytelling and glaring plot holes, which likely stemmed from its shorter 12-episode format. Instead of tightening the narrative, the limited run made the writing feel lazy and incomplete.

Ultimately, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty gained popularity thanks to its attractive leads, Yoona and Lee Chae-min, and the visibility that comes with a Netflix release. However, it struggled to rise above surface-level appeal. Many of the glowing reviews feel repetitive and uncritical, but for me, the reality is clear: this was a missed opportunity for something much greater.

At the end of the day, it was a visually appealing drama with strong performances — particularly from Lee Chae-min — but undermined by weak writing, unresolved plot points, and a lack of payoff.

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It definitely started strong,

I haven't been this hooked on a drama in a while, but somehow this show has lost me around epsidoes 8-10.

I think the acting is great, the chemistry between the leads was pretty good, the romance is cute, and I loved all the characters however the plot lost heart somewhere and became very rushed.

[The King & Consort Kang]
Consort Kang who was supposed to be the King's favorite (probably because of the parallels with his mother) until Ji Yeong shows up and Consort Kang basically becomes non-existant in the King's life and the show never really bothers to flesh that out in any regard.

After a while they just stop having scenes together at all which was a total let down.

Consort Kang's character also feels all over the place to me?
Her loyalty lies with the evil uncle, so much so that she's willing to marry him, but she's still hell bent on getting rid of Ji Yeong for no other reason than because.....?

She's oddly possessive over the King for no real discernable reason and that makes her hostility toward Ji Young so plastic that it takes me out of the show.

It's clear Ji Young isnt a spy, she isn't a danger, and her only fault is apparently the fact that the King fell for her, which with his reputation why would anyone find it wildly out of the ordinary for the King to be getting around? Ji Yeong is only really a problem because everyone else is convinced she is for no tangible reason in my opinion.

If Consort Kang only truly cares about working the the evil uncle to get the King deposed, why spend so much time targeting Ji Young specifically when she could be doing literally anything else? The show never elaborates on why I should care about the fact that Consort Kang loves the King, in fact the show tells me that she wants him deposed, but she is still catty and jealous because...?

Consort Kang starts strong but because the show just abandons her at some point her character just fell flat and she's more of a plot device than anything else.


[Court Lady Chu Wol]
Also, Chu Wol's extreme loyalty for someone who is very aware of how the court ladies are discarded also seems extremely out of place. Doing a job because if you dont you die is one thing, but her prison scene where she looked ready to jump out of her body to save Consort Kang was so comically dramatic for no reason? Maybe the scene would have made sense if they gave us insight on why she is so staunchly loyal, but otherwise it was just confusing to me.
Why? Why is Chu Wol so dedicated? Just, because....? It would have been nice if they fleshed out her character more.

[The Royal Family]
I know Yi Heon is a fictional take on a real tyrant, but I didnt expect them to soften the edges of that story so heavily?

The real Deposed Queen Yun was a woman who didnt come from any noble background, gave birth to the crown prince, and though the King seemed to love her she was essentially bullied out of the palace by other noble families (in what I've put together looking into this bit of history)
She supposedly lashed out and scratched the King's face, though she tried to hide it everyone around him jumped on the opportunity to force her out and have her deposed and executed, especially the King's mother.

In the show, they do a lot to sand off the edges of Yi Heon's family. The Dowager Queen and Queen Ja-Hyun especially. When I realized they weren't going to get any depth as characters I kinda tapped out. If theyre both decent people who care about the King and Ji Yeong, then what weight does the Deposed Queen's death even have?

The edge in the early episodes, that sense of venegence Yi Heon was after and the bite he had going after it evaporated at some point. I understand Ji Young changed him, but Yi Heon was at his best when he was a misunderstood tyrant with something to prove but that doesn't hold any weight when the key people involved in the Queen being deposed are presented as 'not that bad actually'.

When the grand prince was poisoned, imagine if we had gotten insight on Yi Heon's relationship with his step mother? Maybe how she neglected him, or favored her own son over him in a way that gives weight to him feeling lonely in the palace? How he wished his step mother would care for him like she cares for her son? Something? Like, give us a reason to care about the deposed Queen because when you present the royal family as mostly decent, except that one evil guy, the stakes disappear.

Queen Ja-Hyun had utterly no screentime outside of being the benevolent mother just caught somewhere in an evil plot that she has no relation to. For someone who *should* be important, she's barely important to the plot at all.

[Cooking]
The cooking in the show and how every instance of cooking is a race against the clock for something becomes this weight on the plot. The spectacle becomes more important than the story and the cooking takes up so much time the story doesnt get time to develop. It also becomes boring and predictable when the keep doing the same thing over and over, beat for beat.

I wish we had more scenes like the Dowager Queen remembering her mother rather than long winded cooking competitions against the Ming chefs, and dont get me wrong- I liked the Ming chefs, but they didn't do a whole lot to move the internal plot forward and that block of story is probably why all the other relevant things to a major backseat and ended up rushed.

Something exciting happening every single second doesn't really make space for all the other plot elements you built up to reach satisfying conclusions, especially when the royal drama was so interesting before it got watered down, like the writers gave up on committing to a complex plot.

[Evil Uncle]
Also, Prince Jesan, Mister Evil Uncle.

Who would have expected the guy who is involved with all the medicinal things would have some hand in the Prince being posioned?

For a man who was supposed to be the big master mind behind trying to get the King deposed, doing something so obvious felt like the writers gave up, like they just needed any reason for the King and Ji Yeong to follow the trail back to him to wrap that plotline up. Prince Jesan went from this foreboding villain where I'm waiting for this grand clash and story peak, to more so just a Scooby Doo villain waiting to get his mask torn off and then we all move on.

Choi Gwi-Hwa was so good in this role its a shame that it all fell flat. I could tell after a certain point, or maybe I just became disillusioned, but all the actors performances started to feel flat. Like, compared to the first episode by epsiode ten it feels like they're just reading their lines to get it over with. The story lost it stakes, the edge was sanded off, the royal drama isn't all that dramatic anymore, and all the cooking just became so painfully limp and repetitive.

The drama lost heart somewhere, and it really sucks because it had a lot of potential, the spectacle of the cooking aspect was just way too disconnected that the plot came second to everything else.

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Started with Great Potential But Ending Ended Up Being Meh

If you're looking to play something in the background, this drama would be the one to play.

I started off enjoying most of this drama, as the plot in the beginning had potential and all the food looked SO good. Honestly, I think the cooking and food is what carried this drama.

Without going into any spoilers -- in short, I felt like the drama fell apart as it approached the end. There was (of course) some historical political drama that occurs throughout the story and it just ended up being really rushed at the end as the writers tried wrapping this up in 12 episodes.

If you're looking for a good historical drama, look elsewhere. However, if you're looking for a drama to play in the background with drool worthy dishes, this fits the bill.

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