This review may contain spoilers
Bon Appétit, Your Majesty — it needed more time in the oven.
Just an idea, but can’t the protagonist, for once, travel forward in time? Having said that, here’s my honest review.
Food: looking delicious.
The King: looking mighty appetising.
The chef: looking very professional.
The chemistry: looking... but cannot find it.
At times, it felt like I was watching Top Chef. Don’t get me wrong — I did enjoy watching the dishes being prepared and adapted to the Joseon era, and seeing how the FL figured her way around each episode’s dish. But if the show is only 12 episodes long, I don’t want to spend four of those watching a cooking battle. There was more sizzle in the meat she was frying than between the leads, and the romance didn’t really start until episode 11, when the FL feebly stated, “What is this feeling that I’m feeling?” And that was supposed to show her love for the King — who, I might add, had been far more invested in her for far longer. Let’s say he wanted to devour the Royal Cook along with her tasty meals.
A lot of situations were never explained. For instance: why did Kang Mok-ju hate the King so much and want to have him dethroned? Was she jealous? Power hungry? No answers to that. Also — and one of the biggest issues — how in the heck did the King travel to the future? When asked, he said, “That’s not important.” Uhm, yes it is! It’s a big deal. Give us a hint, at least. That, to me, spells lazy writing — not finishing the story properly. They put all this attention to detail, all this effort into showing us how the meals are prepared, but didn’t bother to at least give a hint as to how the King travelled hundreds of years into the future — and how he became so well adjusted! He looked like a chaebol, to be honest…
On the plus side, we were given three great supporting characters: Kang Mok-ju — faithful and lovable sidekick to the female lead, with the nose of a bloodhound and a very good eye as well (she spotted the attractive Gong Gil quite quickly); the aforementioned Gong Gil — intrepid jester with a plan of his own and a fantastic set of skills (and abs, let’s admit it); and finally, Sin Su Hyeok — the Commander of Urumwi, who was as brave as he was swift with that sword and, apparently, immortal, because he got out of more than one dangerous situation completely unscathed.
The baddies were really bad, the good ones were very good, Lee Chae-Min was an acceptable find, and the kitchen staff was a bit iffy at times — like meat that’s been defrosted a few days ago (all these food comparisons, I know).
All in all, if you want to enjoy the show, just suspend disbelief — the same way a bag of sous vide is suspended in water — and don’t ask the writers for a proper ending...or to make sense.
Food: looking delicious.
The King: looking mighty appetising.
The chef: looking very professional.
The chemistry: looking... but cannot find it.
At times, it felt like I was watching Top Chef. Don’t get me wrong — I did enjoy watching the dishes being prepared and adapted to the Joseon era, and seeing how the FL figured her way around each episode’s dish. But if the show is only 12 episodes long, I don’t want to spend four of those watching a cooking battle. There was more sizzle in the meat she was frying than between the leads, and the romance didn’t really start until episode 11, when the FL feebly stated, “What is this feeling that I’m feeling?” And that was supposed to show her love for the King — who, I might add, had been far more invested in her for far longer. Let’s say he wanted to devour the Royal Cook along with her tasty meals.
A lot of situations were never explained. For instance: why did Kang Mok-ju hate the King so much and want to have him dethroned? Was she jealous? Power hungry? No answers to that. Also — and one of the biggest issues — how in the heck did the King travel to the future? When asked, he said, “That’s not important.” Uhm, yes it is! It’s a big deal. Give us a hint, at least. That, to me, spells lazy writing — not finishing the story properly. They put all this attention to detail, all this effort into showing us how the meals are prepared, but didn’t bother to at least give a hint as to how the King travelled hundreds of years into the future — and how he became so well adjusted! He looked like a chaebol, to be honest…
On the plus side, we were given three great supporting characters: Kang Mok-ju — faithful and lovable sidekick to the female lead, with the nose of a bloodhound and a very good eye as well (she spotted the attractive Gong Gil quite quickly); the aforementioned Gong Gil — intrepid jester with a plan of his own and a fantastic set of skills (and abs, let’s admit it); and finally, Sin Su Hyeok — the Commander of Urumwi, who was as brave as he was swift with that sword and, apparently, immortal, because he got out of more than one dangerous situation completely unscathed.
The baddies were really bad, the good ones were very good, Lee Chae-Min was an acceptable find, and the kitchen staff was a bit iffy at times — like meat that’s been defrosted a few days ago (all these food comparisons, I know).
All in all, if you want to enjoy the show, just suspend disbelief — the same way a bag of sous vide is suspended in water — and don’t ask the writers for a proper ending...or to make sense.
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