This review may contain spoilers
Great cooking drama (in depth plot? not that great)
For context, I binged this show.
Its honestly not even bad. I don't know why there's so many haters. I enjoyed watching it. There were moments where I fast-forwarded a lot but I enjoy cooking-themed shows so this was right up my alley. As opposed to other viewers, I wasn't as interested in the subplots about the queen dowager / the treason / etc. and was more into the cooking competitions and friendships within the kitchen. So with that noted, I suppose I'm not into the show because of the plot LOL hence the 7.5 for the story.
If I'm actually thinking about the plot as a whole... there were definitely a lot of plot holes. Since there's so many characters that have decently-sized roles, I suppose it was hard to incorporate all of their backstories and how each of them came to be- mainly the people who were on the prince Jaesan's side. And Consort Kang... she highkey pmo. Her role was really big in the drama but there was no proper backstory for her??? We know she used to be a courtesan(?) and the prince brought her in (I'm not 100% tho so don't quote me on that) but like why is she so vengeful towards the king? Despite liking him too? Like the royal family never did anything bad towards her (from my understanding) so why did she never waver and continue to stay with the prince when she doesn't even like him that much. Honestly, there's a lot to unpack so I'll just stop this here lol.
One of my favourite characters from the show was definitely the jester Gong il. He was super fun and was for sure one of the characters that was well written. His backstory was shown in depth but there was a good amount of vagueness that keep the viewers entertained- especially since he wasn't a main character. I enjoyed watching all of his scenes. His character was well written and the acting was portrayed perfectly. I will be awaiting more of Lee Joo Ahn's work!
As for the main leads' acting, I thought Yoona did really well. I've always enjoyed her acting and this drama is no different. She's great. And Lee Chae Min was good too. I was pleasantly surprised by his acting (since I've only watched dramas where he was a side character). He depicted different emotions perfectly and the food tasting scenes were hilarious. I enjoyed watching his acting.
The chemistry between the main leads tho... I personally didn't see any problem with it. I thought it was good enough. And the romance theme wasn't badly written either. It was alright and I actually liked how the drama wasn't heavily reliant on the romance aspect and kept the lovey-dovey-ness to a minimal. I thought it was a nice touch and that the chemistry was more prevalent this way.
Overall a great show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I don't regret watching it.
p.s. I'm glad they didn't make this show like Scarlet Heart Ryeo... or else I would've rated it lower LOL. I'm happy they didn't traumatize us with a sad/open ending.
Its honestly not even bad. I don't know why there's so many haters. I enjoyed watching it. There were moments where I fast-forwarded a lot but I enjoy cooking-themed shows so this was right up my alley. As opposed to other viewers, I wasn't as interested in the subplots about the queen dowager / the treason / etc. and was more into the cooking competitions and friendships within the kitchen. So with that noted, I suppose I'm not into the show because of the plot LOL hence the 7.5 for the story.
If I'm actually thinking about the plot as a whole... there were definitely a lot of plot holes. Since there's so many characters that have decently-sized roles, I suppose it was hard to incorporate all of their backstories and how each of them came to be- mainly the people who were on the prince Jaesan's side. And Consort Kang... she highkey pmo. Her role was really big in the drama but there was no proper backstory for her??? We know she used to be a courtesan(?) and the prince brought her in (I'm not 100% tho so don't quote me on that) but like why is she so vengeful towards the king? Despite liking him too? Like the royal family never did anything bad towards her (from my understanding) so why did she never waver and continue to stay with the prince when she doesn't even like him that much. Honestly, there's a lot to unpack so I'll just stop this here lol.
One of my favourite characters from the show was definitely the jester Gong il. He was super fun and was for sure one of the characters that was well written. His backstory was shown in depth but there was a good amount of vagueness that keep the viewers entertained- especially since he wasn't a main character. I enjoyed watching all of his scenes. His character was well written and the acting was portrayed perfectly. I will be awaiting more of Lee Joo Ahn's work!
As for the main leads' acting, I thought Yoona did really well. I've always enjoyed her acting and this drama is no different. She's great. And Lee Chae Min was good too. I was pleasantly surprised by his acting (since I've only watched dramas where he was a side character). He depicted different emotions perfectly and the food tasting scenes were hilarious. I enjoyed watching his acting.
The chemistry between the main leads tho... I personally didn't see any problem with it. I thought it was good enough. And the romance theme wasn't badly written either. It was alright and I actually liked how the drama wasn't heavily reliant on the romance aspect and kept the lovey-dovey-ness to a minimal. I thought it was a nice touch and that the chemistry was more prevalent this way.
Overall a great show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I don't regret watching it.
p.s. I'm glad they didn't make this show like Scarlet Heart Ryeo... or else I would've rated it lower LOL. I'm happy they didn't traumatize us with a sad/open ending.
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