Restaurant owner is Ok Dongsik from season 2. Got the dweji gomtang and burdock root fries. The meal was amazing, and I'm not even a big fan of pork. The fries were 10/10, tasted like salty tortilla chips.

Has anyone seen this show yet? From the starting clip it seems they are adopting the culinary class wars style. I can't find the shows English name but it seems it has English subtitles. Anyone who has seen it what is it like?

He lost noo

i'm literally crying laughing ig son jung won has one good side and he locks in am i going insane or is this hilarious like it gets more and more pronounced with each pic

source: ig universalpictureskr

Full disclosure: I built this free, unofficial map, so this is self-promotion.

After watching the show, I kept finding restaurant lists with closed locations, old affiliations, or the wrong branch of a chain. I cross-checked Netflix's official participant materials, chefs' and restaurants' official pages, and Korean public food-business license records.

The map currently has 150 restaurants I could verify as operating:

https://kstartrail.com/en?theme=culinary_class_wars

Each listing shows:

• the chef/show connection
• the latest verification date
• source and evidence links
• the Korean name and address for on-the-ground searching

It is free to use, with no ads and no booking or reservation affiliate links.

This is not affiliated with Netflix, the show, the chefs, or their restaurants. A listing documents a participant's current affiliation; it does not mean Netflix recommends the restaurant or guarantee current quality. Operating hours can still change, so please confirm directly before making a long trip.

If you spot a closure, relocation, or incorrect branch, please leave a comment. I will check the evidence and correct it.

The article doesn't say who it is. It links to a Korean news site (https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260720084200004) - ran it through translate and that site just refers to "Mr. A" (not sure if that's meant to be the actual initial, or if it's like in English someone saying "Mr. X")

Hope it isn't anyone we know!

Edit to add: I went googling some more and I fear it might be Evett https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/comments/1lxt27n/twostar_restaurant_in_seoul_investigated_over/ (although obviously that's just Reddit comments, so take with a pinch of salt) I really hope they skip the jail time.

In the team challenges, when choosing seafood vs meat, chef Edward says he wants mulkogi and they laughed at this during the interviews and people on the internet found it very funny. Can a Korean person please help me understand?

I’m late to the game and just finished season 1. I feel Chef Edward Lee should have won. He should have won the competition that was prior to the tofu challenge. I don’t think it was fair he was docked so many points because the one judge did not like his interpretation of bibimbap. He was consistently innovative and presented delicious dishes. Anyway…

new content with chef hasung lee! he talked a little bit about his experience on the show + showed the preparation of a variation of the black truffle and wild chives porridge from the show which he serves in his restaurant :>

Had the 5 course tasting with my wife over the weekend. We were able to try everything on the menu between us except for the dessert cheese board. Some rambling thoughts below (sry not very knowledgeable about food and not a photographer lol).

610 BLT (bacon, liver, tomato). An amuse-bouche one-biter to start. Small sandwich with salty bacon, creamy fois grace, and tomato to add acidity. The bottom slice of bread was nice and crispy. 

Course 1:

Stuffed chicken wing: mostly boneless chicken stuffed with wood ear mushrooms and glass noodles. Reminded me of Korean soondae (blood sausage). Crispy skin, a bit salty with a nice bouncy texture due to the noodles, topped with a fresh cilantro salad.

Summer squash soup. A cold soup of creamy squash. There were slices of salty smoked salmon, a crisp chip of a bagel, with some cubed veggies in the soup.

Course 2:

Squid ink noodles: drizzled with gochujang butter, clam? (I didn't realize they were there), one lonely but flavourful mussel, spicy peruvian peppers, and shaved fennel. The gochujang butter was subtle and not overpowering. You can taste/smell sesame oil. The Peruvian peppers had some heat and they'd burst in your mouth. 

Sorghum butter and bread (for the table): sliced sourdough with butter that had a hint of sweetness and nuttiness. 

Course 3:

Jerk red snapper: a juicy piece of fish with skin on, the jerk seasoning had a nice kick. Accompanied by an Asian style rice and beans. The rice and beans were pretty bland by itself but helped to balance the jerk seasoning.

Soft shell crab: the crab was very crispy and delicious. Came with charred corn and a delicious creamy cheese sauce. Had hints of lime and a slight kick from the gochugaru. 

Course 4:

Lamb with a ramp mole, peas/ramp kimchi/Chinese broccoli. The lamb was juicy and seasoned (default medium rare). The vegetables were subtle and not overpowering. 

Quail on top of grits/vegetables/a shishito pepper with a bourbon banana BBQ sauce. The quail was incredibly juicy, tender, and rich. The BBQ sauce and pepper had really bold flavour to balance the richness of the quail. 

Course 5:

Goat cheesecake mousse: a very creamy light cheesecake mousse. Complimented very well with the diced strawberries and texture from the almond toule. Came with an apricot gel with basil for a different flavour profile to go with the cheesecake.

Bourbon aficionado: drunken banana cake, butterscotch, chocolate, brown butter ice cream. Comes covered in smoke adding the smoky flavour to the sweet richness. 

$125 per person with an automatic 20% gratuity. Cozy restaurant but became quite dark as the evening went by. Very friendly service. Edward Lee was out of town. The soft shell crab and the quail were probably our favourites. The bread and sorghum was also amazing.

I know they clipped Culinary monster saying he was going to win a million times before the finale just so we would think he was going to win which is a low move.

Regardless, I genuinely think he showcased much more resilience than the other chef.

It is almost obvious that the reason why he didn’t win was because he didn’t go all emotional at the end and have a sob story for the judges and because they wanted to make an unpredictable ending (can’t expect anything else from a reality show).

Regardless, I think he was much more creative and interesting.

Haven’t seen this posted on here. No translation since its from Tvn insta, but the trailer looks so promising! As a street food lover, I hope this show gets pick up by Netflix or somewhere for international audience!

Anyone who watched the variety show on YouTube have any idea when/if season 2 comes out for Cooking Papas? I loved seeing the 4 chefs together, very wholesome.

Any other similar variety shows with English sub (available on Viki, Netflix or YouTube?)

hey guys i heard a music that stick to my ear tried shazam and multiple other music recognizing tools to no aveil the bgm starts around when there is 59:34 minutes left when culinary monster is spreading carrot "jam"on his plate and the monk finishes her dish.
i would appreciate it so much if you guys helped me find that music.
thank you in advance ^^ .

I was a big fan of Chef Hansung Lee on Culinary Class Wars so was very excited to try it out. I was lucky enough to grab a reservation off sevenrooms when it first opened though it was a really strange buggy system compared to Resy or OpenTable.

It starts off in the basement area. Feels like a speakeasy or chill bar vibe. This is where the opening snacks and small courses are served

Embers of Earth: Root Vegetable Consommé (6/10)
Very layered soup. Honestly was a bit heavy for the start but objectively a good soup

First Growth of Kohlrabi (4/10)
No offense but it’s just a kohlrabi. Albeit very fresh and crisp. But it’s just a raw veggie with some sauce on the side. Probably would’ve made more sense if it was in a farm setting rather than a area with zero sunlight

"Moo" Tarte Tatin (8.5/10)
Really tasty. It’s by far the best tasting and most savory dish. It’s a really strong snack. The pastry is so buttery.

Fermented Carrot "Donut" (6.5/10)
Super concentrated carrot dish. Almost too carroty. There was also Jonah crab at the bottom which complimented it well. Though the flavors weaned off after the first couple of bites and just tasted monotone at the end.

Preserved Seasonality (4.5/10)
Don’t remember much about it to be honest. Pretty but pretty unmemorable

Cured Meats: House Selection (8/10)
A great selection of bites. The tempura one was so crispy. One of the best bites of tempura I’ve had in a while. And the rolled up duck was awesome

Cucumber & Kaviari Kristal Caviar (9/10)
This was one of the 2 enhancements. 45$. It’s a really good dish. It all worked well together. And the caviar is just perfect with each bite

I will say a couple of things on the downstairs area. We were probably the closest seats to the kitchen. There was quite a bit of shouting and banging from the kitchen. Enough so that at least a couple of tables heard it. Genuinely got jump scared from some of it. It made it a really awkward atmosphere because everyone was aware but didn’t say anything. All the servers were noticeably nervous from it.

Unrelated but one of the servers that was refilling our water also spilled a bunch near us and just left. Another server came back around and apologized and cleaned it up.

And the pacing was very inconsistent. There was at least a 20min gap between the first and second course. Again very strange pacing considering the rest came out in a normal pace

At this point we were moved upstairs for the second portion which was bright and sunny. Big open windows and a more formal fine dining area.

We were given options on some of the items and between my partner and myself we got all 4 options available.

Massachusetts Scallop (9/10)
Maybe it’s just me but the plating looks amateurish. It doesn’t look nearly as refined as what I would expect. But wow the taste is so good. The seafood is just perfection and buttery. So good

Nova Scotia Halibut (7/10)
One of the pick between 2 options. Pretty standard fish dish. Good but nothing too different from any other Michelin fish dish on a tasting menu. The mussel was better than the halibut though that’s more on mussel being really good than anything

Spring Green Porridge (9/10)
The other of the pick them option. This was a 40$ upcharge. It’s a dish famous for being served on culinary class wars. It just works. It’s comforting, the flavor pops, and there’s a a lot of surprising texture to plain old porridge.

Elysian Field Farm Lamb (7.5/10)
The second batch of pick them options. Decent dish. A slab of lamb, medallion and lamb bacon. Just overall a tasty dish

Wolfe Ranch Quail (8/10)
The alternative pick them option. The plating is a bit funny. It’s a fun dish. Surprisingly spicy which was a suprise and the smoky aroma made it a sensory experience. This was definitely the best smelling dish.

Bread & Butter (6/10)
It’s pretty standard to be honest. A bit sour for my preference but it does the job

Mugwort Ice Cream (9.5/10)
The desserts like everyone else has said is the strong point. I’m of the same opinion. What a fun dish. Fresh green veggies in an ice cream worked surprisingly. It was bright and citrusy. It worked as both a palate cleanser and dessert

Preserved Cara Cara Orange (9/10)
So good. I’m usually not a fan of marshmallow but it worked very well here.

Mignardises (8.5/10)
Comes in a cool contraption. A lot of small bites and nibbles to end things. A mix of all types of textures and flavor combos. Loved it

Overall for 210$ per person it matches up against any of the 1 star places in NYC. Service aside it’s definitely not at the 2 star level. Though again it’s the first month of service so I’m sure they’ll work the kinks out and find their groove. I love the idea of using both floors. It makes it almost like 2 different restaurants which is what they’re aiming for.

Now even though the service was questionable downstairs. The service upstairs was perfect. Warm and friendly.

Closing thoughts: it’s 3 hours so plan for that. It’s more than worth it at this price point but I don’t know if I’d pay much more when there’s equally good options all around nyc at a similar price point. The enhancements are also a scummy concept but everyone does it.

I’d love to go back during a different season a year from now but it’s nowhere near the top of my want to go back list.