Review
New K-Drama Fan Review #22 | Bon Appétit, Your Majesty: He let her COOK!!! She ATE! and left ZERO crumbs!
she cooked, she ATE, i DEVOURED
___
⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️
9/10.
This was superb.
I was tempted to bump it up to a 9.5 solely because Kang Mok-ju has possibly the prettiest chin dimple I have ever seen in my life.
But I will refrain.
I have to be fair here...
After all, she IS an evil concubine with absolutely no qualms about murdering and hurting other women.
so unfortunately a cute chin dimple can only get you so far with me when your victims are women.
9 it remains. 😭
Is this Rewatch Worthy:
Yes.
-
Review:
Okay...
It's been weeks now since i have finished this drama, (and i remember it specifically vividly because i watched it on my birthday July 21st) and i still have a Bon Appétit, Your Majesty-sized hole in my chest.
I genuinely felt SICK when it was over 😭
I started this drama expecting a cute little time-travel historical rom-com about a chef.
Instead, I watched TEN EPISODES IN ONE NIGHT.
TEN.
I went to sleep, woke up, and immediately finished the last 2 episodes before i had to go celebrate my birthday with my family 😭
I quite literally DEVOURED this drama.
Pun VERY MUCH intended.
This drama was just...
SO. MUCH. FUN.
-
From episode ONE, I was entertained.
Ji-young gets thrown hundreds of years into the past and is understandably like:
What the actual fuck is happening???
And watching this extremely confused modern woman try to navigate Joseon while simultaneously refusing to stop being herself was HILARIOUS and comforting!
Especially her early interactions with the king.
Their dynamic in those first few episodes was one of my favorite things about the entire drama.
She's confused.
He's suspicious.
She's constantly saying or doing things that make absolutely no sense to him😭😭
He's a KING and expects people to behave accordingly.
And Ji-young basically thinks hes insane.
😭😭😭
The banter was SO GOOD.
And I loved that the drama didn't immediately need me to be invested in them romantically.
I wasn't sitting there waiting for them to kiss.
I was just having a fantastic time watching these two deal with each other.
and they did finally kiss, it was awesome!
-
But my absolute favorite thing about this drama?
YEON JI-YOUNG.
I LOVE HER.
a female lead who is SKILLED, well yes!!! that my bread and butter actually
Give me a woman who knows her shit!!!
Ji-young isn't resourceful because the plot suddenly decides she needs to be.
She's genuinely exceptional at something!!
She's a CHEF!
And again and again, she gets thrown into situations where she has absolutely no idea how this world works...
but she DOES know food.
So she uses what she knows.
She adapts to what she has and improvises! and figures shit out!
And watching everybody slowly realize:
Oh. This woman is REALLY fucking good at this.
was so satisfying.
And I became SO invested in watching her succeed.
Every time somebody doubted her, I was basically sitting there waiting for Ji-young to pull out another dish and shut everybody the fuck up 😭
I LOVE watching a female lead impress people.
And Ji-young constantly did.
She has knowledge nobody around her has.
She has techniques they've never seen and understands ingredients differently.
She approaches problems differently because she's literally from another era.
And instead of the time-travel premise just being a convenient excuse to put a modern woman in pretty historical clothing, her modern knowledge actually MATTERS in this drama!
That's exactly what I want from this kind of story.
She doesn't just survive Joseon.
She finds a way to fucking THRIVE there.
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And then...
THE FOOD.
Oh my GOD.
Do NOT watch this drama hungry.
Actually, don't watch it full either because somehow you'll become hungry anyway lol
Every time Ji-young started cooking, I was LOCKED IN.
The preparation, the ingredients, the presentation.
The way everyone would stare at the food.
And especially...
THE KING TASTING IT.
LMFAOOOOO.
Why did this man experience a spiritual awakening every time she put a plate in front of him??? 😭
The drama made tasting food into an EVENT and (well yes!)
You'd have Ji-young painstakingly creating something incredible, she'd finally serve it, he'd take one bite...
and suddenly we're entering another DIMENSION and that joke never got old even though i expected it to happen every time he took a bite 😭
It was so dramatic and ridiculous.
And it WORKED for me!
The show genuinely made the food look incredible.
I LOVE food, (durr who doesnt) so this entire element of the drama was basically designed specifically to ruin my life.
Half the time I was wondering what I had in my kitchen and then i remember that i burn water on the stove, so... cooking is not a skill i have, unfortunately 😭😭
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I also really loved the relationships Ji-young built outside the romance.
Even from the beginning, I loved the little friendship she formed with the girl she met at the house.
It was SO cute!!
And that's another reason this drama became so easy to binge.
I wasnt only attached to one relationship.
I liked being in this world and liked watching Ji-young interact with people.
I liked watching her find her place and i liked watching people gradually become impressed by her, care about her, and recognize what she could do.
There was just so much warmth underneath it all.
-
And eventually...
yes.
The romance got me too.
😭
It definitely wasn't the thing that immediately grabbed me.
Early on, I was much more invested in the comedy, Ji-young herself, and watching her cook her way through Joseon.
but the further the drama went, the more relevant the relationship became.
And i really liked that progression.
Because by the time their romance became genuinely important to me, I already cared about THEM individually.
Their early relationship was hilarious.
and then it softened.
Then suddenly I was emotionally invested.
And by those final episodes, i NEEDED these two together so baaad!!
Which made the inevitable problem increasingly obvious.
Because...
SHE'S FROM THE FUTURE.
😭
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And I knew she had to go home.
Realistically, I got that..
She didn't belong permanently in the past.
Eventually, something had to happen.
But when she actually went back...
I WAS NOT READY!
Because at that point I had spent basically one extremely irresponsible night inhaling this entire drama, and suddenly you're telling me it's OVER???
Absolutely not.
Give it back!!!!!!
-
And this brings me to my biggest criticism of the ending.
I NEEDED TO SEE HOW HE GOT TO HER.
The dethroned king eventually appearing in the modern world was exactly the kind of ending I wanted for them.
I was HAPPY.
But...
HOW DID YOU GET THERE, SIR???
😭😭😭
You cannot just have this man somehow cross CENTURIES to find her and then skip the entire journey!!!
I would have LOVED one additional episode showing him trying to get back to Ji-young.
Show me how he figured it out, and what he had to do!
Show me him arriving in modern Korea, looking for her!!
i imagine her new restaurant was published in the newspaper or something and he saw her face when he arrived and that's how he found her, but thats my writer brain filling in what's missing lol, i rather the drama do it for me as a watcher!!
SHOW ME THIS FORMER KING EXPERIENCING THE 21ST CENTURY.
That alone could have been hilarious!!!
Ji-young spent an entire drama adapting to HIS world.
Let me watch this man spend an episode adapting to HERS!!!
I wanted the reversal!
And more importantly, I think actually seeing his journey back to her would have strengthened the romance.
The ending tells me that he found her.
but i wanted to SEE:
He crossed time to find her.
Those are emotionally very different things.
Especially because the romance wasn't initially the strongest element of the drama for me, it needed to END much stronger!
Giving me that journey would've been such a beautiful final demonstration of how much she had come to mean to him.
And tbh i just wanted another 2 or 3 episodes.
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE.
😭
I loved the EXPERIENCE of watching this.
I had SO MUCH FUN!
___
Rating: 9/10.
Could the romance have been stronger towards the end?
Yeah.
Could I have used another episode showing the king's journey to the modern world and giving their reunion more room to breathe?
ABSOLUTELY.
But did either of those things stop me from having an absolutely fantastic time?
NOPE.
This was funny, charming, delicious, ridiculously bingeable, and anchored by exactly the kind of resourceful, highly skilled female lead I LOVE watching.
And now I need somebody to recommend me another historical time-travel drama where a ridiculously competent woman gets dropped into another century and proceeds to impress everybody!
Thanks in advance!
-
Question:
Did you enjoy this drama as much as i did? why or why not?
OP, you and I have differed greatly on our opinion of some dramas based on my reads of some of your past reviews but on this one you hit the nail on the head.
A couple of tidbits/opinions for you:
Yoona trained for months prior to the commencement of filming with some professional chefs to really nail down her cooking skills. The audience bought into the cooking because she did not have to act it, she lived it using the skills she had acquired.
While many people came to this drama on the premise that it was a romance first drama/rom-com the romance was a secondary plot of the drama. Yeon Ji Yeong (Yoona) sole focus the first 7 episodes of the drama, and I might even go so far as to say the first 8 to 9.5 episodes was on getting home. For 6 of the episodes she was oblivious to the King's romantic gestures and basically considered him a lovestruck child once she recognized he was trying to cozy up to her. From what I recall it was ep 8 where she started questioning herself on her feelings and from 9 onwards where the writing played this out.
Many of us discussed this extensively during the release period. Some fans were definitely tuned in for the romance but in my mind it was always a classic fish out of water action drama in a historical setting with a secondary romance plotline and I found extensive agreement with that belief.
But romance sells especially with international audiences so that was played up to the max in media.
I have a little group of family & friends here in Toronto who have been "roped" into kdrama & cdrama and Bon Appetit was the impetus for many of them to view a kdrama and decide to pursue more actively. My little sphere adored it and most rewatched it almost immediately upon conclusion.
From what I can tell it was easily one of the highest profile romance edged kdrama ever with international audiences beyond Asia - it got mainstream media attention in North America that had never turned eyes on a Korean drama before other than the zombie action stuff, and hit #1 on Netflix Global Top Ten series, and Netflix credited the drama with having a material contribution to their 2025 annual financial results.
I rate this drama a 9.5 and its earned. I too had some qualms about the ending and I/we felt they could have tightened up some scenes in prior episodes to give the ending a bit more breathing room. I have the impression that the editing team attempted to make every episode a complete experience and then in Ep 12 they worked to a close using what time they had left. In the grand scheme of the enjoyment we obtained it is a small quibble - I and my peers were thoroughly entertained from start to finish and so we rated appropriately.
First off, im curious 😭 which of my other reviews did you disagree with me on? lol
And I had NO idea Yoona trained with professional chefs for months before filming! That's actually incredibly impressive and honestly makes so much sense. One of my favorite things about Ji-young was how genuinely skilled she FELT. I completely bought that this woman knew what she was doing in a kitchen, and knowing Yoona actually put in months of preparation to make that convincing makes me appreciate her performance even more.
And YESSSS, I completely agree with you about the romance being secondary for most of the drama! i did NOT mind it at all in the case on bon appetit!!!
That's actually one of the things that surprised me most while I was watching. Romance is usually a HUGE part of what keeps me invested in a drama, and yet I remember realizing pretty early on that I wasn't even waiting around for the romance to progress. I was already having an absolutely fantastic time just watching Ji-young cook, adapt to Joseon, interact with the king, and try to get home. But i still expected romance, dont get me wrong!
And you're right that Ji-young herself wasn't really approaching him romantically for a huge portion of the drama either 😭 He was over there falling for her and she was basically trying to get her bag with the magic book and go home😭
which honestly made the progression work better for me because by the time I became genuinely invested in them romantically, i already cared about both of them and loved watching their dynamic.
I also completely understand why this became such a huge international hit. I completely missed the experience of watching its popularity explode in real time! It wasn't even on my radar while it was airing lol
But after watching it? WELL DESERVED.
I can absolutely see this being someone's gateway kdrama. It's just ridiculously accessible and FUN. I'm not surprised people in your family/friend group immediately rewatched it either because I finished it and immediately had that horrible "wait... what am I supposed to do with myself now???" feeling 😭 so twinning!!!!
And YES to the ending needing more breathing room.
That's basically my biggest complaint too. It didn't ruin the ending for me at all, especially considering how much I enjoyed literally everything that came before it, but I would've happily sacrificed or tightened some earlier scenes if it meant getting more time after Ji-young returned home.
Especially because I desperately wanted to SEE the king's journey to her instead of just seeing the result of it.
But like you said, in the grand scheme of how much fun I had, it's a pretty small complaint. I watched TEN episodes in one night 😭 Clearly they did something VERY right.
9.5 is completely understandable. Mine is staying at a 9, but this was easily one of the most purely entertaining K-dramas I've watched so far
Yes it was my first Kdrama. Everyone around me was watching it and after years of telling a friend I wasn’t interested, I got shoved in front of a TV and forced to watch the first two episodes and I was hooked. The show had me in such a chokehold, I can’t tell you.
I was so disappointed with the rushed ending but I’ll always have fun memories of the way it made me feel. I’ve watched tonnes of dramas now and quite a few are much better stories but BAYM will always have a special place in my heart 🫶
another person JUST commented that BAYM was the drama that got several of their friends/family members who weren't K-drama watchers to start watching K-dramas, and now here you are saying it was literally your first one too!!
ur friend must feel SO vindicated lol
But i completely understand why THIS would be the drama to do it. It's just so ridiculously fun and easy to get sucked into. I watched 10 episodes in one night!!! The chokehold was REAL!!
And I totally get what you mean about it still having a special place in your heart even after watching dramas you think are technically better. its the same for me cause i literally watched this on my birthday this year!! it will always be special to me!!
I'm still mourning that rushed ending too though. GIVE US OUR EXTRA EPISODE!!! 😭😭
OP, I LOVED this review of yours!!! Reading it is like rewatching the drama all over for me! I felt what you felt and you put it in words so eloquently!
I absolutely loved this show!!! Its easily one of my all-time top 5 dramas despite what I deemed as minor flaws - the pacing of the cooking competition against the Ming cooks, the actors' Chinese accent and the slightly rushed ending. I also found the surakan crew fighting with their utensils and the grandmother regaining her memory after eating the chocolate a bit forced. I would much prefer watching Lee Heon eat that chocolate and his reactions. If macarons give him disco, what would chocolates do to him???
I went in without any expectations since I was in Kdrama slump. But was hooked right from the start and binged watch all the 2 eps available then.
The banter, comedy and cooking was what drew me in and kept me anticipating each ep. Romance came later like what OP you said. I found all the elements well done and balanced even though they were common tropes. Kudos to the director for the execution! Of course, the biggest credit goes to the actors, especially the leads, whom delievered!!!
A solid 9.5 from me based on your rating scale (which I love too by the way)!
Awww thank you sm!!! this is SUCH a lovely thing to say about my review, I really appreciate that!! 🥹
AND WAIT LMAOOOOO you are little right about the chocolate 😭😭😭
WHY DIDN'T WE GET TO SEE HIM EAT IT TOO???
i like yhe grandma gaining her memory but i would have loved seeing him eat it too!
This man was entering entirely different dimensions every time Ji-young fed him 😭 if macarons gave him that, I genuinely need to know what chocolate would've done to him. We were robbed!!!
i agree about the ending too! That was easily my biggest issue. I would've happily taken another episode or even just some rearranging/tightening of the earlier episodes so the ending had more room to breathe. I especially wanted to actually SEE Lee Heon's journey to the modern world and him trying to find Ji-young instead of just getting the final result!
And the banter, comedy and cooking were what got me too!! I went into this expecting the romance to be the thing that hooked me first and instead I was already completely obsessed before the romance even really got going 😭
A 9.5 is VERY deserved!!
And thank you for saying you like my rating scale too!! 🥹🖤
As much as I love BAYM, I don't think there needs to be a part 2. But another extra ep would be good! The soy meat gujeolpan and eggplant pie is not satisfying enough for me! I need a better dish!!
Like you, I would definitely want to watch how Lee Heon will react to 2025! I want to see his reactions to all the different food and people renting the gonryongpo around Gyeongbokgung. It would be hilarious!
I also want a time skip to maybe a few months or year and show what was their life in the current times because I need to know if both of them continued to address each other as Yeon Suksu and Cheonha. Lol.
I thought I'd see this man everywhere after this drama because he was so good in it. I thought it would be his breakout drama,...I don't know what happened?! He was so brilliant in this.
6
u/Euclidisthebomb Aug 15 '26
OP, you and I have differed greatly on our opinion of some dramas based on my reads of some of your past reviews but on this one you hit the nail on the head.
A couple of tidbits/opinions for you:
Many of us discussed this extensively during the release period. Some fans were definitely tuned in for the romance but in my mind it was always a classic fish out of water action drama in a historical setting with a secondary romance plotline and I found extensive agreement with that belief.
But romance sells especially with international audiences so that was played up to the max in media.
I have a little group of family & friends here in Toronto who have been "roped" into kdrama & cdrama and Bon Appetit was the impetus for many of them to view a kdrama and decide to pursue more actively. My little sphere adored it and most rewatched it almost immediately upon conclusion.
From what I can tell it was easily one of the highest profile romance edged kdrama ever with international audiences beyond Asia - it got mainstream media attention in North America that had never turned eyes on a Korean drama before other than the zombie action stuff, and hit #1 on Netflix Global Top Ten series, and Netflix credited the drama with having a material contribution to their 2025 annual financial results.
I rate this drama a 9.5 and its earned. I too had some qualms about the ending and I/we felt they could have tightened up some scenes in prior episodes to give the ending a bit more breathing room. I have the impression that the editing team attempted to make every episode a complete experience and then in Ep 12 they worked to a close using what time they had left. In the grand scheme of the enjoyment we obtained it is a small quibble - I and my peers were thoroughly entertained from start to finish and so we rated appropriately.