I've finally finished the series that have been bugging all my social handles with clips, reviews and updates about it. When I saw the announcement of a new series and the cast to expect, I knew I was definitely going to see it as I'm a huge fan of the Yoona, the lead female cast since her role in "Big Mouth" and "King The Land"
But if I'm being totally honest, I was curious why the hype about Lee Chae-Min, the lead male cast was on a high. I've only seen him twice and as a supporting character, "See You In My 19th Life" and "Love All Play", I can't even remember his roles clearly in those series. So I had one more reason, that is to see him play lead in this series.
"Bon Appétit, Your Majesty" is a 2025 Korean historical series starring Im Yoon-ah and Lee Chae-Min in a story of food, love and royalty. The story explores the concept of time-travel and the power of history in the modern time. The story is in romance, fantasy and history genres, directed by Jang Tae Yoo from "My Love From The Star".
The story is... A modern day (French) chef who have just won a top competition mysteriously time travels to the Joseon dynasty, meets a tyrannical king who have an extremely sensitive palate. She has to cook for him to survive in an era she had no idea how to return but with her knowledge from history books and her great cooking skills, she escapes death many times.
In between the main story is every episode with a new meal prepared and displayed in such a beautiful way. From the preparations of the meals to displaying and tasting them, viewers are made to feast their eyes while learning about new dishes from around the world. This series is a perfect must see for all chefs and food lovers.
Lee Heon, the tyrant king played by Lee Chae-Min did an excellent job with his role, I was so hooked that I understood the hype about him. He has a hurtful past which made him a tyranny as the history books says but the chef visit from the future changed the story by every little discovery and changes made, he didn't turn into a tyranny.
I totally enjoyed his slow-burn romance with the female lead, who he first thought was a ghost but he was captivated after the first bite of her meal. With a palate so hard to please, he offers to make Ji-yeong the royal chef seeing that she makes meal as if she could see through his heart. From one bite to another, he slowly fall in love with her.
Yeon Ji-yeong, the chef played by Im Yoon-ah is the star of the show. There are so many Korean actresses but I can't see any one of them playing the role of Yeon Ji-yeong as perfectly as Im Yoon-ah did, from her stature to beauty to character play, she did so well in being the perfectionist chef that the story needed. I bet a lot of practice went in for her to kill the role as great as she did.
How she comes up with a new dish, hacks to replace what could have been readily available in the modern age and her passion while cooking were a great sight to watch. The chemistry between her and the other chefs is quite noticeable too, especially with the maid who has a great sense of smell that saved a lot of scenes.
Over all, I enjoyed the watch so much that I saw it to the end in less than a few days. Although the ending was too rushed and I wish more scenes were added but regardless of that, I think it's a storyline I could see again after sometime. I'll recommend this series with a rate of 9.5/10.
Images are from Imdb.