Agree 100% with this recap. It was neither bad nor good.....but in the world of food and cooking, that is as lackluster as it gets :(

Thank you for the recap

I do feel that the show can embrace more cooking material in its content, rather than spending almost 2 full episodes in Japan.

I do like the fact that Chef Mo did not try to impress Chairman Han with some fancy fusion cuisine. Instead she played on her maternal instincts and cooked up something children enjoy eating while growing up. No doubt these dishes are some that Chairman Han herself cooked for her two boys way back when.
Guess that was the only way to save Jungjae. If it were up to a cookoff competition, it would be a futile exercise since the outcome was already predetermined, regardless what dish was prepared and how it was cooked.
I hope the next food-themed show will feature more cooking.

Same, @unit , same.

One of the most frustrating parts for me was all the complete lack of explanations from Beom-u. I understand that his intentions weren’t good at the beginning, and it’s nice to take responsibility for that, but he literally never explained that while he came to steal the recipes he changed his mind and tried to defend them in the end (via more crimes, but still). Then when he told Yu-jin and Chef Jang that none of it was their fault and it was all on him I literally threw up my hands. They are absolutely responsible for their own shady actions! *sigh*

I liked the idea that Yeon-ju’s journey was learning that cooking is about who you are cooking for, but it felt like they just started saying that in the last episode or so when they realized they hadn’t given her a growth arc yet. Maybe introduce that idea a little earlier? And it would have made more sense if we hadn’t seen her be sensitive to her guests pretty much from the outset (the international couple, her chef mentor, hometown food for the hometown ajusshis). The only time we got her having to adapt what she was making was at the food truck competition.

Honestly, this drama felt like it was filmed as a 16 episode show, and then edited down to be 10. That would explain where Beom-u’s redemption arc went, where Yeon-ju’s falling in love went, where the restaurant found family becoming a great team went, where the paying off of the debt went, and where the architecture degree went. Instead we spent time on criminal ex-boyfriends, rigged tv shows, and Beom-u having conversations but absolutely refusing to share a single personal detail.

I am glad they didn’t give the chairwoman a last minute redemption arc. Or at least, only a little, halfway sort of one.

Not gonna rate this show ‘cause I didn’t watch it past the first episode, but I can say something that made me drop the show. The first episode was as lackluster as it could be, and in the world that I’ve seen so much food porn, dishes presented in ep1 were nothing compared to Michelin Star-chefs’ cooking we saw on Netflix or in other programs. If a show is about food, it should at least make food look appetizing. This reminds me of Chocolate which despite many claiming it ultra and unnecessary melodramatic, the main FL’s dishes all look appetizing.

The last 2 episodes are utter nonsense:

1) The level of rigging in the final cook-off makes the food truck competition looks like child's play
2) Redemption arcs: too little, too late
3) A FL whose inner motivations and psyche are so derailed she manages to alienate the audience's goodwill in the last stretch

Yeon-ju is beyond infuriating; there is something almost destructively suicidal in her pattern of self-sabotage and alarming lack of relational discernment and character judgement, and the lack of talent stewardship.

I have seen people like her, immensely talented, who squandered themselves because they never understood self-worth. That grandiose speech to Evil Mom - full of sound and fury, signifying nothing - only betrays how little she cares about her God-given talent.

So, on the capricious word of a food-taster over a completely ridiculous bet, you are willing to admit defeat, let people steal all your recipes, and close down your beloved restaurant, just like that? You know what? You don't deserve to cook.

Thank you for the recap, @unit! I agree - the show is not something that I was fully satisfied with. For one thing, what did everyone else do when Chairman Han announced a tie when many full-well know that the winner was Jungjae. Even the foreigner knew it, that's why he left in disgust. But he didn't do anything about it! I would have loved to see Han's takedown, it might make me change my mind about the show.

Thank you for the great recaps unit.
I feel the same -wasted potential, I don't love it but I don't hate it.
The whole side story in Japan was a waste of precious time in a 10 episode run. 
I also think it was a casting mistake to have YYS (as much as I love him)  who took too much of the focus.
 The time would have been better spent on the ML redemption arc as I didnt feel like that was done well at all.
The FL should have kicked both of them to the curb and marched defiantly forwards with her fabulous food.  
We needed more backstory, character development and food por-n. The actors were good but let down with the script. 
This feels like going to eat at a fancy restaurant where you pay good money for small portions and walk out feeling unsatisfied and hungry.

Aside from the ex-boyfriend subplot, the Sapporo trip, the underdeveloped romance, and the FL’s flat and stiff acting, this was a show I mostly enjoyed — thanks largely to Kang Ha-neul, the Jangjae found-family dynamic and the lovely food visuals.
The highlight of the final episodes was definitely Park Ji-hoon’s cameo and his fun interaction with Yoo Soo-bin.

I am wondering whether this show was meant to have more episodes, but the writers etc were pressured to shorten it? I read somewhere that that was what happened to Song of the Bandits. Apparently, everyone was unhappy with that show because so much was cut out - from the viewers to the actors themselves.

I will riff off your review @kobssessed in that I only liked the show for its found family (the restaurant, the town and the temple), Kang Ha-neul at his charming best, and all the delicious food. Without repeating other Beanies, most else (and that was most of it) was disappointing.

In the finale, I was thankful that at least the chairwoman didn’t turn a full 180 after a single meal (the possibility of a few degrees was just right). Her wiping fake tears when the camera panned away was gold.

I find the simplistic messages some kdramas peddle odd. For example, the brother’s shock that mommie dearest built the food empire for herself and not her sons. It’s OK for women, even mothers, to have ambitions for themselves! Obvs don’t turn into a corrupt and callous capitalists who traumatize their children while you’re at it, but it’s not an either/or option! At least in the experience of this latchkey kid.

Episode 9 was terrible. Evil Mom’s ridiculous gravitas that she alone controls Korean food industry to have Chef Mo never work again - - - can we at least have a gram of common sense? Hansang does not own Jungjae. Chef Mo does, as well as the trademark name. If she loses her lease, she can simply move to a new location. It is an illogical crisis. Further, the cook-off makes less sense than throwing around three-star ratings like Halloween parade float candy. How can the “judges” judge two restaurants hours away? Every cooking show had one set, one kitchen, a one-on-one battle before the panel and audience. It seems the show ran out of production budget and the show runners have no clue about restaurant operations and cooking competitions. The next episode shows multiple days and busing tasters which became irrelevant in the end.

But the worse offender is the Rehabilitation of Beom-Woo. Oh, he is not too bad of a doofus? He spent his entire adult life screwing over people for their intellectual property. He did backstab and betray Mo and her found family by putting in motion the theft of her recipes. There is nothing to “misunderstand” about his intentions. Oh, but he became a “changed man.” Silence of a coward is not a golden redemption card. If Yeon-Joo takes him back it confirms that she has horrible taste in men. This episode puts all the worse aspects of the series into one stale fish bait rice ball.

The finale was as flat as when you order a gourmet souffle but receive a bowl of warm, muddy soup. The competition was a fraud. It was just Evil Mom’s advertisement and ego on display (to my dismay that TV broadcast journalists would bow to her scheme.) Jungjae was never at risk. Chef Mo’s antics of cooking the final grandma breakfast meal was more sentimental than dramatic. The romance between Mo and Beom-Woo lacked everything. Why should a strong, independent woman fall for a man who lied, stole and betrayed her; her taste in men is terrible. If that is what she wants, to be with an idiot doofus, then the adage “nice people finish last” comes to mind.

This series went off the rails about halfway through with nonsensical Evil Mom schemes, backstabbing, how fine restaurants are run, and a Japan side trip that without reason turned her into lovestruck high schooler. Beom-Woo’s sudden personality change after getting caught made less sense than Mo suddenly forgiving him. It was another show that started with an excellent premise and cast as the appetizer but turned into a dull, trope burned main course. The show should have been much better.

What I did like was that, (though I had hoped for the brothers to actually stick their heads together and turn their backs to their mother, and I thought at first that bro had chicknapped, or liberated, the unfrozen chickens from Hanang and was bringing a few boxes to Jungjae) ...
... what I did like was when the show pretended that now we would be Foie Gras'ed the big teary family reunion... then the Mother talked nicely, but really just condescending about the "home cooked meal" and then left, and for every near-teary moment with her after that, she ruined it again. That was so fun.
I need to see more of this kind. Like, someone tearfully leaving to spend the next five years abroad, the obligatory idiotic time skip ... only to turn around in the door and say "Did you learn your lesson? You'd miss me if I went, wouldn't you?" ... followed by a loud quarrel and quasi-violent make-up, uhm, kissing.

100% agree Unit! Thanks for entertaining recaps of this lackluster show. As many have pointed out, this show had so much potential between the cast, budget, and premise, and it was all wasted by poor lazy writing. Would have loved to see both female chefs in some sort of (healthy) rivalry and development where they both came to appreciate each other's abilities. The chairwoman pitting her two sons against each other for control of her foodie empire was so trite. Oh well, what could have been....

Hmmmm....

I do agree that there was a lot this show could have explored and didn't, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I looked forward to Monday each week (which is weird, okay) and I became a fan of Kang Haneul, which I was not before. I may have to go back and finish Camellia now.

Completely agree that the ex-boyfriend plot was a waste of time, except that it gives a bit of backstory for Yeon-joo. But there must be other, more interesting ways to do that. And I really would have liked a stronger character arc for Hyung, who showed hints of being interesting. Also, totally agree that it would have been great to make something of the parallel between the two restaurant dynasties. It makes me wonder if the show was originally conceived as 12 or 16 and got chopped down.

In sum, don't know if the show will stick with me but Kang Haneul will. Speaking of, does anyone have a favorite drama of his to recommend?

I stuck with it because it was only 10 episodes (and I was hoping there would be more food/cooking scenes) but the show lost me after the forced and completely absurd kiss.

I really did enjoy Choon-seung and Myeong-sook’s characters. They were super fun without being over-the-top and I felt their arcs and development were better paced and flushed out than everyone else’s.

My favorite moment of the show was the meta Weak Hero reference so I think that about says it all.

Is it a great sin for me to say that i watch till the end just for the Lovely Jogger 😂? The fake kdrama looks way better than the real one 🤣 And the Kdrama Goddess answered my prayer when Park Ji hoon's cameo nearly the end of the show which looks like a mini reunion of Weak Class Hero. Now can i demand for a full 16 episodes of Lovely Jogger!

I watched these last episodes when they aired, but dragged my feet in reading the recap. It's now one month later.. Sorry. >_<"
I was disappointed with how the show ended. Too many half-baked elements and overcooked side stories.

The last cooking competition was insanely rigged. How could the chairwoman be one of the judges???! -___-

I like Kang Ha Neul and was excited to see him leading a romance, but this drama ended up making his character awful and lacking. Yeon Joo was disappointing too. The romance needed more development.

/sighs/ Even with the shorter than usual 10 episode length and nice found family aspect, this is not a drama I would recommend.