Bon Appetit Your Majesty Episodes 1-2 Review
Director: Jang Tae-yoo
Date Created: 2025-08-25 02:06
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Bon Appetit Your Majesty Episodes 1-2 Review: The much-awaited fantasy period drama has finally arrived on Netflix, and it offers a new spin on palace politics. Directed by Jang Tae-yoo, the series features Im Yoon-ah as Yeon Ji-yeong, a Michelin-starred chef, and Lee Chae-min as the rigorous and fragile King Lee Heon. They are supported by Kang Han-na, Choi Gwi-ha, Yoon Seo-a, Kim Kwang-kyu, and Kim Hyun-mok, all of whom contribute their share to this new narrative. Known by its original title 폭군의 셰프 (The Tyrant’s Chef), the drama combines fantasy, comedy, and food freshly and endearingly.
Bon Appetit Your Majesty Episode 1 Recap
Episode 1 of Bon Appetit Your Majesty begins in the Joseon period with Yeon Ji-young suddenly called into suspicion in front of King Yi Heon and almost beheaded. Abruptly, rather than have her beheaded, the king makes her the palace head chef. The drama then goes back from there to start describing how Ji-young arrived in this bizarre time period.
In 2025, Ji-young takes part in an upscale French cooking competition and makes a venison steak dish in the style of the Joseon royal court. Despite technical mistakes, her originality triumphs in the contest and earns her a position at a Michelin three-star restaurant. As a present from the professor of her father’s friend for winning, a centuries-old book of recipes was given to her. On her return home on an aeroplane, a coffee spill on the book reveals a mysterious message regarding longing and love. Behind the scenes, the book lights up and transports Ji-young to a Joseon forest.
There, she quite literally falls into trouble—trapped in a hunter’s snare—before a fateful meeting with King Yi Heon. Mistaken for a ghost, Ji-young is about to be killed by the king’s sword when rebels attack both of them, and they both tumble over a cliff. Ji-young nurses the wounded king, even though he repays her nursing with suspicion and hostility. Their snarky partnership continues as she half-dragged him through the woods, their repartee teetering on the razor edge between comedy and tension.
While the palace is abuzz awaiting the king’s return, his consort Kang Mok-ju has secrets of her own. Her past and devotion to power are revealed through flashbacks. Ji-young tries to acclimatise herself to her new life in the forest by preparing a simple meal with meagre ingredients. She prepares a simple bibimbap, which inadvertently awakens the memories of Yi Heon’s late mother, causing the dreaded monarch to weep. This marks the start of their connection.
The series ends with Ji-young and her new friend Gil-geum strolling along a streamside with the king’s guards. In peril of being uncovered as her real self, Ji-young’s existence in a world of threats, politics, and strict tradition has barely started. Bon Appetit Your Majesty ep 1 combines complex layers of humour, fantasy, and cosy drama, demonstrating how the cooking of a single chef can alter the course of history.
Bon Appetit Your Majesty Episode 2 Recap
The intrigue deepens in Bon Appetit Your Majesty ep 2, when Ji-yeong and her friend Gil-geum are arrested and put among women who are being tested to serve in the king’s court. The notorious Im Sung-jae, in later history a devious official, is responsible for this chilling experience. Astute Ji-yeong saves herself and Gil-geum by feigning to be older than she actually is, but their adventure is only just beginning.
Having discovered that the kitchen servants have fled, Ji-yeong bargains for herself a pardon from death. She offers to prepare a meal fit for noble guests by volunteering to cook. Using contemporary methods such as sous vide with ingredients from the kingdom, she serves up a meal that is mystifying and a slap in the face for the officials initially. But she is rewarded when King Lee Heon himself tastes the meal and declares it even better than the palace’s famous bibimbap. His approval spares her, but also awakens his fascination with this strange woman who is not afraid to defy convention with taste.
The episode also reveals darker undertows in the king’s history. His brutal purges and appetite for revenge are a result of the tragic death of his mother, adding depth to his chilly personality. Palace politics bubbles beneath, meanwhile, as Queen Kang Mok-ju spins her own enigmatic intrigues—perhaps with a little help and prodding from supernatural rumour. By episode 2 of Bon Appetit Your Majesty, Ji-yeong is again drawn into the king’s sphere. In front of the queen, he establishes Ji-yeong as being distinct from the other women of the palace—an introduction that promises ill for strained relationships and increased tension.
Bon Appetit Your Majesty Episodes 1-2 Review
Korean drama Bon Appetit Your Majesty instantly made me think of Mr. Queen. The idea is not new, but the way it has been done is fresh and cute. Time travel, political intrigue in the palace, and food preparation are a winning formula, and it is cute and watchable. Fish-out-of-water comedy is sharp and timely, and Im Yoon-ah adds her own type of charm and warmth to the character. Her Ji-yeong is not just a lost tourist but a feisty woman who uses her cooking as her greatest weapon.
Lee Chae-min’s performance as King Lee Heon is a delicate balancing act between danger and vulnerability. His authoritative presence is countered by fits of wistfulness and anguish, particularly when food sets off repressed memories. His inner anguish and external wrath produce a powerful dynamic with Ji-yeong that suggests a simmering romance that can change both of them.
Visually, the drama is beautiful. The lavish palace setting, vivid colours, and well-choreographed cooking scenes are a feast for the eyes. What could otherwise have been a simple time-travel comedy is elevated to a mature drama where history, emotion, and food meet. Episode 1 establishes Ji-yeong’s courage, and Bon Appetit Your Majesty kdrama ep 1 establishes the fantasy-romantic atmosphere. Episode 2 introduces more layers of complexity, with political undertones and gloomier histories leading up to the lighter comedic episodes.
Taken as a whole, the two halves of the premiere do what a premiere is supposed to do: they establish a world, introduce us to memorable characters, and leave us hungry. With its blend of romance, comedy, and palace politics, Bon Appetit Your Majesty kdrama ep 2 has us looking forward to the next. The budding friendship between Ji-yeong and the king, the queen’s behind-the-scenes plotting, and the hints of more culinary wars ahead all mean that viewers will be looking forward eagerly to the next episode of this tasty, imaginative drama.
