The drama spends its final hours on one intense show-off between our leads and the chaebol family before sending its characters to the sunlight.
The restaurant is saved, and our leads are reunited. So, it counts as a happy ending even if the process leading to it was full of questionable choices.
- Main Leads: Go Min-si | Kang Ha-neul | Kim Shin-rok | Yoo Su-bin
- Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- K-Dramas of Similar Vibe: Wok Of Love | Temperature Of Love | Oh My Ghost
Bunny S. watches Tastefully Yours on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 & 02 | 03 & 04 | 05 & 06 | 07 & 08 | Finale Week Recap + Series Review
Tastefully Yours Finale Week Recap
Unable to focus on cooking, Yeon-joo closes the restaurant and runs away to the arms of the head monk (her mum) at the temple. Before she leaves, Yeon-joo tells Myung-suk and Cheon-sung about the recipe stealing and how Beom-woo schemed to shut them down, getting them shocked. As for Beom-woo, he gives up on everything and hands in his resignation letter, bawling his heart out and drinking his sorrows away every night.
In a surprising plot twist, Yeon-joo’s restaurant also gets 3 stars from the inspectors. Remember the couple from week 3? It turns out the bride’s father was the editor-in-chief of the guide, and he specially added Yeon-joo’s restaurant to the list. After putting in all this hard work, Yeon-joo finally makes it big. Sadly, she isn’t there to hear the news and celebrate but hears about it by coincidence from the temple visitors.
Hearing the news, the chairwoman gets livid that another restaurant got her much-coveted 3 stars and schemes a cook-off between the two restaurants. Beom-woo doesn’t care in the slightest about what the chairwoman does, but she threatens him into participating. If he doesn’t follow her orders, she will see to it that Yeon-joo gets kicked out of the food industry for good.
A reluctant Beom-woo drops by the temple to check on Yeon-joo but couldn’t muster up the courage to approach her. Then, he heads to the village to see Myung-suk and Chun-seung. They are rightfully mad at him, especially Myung-suk, who splashes Beom-woo with salt. But they come around and agree to help him prepare for the cook-off, as winning is the only way to save the restaurant.
It is bad enough that Yeon-joo isn’t around. But the chairwoman plays dirty and blocks off the ingredients from the rival restaurant. Despite the foul play, Beom-woo and the others do their utmost. Myung-suk takes over the kitchen and cooks a dish following Yeon-joo’s recipe and the other two help around the restaurant. Also, Young-hye seems to regret her actions and cooks her recipe this time. She doesn’t care about the result yet wants to do her best and end things on a high note before quitting and starting over.
The chairwoman invites the editor-in-chief as a guest judge, along with 30 famous food bloggers. After visiting both restaurants and tasting the food, the results card comes in, declaring Yeon-joo’s restaurant’s victory. However, the chairwoman brazenly lies and calls it a tie. Mad, the editor-in-chief calls the chairwoman out on her deceit and takes off. (We guess she might also kiss goodbye the 3 stars.)
Shameless, the chairwoman suggests a rematch, but Beom-woo has had enough of her crap. Simultaneously, Yeon-joo arrives and agrees to do a rematch. Young-hye has already quit. So, she will cook for the chairwoman. If she doesn’t like the food, Yeon-joo will admit defeat and shut down the restaurant.
Acting haughty and condescending, the chairwoman plans to embarrass Yeon-joo and spit out the food. But the joke is on her. In a puzzling decision, Yeon-joo admits defeat and invites the chairwoman and her sons to a homemade family meal, reminiscent of the meal she used to cook for her sons as children. (Or, so she claims.) In a rushed and equally confusing way, the chairwoman has a change of heart and tells Yeon-joo to keep running the restaurant.
It is a happy ending for everyone. Young-hye opens a food truck, though she struggles with the sales. Sun-woo has a rushed and unearned redemption arc. Yeon-joo forgives Beom-woo, having sensed his sincerity, and openly admits to liking him. Myung-suk and Chun-seung keep working at the restaurant while doing some collaborations with Chun-seung’s family’s restaurant. And like this, it is a wrap.
Tastefully Yours Quick Series Recap
A chaebol heir sets his eyes on a small countryside restaurant as his next target. He wants to steal the recipes and make a run for it. But it looks like he finally met his match in the shape of the restaurant’s chef, who ropes him into working for her for a month.
Tastefully Yours Series Highlights and Musings
This drama had the right ingredients to treat us to a heartwarming romcom with old-school vibes. We had a countryside setting, an enemies-to-lovers romance, found family dynamics, and plenty of room for growth for our quartet. But instead of capitalizing on its strengths, it went down the well-trodden path of the boring chaebol shenanigans.
Sometimes, we hope there was no recipe stealing and Beom-woo was kicked out for good and had to start over again with Yeon-joo and the others, so we wouldn’t have to revisit his messy family. The chairwoman was a selfish woman who only cared about her success and fame. (She missed her mother’s funeral because she was on a business trip.) And the show didn’t give Sun-woo any likable traits. So, why keep them around and turn things dull when the story could have focused on our quartet’s journey, which would have made for an entertaining ride?
Likewise, why spend 3 episodes on Mr. Ex-boyfriend’s arc only to go back to square one with him getting away with everything he did both in the past and the present? We thought the truth about Yeon-joo covering for him would come to light. But alas.
Tastefully Yours wasn’t an awful show, but a disappointing one. It had potential but flopped because of poor writing choices. It stood out when it was about our quartet, but that spark faded away along the way. This is one example of a half-baked story that becomes watchable because of the actors. But there is only so much the cast can do to save a sinking ship. What a waste of talent.
Photos and Videos: ENA
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