Summary
In Episodes 5 & 6, Tastefully Yours expands outwards, arguably to its detriment, losing some of that homely vibe it has cultivated so well.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tastefully Yours has reached the stage of any self-respecting romantic K-Drama where the giggly first-date awkwardness permeates the whole thing, which is coming a little earlier than expected after the ending of the previous episode. This is reassuringly comfortable territory, and Episodes 5 & 6 revels in it for a while, but it also provides some other elements – like a love rival connected to the overarching plot — to shake things up a little. And not always to the show’s advantage, at least not in my view.
The sixth episode arguably stretches this standard will-they-won’t-they romantic tension a bit far, and the drama can feel a little overly familiar thanks to how many times we’ve done this dance in various K-Dramas over the years. It’s handled well enough, but there’s little new here that’s really worth writing home about, narratively speaking. The story is expanding, though, shifting its intimate, homely focus for more complex elements, which will likely divide viewers.
I will say this – the more settled atmosphere has helped the performances reach a comfortable rhythm. This is good because the more overblown slapstick-y mode could get a little grating, and you don’t want that for an entire season. There’s more for the actors to play here, too, especially now we’re delving into backstory territory and introducing new dynamics. And fear not; the food focus isn’t going anywhere, though that should come with the blanket disclaimer of avoiding watching this show when you’re hungry, which would be tantamount to torture.
Anyway, Episode 5 begins where Episode 4 left off, with the kiss, which obviously goes wrong immediately thanks to the untimely arrival of Myung-sook and Chan-seung. And, predictably, there’s a bunch of awkwardness in the aftermath, which underscores a lot of what follows, helped along by some playful ribbing from the other two.
Beom-woo, annoyed at Yeon-joo calling their kiss a mistake, makes some romantic overtures, insisting on a date. In the background of this is the arrival of a French woman and a Korean man who want to make a reservation at Yeon-joo’s place, unfinished kitchen and all, so their parents can finally meet for the first time. Obviously there are always romantic connotations when the French are involved – both Yeon-joo and Beom-woo speak the language, as it happens – but it’s more about the food, since the French lady’s mother doesn’t like Korean food but the Korean man’s father only wants Korean food (this is, essentially, interacting with in-laws in a nutshell).
But romance has difficulty percolating anyway, thanks to the arrival of Jeon Min, the head chef of a restaurant in Japan where he and Yeon-joo both used to work. She took the blame for a mistake he made and had to resign, but there’s clearly more to it than that. There’s some nice paralleling here with the French couple. Yeon-joo’s culinary fusion helps to bring their families together, and the first thing she does when she gets a minute with Min is cook a familiar dish from their time together. It’s a nice way of exploring how integral food and dining are to human interaction and relationships. But it doesn’t always make those relationships any easier.
Min’s arrival makes things a little weird between Yeon-joo and Beom-woo, since he wants her to return to Japan with him. Beom-woo doesn’t act too bothered by the sudden arrival of Min or his past with Yeon-joo, but anyone who has ever seen a K-Drama before can make that inference for themselves. Tastefully Yours Episode 5 ends with a bit of a cliffhanger in this regard, but Episode 6 quickly clears it up, even if worry about the relationship begins to bother Beom-woo more and more.
Tastefully Yours Key Art | Image via Netflix
Chef Tatsuo, Yeon-joo’s former boss, has fallen ill, which explains Min’s sudden arrival and Yeon-joo’s departure. But that leaves Jungjae in the hands of three people not entirely qualified to run the place to Yeon-joo’s precise standards, even with instructions on how to do so. And especially not with Beom-woo having nightmares about Min and Yeon-joo kissing and Yu-jin sticking his nose in trying to steal recipes, which Beom-woo has decided he doesn’t want to do anymore (pardon me, but I’d completely forgotten this was even a plot point).
Instead of keeping the restaurant running, then, attention turns instead to getting Yu-jin out of the way, and when that’s accomplished Beom-woo decides he must abandon ship and follow Yeon-joo to Sapporo to get her out of Min’s way. That’s easier said than done, though, since he doesn’t have the money.
In the meantime, we’re given a little bit more backstory for Yeon-joo, since she reminisces about her time at Le Murir and how she was forced to resign. Chef Tatsuo is suffering from dementia and can’t recall her, which she finds deeply upsetting, but Min thinks that her food might put an end to Tatsuo’s increasing refusal to eat. He’ll also be running the restaurant soon and would like Yeon-joo to start over with him again there, but she has no intention of doing so even before Beom-woo blunders in.
Towards the end of Tastefully Yours Episode 6, the love rivalry is tied into the overarching plot, with the reveal that Hansang is merging with Le Murir and Min is going to be Young-hye’s replacement. So, it isn’t just a case of winning over Yeon-joo from another potential suitor now – it’s much more a battle of the Jungjae good guys versus the greedy corporate conglomerate bad guys. The clearer moral picture is fine, but I can’t help missing the cosier vibe of the first few episodes.
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