Summary
Tastefully Yours has a predictably happy ending that ties everything up in a neat little bow. But the payoff is deserved, and it’s nice to see a show end properly.
We were right. We usually are, of course, and a happy ending was more predictable than usual as far as Tastefully Yours is concerned, but a bit of validation is always appreciated. Episode 10 – which, in hindsight, seems about right; at 12 episodes or longer, this would have seemed egregiously lengthy – is everything you want in pretty much exactly the form you’d expect it in. And you know what? Most of my complaints about the penultimate episode kind of fell away in this one. It was just nice to get the payoff.
There are multiple payoffs we’re looking for, of course. Who wins the cook-off? Does Yeo-ul get her comeuppance? Crucially, do Beom-woo and Yeon-joo end up together? These are the essential questions, and luckily, we’re here to answer them all, as ever.
The Cook-Off
Since the penultimate episode set up a pretty dramatically neat and tidy showdown for Jungjae and Motto, but really Jungjae and Hansang, we might as well start there. Since Jungjae was submitted to the Diamant Guide – by the man with the French family, Yeon-joo finally realizes – the restaurants are forced to go head-to-head to make the best chicken dish possible, with obligatory underhanded Hansang intervention.
There are all kinds of little subplots bundled up in this, so it isn’t really about the cook-off itself, which is perhaps just as well, given the ultimate outcome is so obvious. You’ve got Young-hye wanting to go off-script, stop stealing recipes, and make something of her own; you’ve got Chan-seung finally getting the approval of his father; and you’ve got Myung-sook stepping up to the plate (quite literally) in trying circumstances.
Of course, thanks to shenanigans, the official result of the cook-off is technically a tie, but with Young-hye having stepped down, a rematch would be pretty one-sided. Yeon-joo trusts her cooking enough that she’s willing to gamble the fate of Jungjae on cooking Yeo-ul a meal. If she likes it, the restaurant gets to stay open. If she doesn’t, it’ll close for good.
Brotherly Love
Of course, through this process, the reconciliation begins. It’s through Sun-woo that Yeon-joo helpfully begins to understand Beom-woo more, since they both share the same neglectful backstory. Having been raised by a woman who always prioritized her career over them, it stands to reason that they both grew up willing to do anything to gain her approval. The apples don’t fall far from the tree.
But even here, you can see the show’s foodie underpinnings coming to the fore, highlighting how much feeling and nostalgia can be bundled up in the dishes that remind you of home, of your youth, of your loved ones. That gives Yeon-joo an idea for her closing gambit. But it also, in a way, absolves Beom-woo of responsibility in Yeon-joo’s eyes in a way that is arguably a little but too neat and tidy. But this kind of thing is basically what everyone expected from the ending of Tastefully Yours.
In the end, Yeon-joo isn’t cooking a meal to impress Yeo-ul. She’s cooking a meal to bring a fractured family back together, to remind them of home and the love they once shared. And it works.
Happily Ever After
Needless to say, everything turns out pretty well. Although I’ll be honest – a Weak Hero Class 2 crossover cameo wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but that’s beside the point. In terms of the core storylines, everything’s wrapped up pretty neatly.
Jungjae remains open, of course. And, yes, Beom-woo and Yeon-joo end up together. The two of them take the concepts of home and family seriously, having built their relationship under Jungjae’s roof. But Jungjae is also collaborating with Chan-seong’s restaurant, so both get to flourish at the same time.
Even Young-hye and Yu-jin end up okay, starting their own food truck business. Nothing is left on the table. There’s no last-minute twist or lingering subplots to set up a second season. The story is told, and frankly, I’m glad that it’s over – not because it wasn’t lovely to follow along with, but because sometimes it’s nice to see things end properly, especially on Netflix.
But maybe don’t get used to that.
