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Cheon Sa-rang and Gu Won enjoy a romantic dinner.
My feelings about the popular Netflix drama King The Land (KTL) fluctuate from week to week. Big kiss in Episode 8? You got me. The travelog–I mean trip–to Bangkok? Pass.
There’s no doubt in my mind, however, that this is a terrific foodie drama. The episodes are filled with lots of delicious things to eat, which isn’t surprising given that it takes place at a luxury hotel. But this is more than just eye candy—the eating scenes are often used to tell us more about the characters, advance the love story, or give us a good laugh.
A lot of the foodie things in KTL are plays on the “poor little rich boy” theme. Korean food seems almost foreign to him at times. There’s nothing particularly original in that, but it’s well executed by series stars Lee Jun-ho (Gu Won) and Yoona (Cheon Sa-rang).
With the series’ finale coming this weekend, here are some of my favorite KTL eatable moments.
Light My Fire - The previously mentioned kiss in Episode 8 was preceded by an equally smokin’ event. Gu Won, our male lead and son of the King Hotel’s chairman, was making a romantic dinner for his new girlfriend, Sa-rang. First he made an amazing pasta dish.
Sa-rang oohs and aahs over Gu Won’s pasta dish.
Then he went to grill a lovely fillet mignon and went a little overboard with the pyrotechnics.
Gu Won lights up the night while trying to cook a steak.
The smoke and flames triggered the sprinkler system. Then things really started to sizzle.
This is the prelude to the Episode 8 kiss that tried to break the internet.
Egg of My Heart - Sa-rang, who is a concierge at the King Hotel, treats Gu Won to dinner at a teppanyaki-style steakhouse. Think Benihana’s.
It’s the typical “chaebol doesn’t eat commoner food” situation, but Won’s excuse is that he was educated in London. So when the waiter asks for his drink order, Won asks for Louis du Conte, a fancy cognac that is only available on the continent.
Sa-rang intervenes by ordering them both a beer. When Won is handed a lager in a frosted mug, the MBA in him wonders somewhat obnoxiously if the cold mug is a marketing ploy–probably because he is used to the room temperature ales served in the UK. To please Sa-rang, he drinks it and then realizes that cold beer is pretty tasty.
London-educated Gu Won gets a lesson in how the rest of the world drinks beer.
The grand finale of the dinner is the heart that the chef makes for them by cracking an egg on a hot griddle.
Don’t try this at home.
Noodles on the Han River - Ramyeon on a date has been done to death. This scene is just barely saved from being a cliche because of the lovely Han River twinkling in the background.
Once again Gu Won tries a basic food for the first time. Here it’s convenience store dumplings topped with a slice of pickled radish.
Also, there’s a machine in the convenience store that cooks their ramyeon noodles right there.
Go to YouTube and search for “ramyeon cooker convenience store” to see real ones in action.
Grandma’s Cow Head Soup - Every K-drama has at least one older relative with a homey restaurant. Here Sa-rang’s grandmother is the restaurant owner. She’s played by Kim Young-ok, who has been a grandmother in so many dramas that she’s a trope herself.
Kim Young-ok has played a granny so often that she is known as South Korea’s “National Grandma.” She’s been in everything from Boys Over Flowers to Squid Games and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
The specialty at Grandma’s restaurant is cow head soup (someori gukbap), and Won has to eat some if he wants to make a good impression. He’s clearly reluctant so Grandma instructs him to get a spoonful of rice and dip it in the soup, then she tears a piece of kimchi off with her bare fingers to lay on top of his spoon.
It’s kind of weird that Gu Won doesn’t know how to eat gukbap (hot soup with rice), a Korean mainstay.
Won stares at it because a big chunk of cow head meat is visible, but he eats it. Of course, you know he’s going to love it.
If you’ve been watching King The Land, let us know if you like it and what your favorite eatable moments have been.
