I’m a little bit concerned about how much actual meat there is on the bones of the TV show Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, because we’ve been waiting on this competition for the last 4 episodes and it still hasn’t started! I suppose the story is taking its own time marinating in the pleasantries of mukbangs and beautiful-looking dishes, but I’m just stuck wondering what this means for the end of the show. Will they leave all the dramatic stuff right for the end so we feel like we’ve had the most delicious meal and then dessert is just vanilla ice cream? I don’t mean to say the drama will be bland; it might just leave us numb and go by too fast. This episode especially didn’t have much going on and almost felt like a standalone right in the middle of the show. So I really don’t know where things are going to go from here, but with that said, I’m hoping we’ll see that competition in tomorrow’s episode so that chapter can finally be closed. With that, let’s jump straight into episode 7.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does The King Leave The Palace?
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty episode 7 begins with Ji-Young wanting to make “samgyetang” for the third round of the competition, but to make it she needs a pressure cooker, which is obviously not something that exists yet. She decides to find the man who invented the water clock. After prepping a bit, Ji-Young rushes to the king so that she can go meet Jang Yeong-Sil and ask him to make the pressure cooker for her, because this is food made with science. However, it seems he was around during the late king’s time, which means he’s already passed away. But the Chief Eunuch suggests that they go to Jang Chun-Seng, Yeong-Sil’s nephew, who now seems to be following in his uncle’s footsteps. He was well known as the man who made “bizarre” things, but he was thrown out of the “Gungisi” (the armory where they made swords and weapons at the time) because he accidentally set off an explosion. He now lives somewhere far away, which means it’s time for an excursion, and of course, the king wants to join because he’s in love with Ji-Young and will take all the time he gets with her.
Initially, the king allows Ji-Young to go with Sung-Jae, but he changes his mind and decides to go along with her because, even dressed as a man, she looks beautiful, and this has him worried. Sung-Jae stays back, while the king, the jester Gong-Gil, and another soldier go with Ji-Young. As soon as they get there, Yi Heon opens the door to Chun-Seng’s home, and it triggers a tripwire that lights the fuse on a cannon. Fortunately, it’s not metal shot, but just puffed rice that comes out of the cannon and showers down on the quartet like snow, making the king feel more attracted to Ji-Young than ever.
Turns out Chun-Seng doesn’t care so much about the king, and would prefer not to help “save the country,” so now it’s time to figure out how to convince him to make the cooker and save Joseon. Meanwhile, back at Uncle Jesan’s place, plans are being laid out to put a stop to this competition. He decides the best way would be to kill Ji-Young while she’s out of the palace, because a lot of stuff can happen out in the open. Someone relays this message to the chief envoy, and the head chef of the Ming team overhears the conversation. He then decides to warn the Joseon-ites about the situation because, at the end of the day, he just wants to partake in a competition and win with his skills rather than by default like this. Back in the kitchen, Cook Maeng puts Gil-Geum to the test because she’s not “skilled” enough to be in the kitchen, and if they want to win this competition, nobody’s allowed to take it easy. All we see is her crying loads.
How Does Ji-Young Convince Chun-Seng to Make Her Cooker?
At first, Ji-Young gives Chun-Seng some sugar to add to his puffed rice, but while it makes it delicious, it’s not something regular people can afford, and the whole reason he created such a snack was to tackle the hunger problem. Sugar is too expensive, and though Ji-Young tells him winning the competition will grant them access to Chinese sugarcane, he doesn’t want to help. While figuring out what to do to convince the inventor, it starts raining cats and dogs, and the jester immediately talks about “pajeon and makgeolli” (green onion pancakes and rice wine). I know this is what Koreans love to eat when it rains now, but I’m not sure if it was already a thing in the Joseon period; that would be quite interesting. Ji-Young realizes that Chun-Seng can be tempted by the taste of his hometown, so “pajeon” is the weapon. They go bring the stuff from the market before it stops raining and prepare the jeon. As soon as the aroma reaches Chun-Seng, he comes stalking out like a predator, but he’s stubborn and doesn’t want to join them, despite being hungry. The plan works exactly as Ji-Young expected, and she finally tells him that the thing that makes her happiest is cooking for people and seeing the big smiles on their faces. Feeling touched, he agrees to build the cooker.
While Ji-Young and the king head out to gather fresh ingredients for the competition, Chun-Seng and Gong-Gil make the cooker. Once it’s ready and the gang is about to leave, a group of assassins suddenly shows up to attack. Earlier, the leader of the Ming chefs gave the Joseon chefs a written warning saying the chief royal cook’s life was in danger. He speaks Korean pretty fluently, which is why he understood the conversation from earlier. Sung-Jae immediately rushes to Chun-Seng’s place on horseback overnight. However, he shows up a bit late, by which time the fight has already begun. Chun-Seng’s traps are a great first line of defense, but soon enough, everyone, including the king, has to fight. Ultimately, everyone gets a little banged up, and even the cooker lid is damaged, but Chun-Seng promises to bring it to Ji-Young. Additionally, after watching one of the assassins kill himself with a knife to the throat, Ji-Young ends up fainting.
Does Ji-Young Make It To The Competition?
At the same time, the commotion at the palace continues, and one of the Ming chefs goes to Prince Jesan for gochugaru in exchange for Sichuan peppercorns. They’ve been spying on Ji-Young this whole time and know this is her special ingredient. Finally, it’s time for the competition, and it’s not just Ji-Young who is missing, but the king himself. This makes the chief envoy angry, but word gets to Jesan that Ji-Young survived the assassination attempt, which means the competition is still on. The Ming chef leader asks to start the competition at 3 pm instead of 1 pm so that Ji-Young can make it. The man really wants to compete.
At the end of episode 7 of Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, the gang returns to the palace just in time as the clock strikes 3 (well, the water clock). Ji-Young also thanks the king for saving her and calls him “cool” (another word I don’t think existed back then). Additionally, she’s hurt her hand, so does this mean that even if she joins the competition, she’ll struggle a little bit? While I did enjoy this episode, I must admit, I didn’t think the showrunners could have pushed the competition yet another episode, but here we are.
