Let's Eat. /thread

I'll contribute one of the funnier parts of Heavenly Idol for this week's installment of the K-Drama Treasure Hunt.

When our "hero," the Pontifex Rembrary/Lembrary--recently displaced from his native supernatural world to be housed in the body of idol-visual Woo Yeon-woo--first encounters chocolate, he interprets it as "tribute."

When he then eats his first chocolate, he learns that it magically increases his supernatural powers in this, the most ordinary of worlds. Kim Min-kyu does a funny job at this realization scene in episode 2, giddily gobbling up chocolate.

If it was ‘food that never moved the plot’ it would be all the subway sandwiches across dramas.

For this one, I can only think of ‘Crash Course in Romance’. The food from the side dish shop reminded him of the warmth he received when he was struggling. And the female leads food helps him heal and regain his strength.

Jajangmyun in Wok of Love (Greasy Melo). Every episode. It's the food of love and our heroes are constantly making it, eating it, serving it to each other, and trying to outdo their rivals in making the best version around.

Recipe for Farewell> The whole drama is about an ex-husband who cooks for his ex-wife who is sick. It was a beautiful drama.

I remember a lot of scenes of food but not the kind that made the plot moving forward.

Dae Jang Geum is Watching.
Three siblings with special powers always have to eat dinner together but that becomes almost impossible thanks to the FL.

The show is practically a mukbang tho. The first child is always eating in cure restaurants with the FL, the second bro is always at home cocking the special dinner and the second sis (twin sis) is always eating weird recipes she creates in a convince store.

And they all find love thanks to food.

Fated to love you (2014). Episode 2?
A strong alcoholic beverage is the reason why ML and FL spend a night together in a resort in Macau and then... everything else.

All the sageuks ever where someone drinks a poison lol.

Murderous peach (and fish of madness) in OUR BLOOMING YOUTH.

Probably not the example most beanies would find pleasant - for obvious reasons - FATED TO LOVE YOU. Leads end up in bed together thanks to a spiked drink, and the rest is an epic dramedy if I've ever seen one. Man, them feels that drama gave me! I didn't have as much issues with the premise as others did, but reappearance of the damned thing in the finale was totally unnecessary, that's for sure. Then again, knowing when to stop before jumping the shark has never been a kdrama writers forte...

A cdrama for a change, but TILL THE END OF THE MOON has a very strong and messy bond between its plot and food. Leads getting married thanks to aphrodisiac-in-a-candy caused one night stand - does this remind you of anything? lmao - check! ML starts to warm up to FL because she feeds - among of other displays of physical care - his starved since birth self - check! Certain arc has this trope IN SPADES: FL is named after a fruit wine and ML apparently loves him some sweet booze (very subtle metaphor, yeah), not to mention all the tempting apples she gives him as as a good xianxia Eve she is... Back to the main story, ML proves his devotion to FL by chocking on her godawful cooking on a daily basis, so masochistic manly of him))) And, ofc, one of the darkest moments in the whole saga happens due to a twice (!) poisoned porridge.

In conclusion - never underestimate the power of food, be it in life or a drama!

Yoon Shi-yoon eating triangle kimbap in Hit the Top is an important plot point ... didn't you see him rhapsodize over it.

Besides WOK OF LOVE, I would also give a nod to CHOCOLATE as cooking was part of a healing and acceptance theme.

High Cookie While I haven't watched this yet - I think this cookie is crucial to plot development. I want to have whatever they are having

Dae Jang Geum had whole dialogues, scenes, episodes, and plotlines around food and drinks. Barely one without some reference to food.

Wok of Love's storylines mostly happen around a few Chinese dishes.

Scent of a Woman, the fl's mother constantly asking for kimchi pancakes, one day when the fl is particularly low she snaps at her: What are you going to do when I'm gone?? Which leaves her mother dumbfounded.

Some answers will be spoilers. Someone drugging someone's herbal tea in Wild Romance! 😂

Seo Yul's eating in Chief Kim.

In The Good Bad Mother I could smell the Bacon every time the pigs went up in flames (it was more than once).

Finland Papa was a café where the employees had act as a family and eat their meals together.
The café was set up by the ML so that the FL did not have to eat alone.

In Business Proposal, the FL spends a lot of time perfecting a white kimchi ravioli recipe, which I’m still disappointed they did not release to the audience. The ML has her make it again and again because he’s miffed at her for spoilery reasons.

There are multiple ways to become a zombie in Kingdom and one of them involves eating a specific plant with a very creepy symbiosis.

The heroine of Extraordinary Attorney only likes to eat gimbap, and she uses some roundabout gimbap logic to find herself a loophole for one of her cases.

“The Witch’s Diner” — the dishes granted wishes, but beware unintended consequences.

Okay, of course I must start off with Kim Sam Soon where a mango mousse cake violently introduces the FL and ML, and a thermos of porridge later reveals some key shifty behavior. Among many other food and drink-related plot movers because after all, it’s about a patissier educated at Le Cordon Bleu and a restaurant owner.

The never-ending drive for the perfect Pasta alla Vongole (I think that’s its name) by the trainee FL and as defined by the Head Chef (aka, Shep!) ML throughout Pasta. What a fun guy he was (not).

The magical liquors taken from a mysterious restaurant in the forests of Jeju that causes the FL and ML to switch bodies in Secret Garden.

It's been a long time since I've seen it so I don't remember specifics but Mystic Pop Up Bar.

They sold food and drinks, specifically a certain kind of drink/potion, that led the lead character(s) to be able to enter dreams and figure out people's grudges or issues and resolve them.

The Golden Spoon. The character(s) have to eat meals a number of times with a golden spoon. (Various episodes)

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho. Does Miho's carnivorous nature count? Dae Woong is always trying make sure to have enough money to buy her beef and in the process learned who his real friend(s) are (episode 2), Miho collected coupons to get free chicken which is how she met the chicken shop owner & got on the director's radar. (I don't remember the episodes)

Jjamppong in It's ok not to be ok. It was through that dish that Kang Tae remembered his mother's love. Also, the rice poridge and braised quail eggs that Sang-tae feeds Mun-yeong and eventually heals her. Both scenes moved me and made me cry, and still do everytime I rewatch the show.

LITTLE WOMEN: there’s a scene, where Oh In-joo *inexplicably* drinks a blue cocktail that was just happening to stand on a table, *as if waiting for her* (won’t go into details because spoilers). 🙄

I’M NOT A ROBOT: ML likes to prepare food and is wistful Aji-3 won’t be able to taste it, while Ji-ah has to hide her gurgling stomach because… she won’t be able to taste it, either. 😬

I think in THE 3RD CHARM, a meal the ML had while backpacking in Europe inspired him to become a chef and put up his own one-table restaurant.

Dinner Mate. It's the central theme of the plot.

The King Affection : Lee Hwi laces the tea with poison in order to end her grandfather's hold on the kingdom. The entire sequence for this singular act was powerful.

Mr. Queen - Cheol-jung serves So-bong tea whilst trying to confirm if she heard his conversation at the gisaeng house. Turns out he served her his signature tea which So-bong traced not only to the scent of the room she was peeping through but also that of the man who attacked her the previous night.

Crash Course In Romance - Imma stop myself and not wax poetic about this. But I'll never forget the sad/hopeful/relieved/shock look that appeared on Chi-yeol's face when he realized he could digest this with ease and without panic.

The entire 6 episodes of Finland Papa is thematically woven as a found family drama drawn together by food - they must eat dinner together. And we get to see how sharing a meal at FL's house brought about this arrangement.

Chocolate - I don't exactly remember this as clearly as possible but I think towards the end, something is revealed about why the ML was drawn to the FL's cooking and we learn that it's because he ate something with a similar taste, I think the FL's mom or something. And since FL imbued mom's cooking into her craft, the rest is easy to fill into your imagination.

And now my thoughts are exhausted.

Sound candy, a mysterious jar of candy comes to be in the grandmother’s possession and eating it triggers memories of her younger days. Her granddaughter and those around her also have memories evoked of key points in their lives when they eat it. In this way it helps them to resolve conflicts and develop new perspectives on life.
Recipe for Farewell; home cooked food/rooftop BBQ brought an estranged family back together again.

It's hard to think of a K-drama that does not involve food and in someways move the plot - even if it's just a dinner everyone eats.

Our Blooming Youth: Food was a huge plot mover.
a) The CP learns to connect with people around him through food at the inn (his intro scene to common people's food is hilarious and touching at the same time), which also eventually connects him the larger plot by introducing characters that will help him save the day.
b) The FL's family dies through poisoning of food.
c) The Crown Prince's love language is food. He keeps feeding FL. The series has one of the LARGEST apple I have ever laid my eyes on LOL! And it is on one such feeding food to the secret-love-of-his-life occassion when the plot actually launches into full gear as CP learns FL does not want to marry and... (well, too much spoiler so will leave it there)
d) Soy sauce plate - once you see you will know the reference lol!
e) @gikata has already mentioned the peach and the fish eggs.

Mr Queen: Already mentioned but her saving the day was instrumental in moving the plot. And of course all those recipes.

Secretary Kim: He feeds her a candy (? I could never catch the exact thing) as a kid but it stays as a memory that eventually connects the dots when they are adults.

High Society: The sandwich that sets the love story in motion for Chang Soo and Lee Ji Yi

Extraordinary Woo: The love story evolves over lunch and whales.

King's Affection: Already mentioned above but the tea is the key.

Happiness: Food and food and more food - drives the whole damn series. The rice cakes that introduce us to all the people living in the building; The food supply that keeps everyone connected; the lack of which turns everyone on each other; the only thing that helps the lead couple maintain a semblance of control over the entire bickering population of that apartment complex. When people become source of food....

I have quite a few more, but will leave it at this.

- Marriage Contract:
FL is sick so she rejects food like she rejects the help she needs, then the very first meal the OTP shares as a couple— a breakfast the ML makes, which is symbolic bc many of this OTPs “firsts” is initiated by the ML, an former playboy—is also the official start to their forever as a couple

- Feast of the Gods:
I would call this drama the makeshift modern version of DJG

- 100 Year Inheritance:
The main family of the drama—except FL— all fight to inherit the family’s family business, which is a noodle factors iirc And food is the way in which FL (Eugene Kim) helps ML regain his own muscle memory of food and actual sense of taste

- Baker King, Kim Tak Goo:
Food—specifically bread— is the driving force and motivation of the ML and basically is the basis for all things that happen in the drama once the setup of the plot is complete

The first drama that popped into my mind is Wok of Love. We have a chef male lead injuring his hand and the female lead having to assist him.
That was a unique drama with both leads meeting during their wedding preparations and then getting divorced and falling in love. I loved how it also depicted the journey of our heroine into growth and knowing what she really wants to do.

There are many great scenes regarding food in Goblin.
Gong Yoo is great in this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej_3m9EyLRk

as @minniegupta1 brought up, Food in Korea is very significant culturally anyway, it's often the way they ask how you are, or show affection and say "I love you" without any words, and is very predominant in building connections in friendships but also workplaces.
So there's that.

I feel like I'm still waiting for a drama to really use food and drink in a way I can truly get my teeth (haha) into though.

And I mean MORE than just as a cultural thing, or as a side note, or as in something like Mystic, which is a show I LOVE but that's not how I mean either, or any of the stuff that comes close or sometimes does it like Crash Course, A Business Proposal, King the Land ironically, + stuff I haven't seen probably, and oh, the drama Link: Eat, Love, Kill could've been *Sigh*.

I mean a show where Food is the Main Thematic Point AND is explored in a deeply and rich symbolic way that really scratches the gremlin in my brain that goes insane for thematic symbolism and storytelling. Where it's not just a gimmick, and it's not just a premise, and it's not JUST a narrative tool, but it's all these, and all these shows and still MORE.

... I don't really know how to explain what I'm looking for. As usual, I'll probably just have to write it myself 😅.

Got to include My Girlfriend is a Gumiho! Its my favorite place to watch meat eating!! She must have it to live. I can tell how delicious it is just watching her.

Help! I am having a serious brain cramp today. For some reason, countless images of food-centric scenes are floating around in my brain, but I can’t for the life of me remember which dramas they come from…except Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?, in which the title beverage obviously plays a central role.

Can anyone out there help identify these shows? I don’t think it will be too hard.

When a talented chef goes bust, a wealthy benefactor buys him a food truck. There’s a scene where no customers are showing up, until a blogger spreads the word through social media and they become hugely popular.

A guy leaves porridge at the FL’s door. She’s holed up in her apartment, either sick or depressed. I think he goes back and is disappointed to find it still by the door, untouched. (I think porridge plays a role in a number of other shows.)

A guy goes into a convenience store whips up a dish combining various fast-food ingredients for a sulky child. I think the child (maybe now grown up?) makes the same dish later on.

The ML and FL are in a convenience store arguing over the last triangle kimbap. In the same show or maybe a different one, one of the characters will only eat triangle kimbap.

I’m so frustrated about not being able to remember!!! 🥺

Chocolate- the leads are bonded through a single type of food, and the FL heals herself and others through her food.

Start-Up - Beloved SML BB likes a corndog made by Halmeoni.

Weightlifting Fairy- I don’t remember much of the story besides the fact that the FL’s uncle owns a fried chicken place and the FL ‘s gang goes there often to eat it with beer.

Hospital Playlist- everyone bonds through food eaten together

I'm fond of the jajangmyeon in Fantasy Couple, although it's not a big plot mover. Actually, I can think of food in a few other Hong Sisters shows. As already mentioned, there's the carnivorous female lead in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, a somewhat gluttonous female lead in My Girl (plus oranges), and the foodie female lead in Hotel del Luna.

For a real plot mover (like, revenge), there's God of Noodles, but perhaps it's unfair to cite a show that's named after food.

Is it just the KDs that I’ve watched or that the food almost never looks appetizing to me? I’ve watched shows with various middle eastern cuisines where the food practically sings to me even if I know they might not be as hot and delicious as they look.

I think food moves EVERY plot LOL since in every episosde of every drama there's about 5 scenes of eating and nonstop talking about food. i love it.