Premiere Watch: The Legend of Kitchen Soldier
by stroopwafel
Time slot: Monday & Tuesday
Broadcaster: TVING/tvN
Genre: Coming-of-age, fantasy, military
Episode count: 12
Global streamer: HBO Max (Asia only), Viki
Reasons to watch: TVING and tvN is taking us on a military and culinary adventure in its new drama, The Legend of Kitchen Soldier. Park Ji-hoon stars as our titular kitchen soldier, with Yoon Kyung-ho, Han Dong-hee, and Lee Hong-nae playing his comrades in arms. Lee Sang-yi will also be joining the cast in a special guest role.
Adapted from a popular webtoon by the same name, it follows our lead as he signs up to start his military service in the aftermath of his father’s sudden death. Basic training serves as a much-needed distraction from his grief, and though he excels during this time, he ends in a less-than-desirable assignment: mess hall grunt. He and his grumpy sunbae, Lee Hong-nae, are the lone cooks for the entire base and cooking three meals a day for the hungry hordes is no easy task.
Despite everyone’s very low expectations, Park Ji-hoon has a knack for creating culinary delights. He manages to serve up incredible meals day after day, and unbeknownst to the base, he’s actually completing missions that are part of a strange quest that only he can see. An invisible voice and virtual game screen appear out of the ether with tasks he must accomplish. With each successful mission, he levels up his cooking skills and grows that much closer to reaching the end of the quest and gaining a dangerous truth: the reason behind his father’s death.
A fun story that offers fantasy grounded by emotional beats around bereavement and forging new ties, this could hit the spot if you’ve been craving a cooking-centric drama after Bon Appetit Your Majesty. If you’re a fan of Park Ji-hoon, this is also a nice opportunity to see him in a role that’s bound to be lighter than his recent projects like The King’s Warden and the Weak Hero Class series.
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