''Youn's Kitchen'' () is a South Korean television

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

that aired on tvN on Fridays nights from March 24, 2017, to March 23, 2018, for a total of twenty episodes.

Cast

Season 1

Season 2

Main dish

Season 1

Youn's main ingredient was

bulgogi Bulgogi ( , , ; , ) is a '' gui'' (Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top griddle. It is also often stir-fried in a pan in home cooking. Sirl ...

, which was available in three dishes: Bulgogi Rice, Bulgogi Noodles and Bulgogi Burger. Prior to filming, Youn met with Lee Won-il and

Hong Seok-cheon Hong Seok-cheon (born February 3, 1971) is a South Korean actor, television personality, restaurateur and member of the dissolved Democratic Labor Party. He caused considerable controversy in his home country when he came out as gay in 2000, ...

to ask for advice, and received expertise on how to operate Youn's Kitchen, including menu development and restaurant management. From the 4th episode, new items were added to the menu, such as fried dumplings and buns, egg rolls, dumplings, and

ramyeon is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

. From the 5th episode, chicken was added.

Season 2

The main dish of Youn's Restaurant was

bibimbap Bibimbap * ( ; ), sometimes Romanization of Korean, romanised as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. The term ''bibim'' means "mixing" and ''Bap (rice dish), bap'' is cooked rice. It is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped wi ...

, and there were initially three varieties: bulgogi bibimbap, spicy pork bibimbap, and vegetable bibimbap. For this season, Youn again met chef Lee Won-il and Hong Seok-cheon for advice and received further know-how on restaurant operations. Kimchi was also on the initial menu. From the 2nd episode, a traditional noodle dish called japchae was added. From the 3rd episode, the spicy pork bibimbap was removed and Korean fried chicken was added. From the 4th episode, ribs were added. From the 6th episode, kimchi fried rice was added.

Viewership and ratings

Viewership

Ratings

*In the tables below, marks the lowest ratings in each season and marks the highest ratings. *This show airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters ( KBS, SBS, MBC & EBS).

Season 1

Season 2

Franchise

''Youn's Kitchen'' has produced three spin-offs: '' Youn's Stay'' (2021), '' Jinny's Kitchen'' (2023–), '' Jinny's Kitchen: Team Building'' (2023). While the first spin-off is a result of an unanticipated change of format due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, all spin-offs starting from ''Jinny's Kitchen'' have been developed with the goal of forming a franchise.

''Youn's Stay''

While the initial plan was to produce the third season of ''Youn's Kitchen'', the cast and crew weren't able to travel abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and shutdown in 2020. Instead of opening a small Korean restaurant overseas, the production choose to open a traditional hanok guest house in

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...

in Korea to share part of the Korean culture to the guests who were mainly foreigners. In December 2020, the new season is renamed "''Youn's Stay''" to reflect the change of format. The show premiered on tvN on January 8, 2021. The

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

show stars original ''Youn's Kitchen'' cast members

Youn Yuh-jung Youn Yuh-jung (, ; born June 19, 1947) is a South Korean actress, whose career in film and television spans over five decades. Her accolades include an Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, British Academy Film Award, and Independent Spir ...

as the owner and CEO,

Lee Seo-jin Lee Seo-jin (born January 30, 1971) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for the reality shows '' Three Meals a Day'' and '' Grandpa Over Flowers''. As an actor, he came to prominence with his leading roles in television series '' Damo'' ( ...

as the Vice President, Jung Yu-mi and

Park Seo-joon Park Yong-kyu (; born December 16, 1988), better known by the stage name Park Seo-joon (), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''Fight for My Way'' (2017), ''What's Wrong with Secretary Kim'' ...

as managers. Actor

Choi Woo-shik Choi Woo-shik (; born March 26, 1990) is a Canadian actor based in South Korea. He first gained recognition for starring in the film ''Set Me Free (2014 film), Set Me Free'' (2014) and the Korean drama, television series ''Hogu's Love'' (2015) ...

also joined as the new intern of the hotel. He starred in ''

Summer Vacation The term summer vacation or summer break refers to a school break in the summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between two weeks to three and a half months. Depending on the country and ...

'' alongside Jung Yu-mi earlier in the year and is known for the highly awarded movie ''

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

'' in which actor Park Seo-joon also played.

''Jinny's Kitchen''

Early 2023, a second spin-off series is announced. The original cast of Youn's Stay-minus

-is back, with Lee Seo-jin as the new owner whose philosophy is all about revenue. Singer V of BTS joined the cast in season 1 and is replaced by actress

Go Min-si Go Min-si (; born February 15, 1995) is a South Korean actress, model and director managed by Mystic Story Entertainment. She is known for her prominent roles in television series such as ''Love Alarm'' (2019–2021), Sweet Home (TV series), ''S ...

for season 2.

''Jinny's Kitchen: Team Building''

International adaptation

Taiwan became the first country to adapt the show outside South Korea. Titled ''Ai's Kitchen'', the cast include

Sylvia Chang Sylvia Chang (born 21 July 1953) is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese actress, singer, director, screenwriter, and producer. Early life Chang was born in Chiayi County, Chiayi, Taiwan. She dropped out of school when she was 16 and started her career ...

as the owner,

Tony Yang Tony Yang (; born 30 August 1982) is a Taiwanese actor who rose to prominence for his debut film role in ''Formula 17'' (2004), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer The Golden Horse Award for Best New Performer () ...

as the manager, Alice Ko as co-chef, and

Darren Wang Darren Wang Talu (; born May 29, 1991) is a Taiwanese actor. He is best known for his breakout role as Hsu Tai-yu in the coming-of-age film, '' Our Times''. Career Wang made his debut in the 2008 drama series ''Mysterious Incredible Terminator ...

as the bartender.

(G)I-dle I-dle (; stylized in all lowercase), formerly known as (G)I-dle (), is a South Korean girl group formed by Cube Entertainment in 2018. The group consists of five members: Miyeon, Minnie (singer), Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi, and Shuhua. Originally a se ...

Shuhua Yeh Shu-hua ( zh, t=葉舒華; born January 6, 2000), known mononymously as Shuhua (), is a Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is a member of the South Korean girl group I-dle, which debuted as (G)I-dle under Cube Entertainment in May 2 ...

and

Austin Lin Austin Lin (, born January 27, 1988) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and television host. Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, he took part in the second season of Taiwanese singing competition, ''One Million Star'', in 2007. In 2009, he made his a ...

also joined the cast. The show was filmed in Koh Samui, Thailand and premiered on

SET Metro SET Metro () is a television channel of the Sanlih E-Television in Taiwan, launched in September 1995. It mainly broadcasts Taiwanese drama and cartoons. Productions Drama Daily 8PM *Inborn Pair *Ti Amo Chocolate *Sweet Sweet Bodyguard *L ...

on October 5, 2024.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Na Yeong-seok 2017 South Korean television series debuts TvN (South Korean TV channel) original programming South Korean reality television series South Korean cooking television series Television series set in restaurants Television shows set in Indonesia Television shows set in the Canary Islands Television shows set on islands Korean-language television shows Korean cuisine