Bon Appétit, Your Majesty: Girls’ Generation’s Yoona time-travels to the Joseon era in the next foodie K-drama on Netflix

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty begins with a French-trained chef, a tyrant king, and a royal kitchen lost in time. On the day Yeon Ji Yeong is crowned the best chef in France and offered the position of head chef at a Michelin three-star bistro in Paris, fate takes a sharp turn. Without warning, she is thrown centuries into the past, landing in the royal court of the Joseon Dynasty. There is no modern kitchen. No safety net. Just one mandate: cook for a monarch known as the worst tyrant in history and survive.

Starring Girls’ Generation’s Yoona, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty blends fantasy, historical romance, and culinary spectacle into a 12-episode saga about power, pride, and the taste of something you have never known but will never forget. Premiering August 16 on Netflix, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is the next K-drama that dares to ask if fusion cuisine can rewrite destiny.

When and where to watch Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty premieres on Netflix on August 16, 2025, with new episodes released weekly through September 21. The series will be broadcast simultaneously on TVN in South Korea and will be available globally via Netflix.

The season will feature 12 episodes, each with a 70-minute runtime, allowing space for both slow-burn romance and lavish culinary sequences. With its blend of historical fantasy and high-stakes kitchen drama, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is set to become one of the most talked-about K-dramas of the season.

From Paris to Joseon: the plot of Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

In Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, Yeon Ji Yeong is a rising star in the global culinary scene. After winning a prestigious competition and claiming the title of best chef in France, she receives an offer to become head chef at a Michelin three-star bistro in Paris. But before she can take her first shift, time folds in on itself. She wakes up in the Joseon Dynasty, surrounded by royal guards, ancient rituals, and kitchen tools that predate the gas stove by centuries.

Forced to adapt or perish, Ji Yeong finds herself cooking for King Lee Heon, a ruler infamous for his cruelty and revered for his extraordinarily sensitive palate. Known as a tyrant even among his own court, Lee Heon can detect subtle shifts in flavor brought on by changes in humidity or temperature. His tongue becomes Ji Yeong’s new metric for survival. Each meal is a test, each plate a negotiation, and each glance between them another layer of tension simmering beneath the surface.

Blending elements of fantasy, palace intrigue, and the kind of food cinematography that lingers in your memory, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty turns royal cuisine into emotional language. As Ji Yeong brings modern techniques into a deeply traditional world, her presence begins to disrupt the balance of power—and ignite something deeper inside the cold-hearted king.

Meet the cast: royals, rivals, and a chef out of time

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is led by Girls’ Generation’s Yoona, who returns to Netflix after King the Land with a performance that promises charm, wit, and depth. As Yeon Ji Yeong, she plays a woman caught between timelines, expectations, and the shifting flavors of power. Her presence in the palace kitchen is both disruptive and magnetic, and the role draws on her established strengths as a leading actress with emotional precision.

Opposite her is Lee Chae Min as King Lee Heon, a monarch feared across the kingdom for his absolute rule and feared within the palace for his tyrannical moods. What sets him apart is his extraordinary sense of taste, which becomes the gateway to both obsession and vulnerability. Lee Chae Min brings an unpredictable edge to the role, having built his reputation in series like Hierarchy, Crash Course in Romance, and Alchemy of Souls.

Adding a sharp counterbalance is Kang Han Na as Kang Mok Ju, a concubine who rose to power through beauty, ambition, and perfect timing. She is not content with her current position and views Ji Yeong’s sudden arrival as both a threat and an opportunity. Kang Han Na’s past roles in Start-Up and My Roommate Is a Gumiho have already shown her range, but Bon Appétit, Your Majesty gives her a chance to sharpen that into something colder, more calculating.

Finally, Choi Gwi Hwa plays Prince Je Seon, a royal exile with blood ties to the throne and a ruthless survival instinct. While he acts like a wandering outsider, he is quietly plotting a return to power. Familiar to global audiences for his role in Train to Busan, and more recently in Squid Game seasons two and three, Choi brings gravitas and danger in equal measure.

The palace ensemble: familiar faces behind the throne

Beyond its central quartet, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty gathers a cast of seasoned supporting actors who add weight and complexity to the world surrounding Ji Yeong and the king. Seo Yi Sook, known for her commanding presence in Queenmaker, takes on the role of the Queen Dowager, a figure of quiet authority with unclear loyalties. Oh Eui Shik, who previously worked with Yoona in Big Mouth, plays Im Song Jae, a palace official whose motivations remain ambiguous.

Park Young Woon appears as Su Hyeok, a figure from Ji Yeong’s past or perhaps her future, depending on how time bends. Yoon Seo Ah plays Gil Geum, whose role in the palace kitchen may evolve into something more subversive. And Lee Joo Ahn rounds out the inner circle as Kong Gil, bringing tension or levity, depending on where the story simmers.

Directing Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is Jang Tae Yoo, whose previous work includes My Love from the Star and Hyena, both dramas that balanced stylized worlds with emotional stakes. The series is based on the popular web novel Surviving as Yeonsan-gun’s Chef, written by Park Kook Jae, and adapted for television with a blend of humor, spectacle, and sharp dialogue that lets the food speak louder than the characters ever could.

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty serves more than food

In a palace where loyalty is conditional and silence speaks louder than titles, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty transforms the act of cooking into ritual, resistance, and seduction. Each dish becomes a message. Each flavor a negotiation. And at the center of it all stands Girls’ Generation’s Yoona, navigating a court of knives with nothing but her apron and intuition.

Ji Yeong enters the royal kitchens as a stranger to Joseon, but her presence reshapes the space. With modern techniques, instinctive precision, and a fearless palate, she redefines what royal cuisine can be. Her food rewrites expectations, shifting the power dynamic with every perfectly plated challenge.

For viewers drawn to fantasy dramas with rich worldbuilding and tactile aesthetics, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty offers visual opulence and narrative tension in equal measure. It joins a growing lineup of K-dramas that use food as more than comfort or metaphor. Here, cuisine becomes confrontation. And as the palace hungers for control, Ji Yeong’s kitchen becomes the most dangerous room in Joseon.

For fans of forbidden kitchens and unexpected timelines

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty will likely appeal to anyone who finds themselves obsessed with time-travel romances that twist fate with a whisper and a well-placed glance.

If Outlander’s historical longing meets your taste, or if you enjoyed the palace politics of Mr. Queen and the visual splendor of Alchemy of Souls, this series might hit the sweet spot. It’s ideal for viewers who want something lush but sharp, where every costume conceals an agenda and every bite carries the weight of centuries.

Whether you're in it for the royal scheming, the fish-out-of-water comedy, or the aesthetic pleasure of perfectly plated hanjeongsik, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty delivers a layered feast. And for those who’ve followed Girls’ Generation’s Yoona from stage to screen, this is a role that lets her command the court—and the camera—with quiet fire.