Bon Appetit – Series Review & Episode Guide

Dohoon is an office employee at a marketing agency. He currently leads an upcoming advertising campaign for a beverage company, an exciting opportunity for him. However, his team struggles to come up with a concept. Dohoon's boss, Ms. Sung, pressures her employees to brainstorm ideas. Dohoon's colleagues, Hana, Ms. Choi, and Mr. Nam, contribute little to the discussions. He feels stressed about their lack of preparation before the pitch.

Ms. Sung instructs her employees to work overtime until they develop a sound business pitch idea. Yet, there is little progress. It is late at night when Dohoon finally returns home. He's exhausted and only wants to go to sleep. Suddenly, he's disrupted by the doorbell. His neighbour, Yoonsoo, greets him. Yoonsoo has recently moved into Room 302 in their apartment building. He wants to be neighbourly and introduces himself. However, the tired and grouchy Dohoon is annoyed that Yoonsoo disrupted his beauty rest. He dismisses Yoonsoo's invite for a friendly chat.

Dohoon has overslept and is late for work. Before heading off, he finds a mysterious gift on his doorstep. Dohoon grabs the item and rushes to the office without thinking much about it. Later, he discovers the present is a bottle of rice punch, or an amazake, prepared by Yoonsoo. His neighbour has noticed that Dohoon only eats unhealthy takeouts from his trash collection. Yoonsoo wants to give him a homemade beverage to start the day energetically.

Yoonsoo has included a message with his present, using a clever pun to encourage his Room 301 neighbour. Reading the pun gives Dohoon a stroke of inspiration. He comes up with a fun and brilliant idea for his upcoming campaign. Ms. Sung likes the concept and approves it. The team delivered a thriving business pitch to the beverage company, earning Dohoon praise. As he celebrates, Dohoon remembers his neighbour played an indirect role in his success. He returns the hospitality by buying food for Yoonsoo.

Yoonsoo accepts the present and invites Dohoon to eat with him. Dohoon is reluctant but agrees to share the meal. They chat casually about their lives. Yoonsoo is an aspiring restauranteur who plans to open a new diner in the area. He's currently coming up with menu ideas. Yoonsoo asks Dohoon if he'd be interested in sampling various dishes for him. Dohoon agrees to do so. They soon meet up for dinner each night, forming a close connection. Yoonsoo reveals that he used to know Dohoon from university. However, Dohoon doesn't remember meeting him.

I like Bon Appetit the most in the beginning. The early episodes are cute, introducing the workaholic protagonist and his friendship with the overeager neighbour. They share endearingly awkward interactions, as you'd expect from two BL leads getting to know each other. The series also demonstrates its cheeky humour. Several moments are amusing enough to warrant a smile. While the plot may be simple, Bon Appetit displays a pleasant charm and leaves a positive first impression.

Sadly, Bon Appetit declines after a solid start. One of the worst problems is the boring workplace subplot, which occupies too much time. The protagonist spends half of each episode with his colleagues rather than his love interest. None of these scenes are engaging, from mundane gossip to pointless office politics. Also, the series doesn't bother developing the supporting cast. The characters are one-note caricatures who never expand beyond a single comedic quirk. Despite the excessive attention on the coworkers, there's little reason to care about them.

Episode 3 introduces a new rival, another unnecessary diversion that drains attention. Instead of solidifying the relationship between the leads, Bon Appetit keeps teasing a non-starter romance with a minor character. The love triangle drama drags on forever without making progress. Not only is this storyline dull, but there's also a lot of annoying behaviour. Expect jealous accusations, stupid misunderstandings, and every tired cliché from the handbook. Both leads become aggravating toward the end as they refuse to communicate or compromise.

Dohoon & Yoonsoo's pairing showed potential initially, but their sparks dwindled due to muddled writing. Firstly, the love triangle and workplace subplots overshadow the couple. The BL content competes against irrelevant storylines and loses in the battle for screen time. Secondly, the relationship development doesn't feel sensible. A good romance is supposed to convey how the leads fall in love. In Bon Appetit, this journey is choppy and confusing. The protagonists express themselves clumsily, show contradictory signals, or behave erratically around each other.

Bon Appetit includes a few intimate exchanges between Dohoon and Yoonsoo, but these scenes aren't compelling. The bottom line is that I walked away from the series without being persuaded by the love story. It's a shame because I like the two charismatic actors who infuse their roles with spunky personalities. From their endearing reactions to their surprisingly buff bodies, both leads have moments where they charmed me. Unfortunately, they're working with lousy material and lacklustre characterizations, which don't highlight their best qualities.

Worst of all, Bon Appetit is boring! The episodes blend into a forgettable blur of generic plots, repetitive chats, and obnoxious love triangles. Instead of focusing on romance, the narrative often gets sidetracked by inane drama. My interest can barely sustain through one tedious scene after another. Other mediocre BL dramas have the decency to keep their stories short, whereas this drab series prolongs its blandness. Overall, Bon Appetit feels like an undercooked dish without satisfying flavours. It leaves a taste of disappointment and a hunger for better storytelling.