There are multiple emotions K-Dramas aims to showcase, alongside highlighting different settings and contexts that set the tone in the drama. In various dramas, the job, career, or industry the protagonists work at can provide the necessary setting for the plot. It can also become part of the protagonist's conflict or can become the reason why they would meet an important character in the drama. 

These include culinary and food-themed K-Dramas, which, as you guessed it, feature different cuisines and food that are usually the bread and butter of the protagonists of these dramas. Food-themed K-Dramas generally feature main characters who are primarily involved in the food industry, may it be a chef, a baker, or even someone who largely enjoys cooking and eating as well. 

If you get tempted and hungry enough from the short eating scenes from other K-Dramas, it doubles even more in these featured K-Dramas, which highly involve a lot of food that will truly catch your attention. So here are some of the must-watch culinary and food-themed, especially for K-Drama viewers who are also huge foodies!

"Jewel in the Palace"

The drama tells the story of an orphan culinary maid who later became the King's first female doctor, with Lee Young Ae playing the titular character. Young trainee chef Jang Geum aspires to master Korean cuisine and medicine in an era when women had limited social power so she could treat the King's different illnesses. The historical account of Jang Geum, the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty, served as the basis for the drama. Her tenacity and the depiction of traditional Korean culture, especially food served at Korean royal courts and traditional medicine, are the central topics of the drama.

"My Lovely Sam Soon"

The drama features the titular protagonist, Kim Sam Soon (portrayed by Kim Sun Ah), who is a talented pastry chef who has a passionate desire to create delicacies. Eventually, Sam Soon loses her work and is left by her unfaithful lover on Christmas Eve. Then, the owner of the luxury French restaurant Bon Appetit was one of the bystanders to her messy and embarrassing public breakup and was later employed as the restaurant's new pastry chef after spotting her ability.

"Wok of Love"

A modest, run-down Chinese diner named Hungry Wok was located across the street from the six-star Giant Hotel. Doo Chil Sung (Jang Hyuk), a former loan shark gangster of the Big Dipper Gang, took over the business with the purpose of providing his former gang members a workplace after serving his time in prison. Seo Poong (Lee Jun Ho), a formerly famous chef who lost his work due to a conspiracy, and Dan Sae Woo (Jung Ryeo Won), a bankrupt chaebol heiress, came to see Chil Sung one day seeking assistance from him to help them bounce back to where they were after their worlds were completely flipped over.

"Bread, Love and Dreams" / "King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo"

The chairman of the renowned baking business Geosung Enterprise, Goo Il Jong, has an eldest son named Kim Tak Goo (Yoon Si Yoon). However, Goo Il Jong's family conspired to steal his fortune since he was conceived to In Jong's mistress, Kim Mi Sun, even though he is an exceptionally brilliant baker and seemed poised to follow his father as president. Regardless of the many difficulties he encounters, Tak Goo is driven to start over in his profession because he is determined to be the best in the baking industry. He will also eventually meet his half-brother, Goo Ma Jun (Joo Won), at the baking school, who is keeping his identity a secret while secretly harboring anger towards Tak Goo back from their childhood.

"Mr. Queen"

Mr. Queen is one of the most unique food-themed sageuk K-Dramas, featuring the story of how present-day Blue House head chef Jang Bong Hwan (Choi Jin Hyuk) ends up in the body of Kim So Yong, who will be crowned as Queen Cheorin (Shin Hye Sun) in the Joseon period. In order to get back to his body in the present-time and survive in the Joseon period, he tries to navigate using the queen's body and win the favor of various powerful people in the kingdom through his talent in cooking. He brings a lot of present-day foods which amaze people and becomes an innovator in the time period.

"Oh My Ghost"

Na Bong Sun (Park Bo Young) is an assistant chef at Sun Restaurant who is timid, apprehensive, and constantly has a poor feeling of self-worth. She can also see ghosts, and her life turns around when she gets possessed by a virgin ghost Shin Soon Ae (Kim Seul Gi), who is desperate to attract as many men as possible in order to overcome her grudge and pass into the afterlife. Her possession results in a huge change in her attitude and eventually catches the eye of Kang Sun Woo (Jo Jung Suk), the arrogant star chef, owner of Sun Restaurant, and Bong Sun's long-time secret crush. 

"Dae Jang Geum is Watching"

This drama about food ponders on how Jang Geum, a well-known Joseon first female doctor and renowned gourmet prodigy from the abovementioned sageuk "Jewel in the Palace," would thrive now if she had passed on some of her skills to her descendants. San Hae (Shin Dong Wook) has a fantastic sense of taste, which has made him a tremendous enthusiast and gourmet expert. His younger brother Jung Shik (Kim Hyun Joon) also has extraordinary cooking talents, that he has his own YouTube vlog channel, while his younger sister Jin Mi (Lee Yul Eum) has been endowed with a remarkable smell that is unparalleled.

Here are some of the many food-themed K-Dramas that you will truly love! Which among them are your favorites, and what other K-Dramas would you suggest to other drama viewers who would like to binge-watch dramas in these themes?