This review may contain spoilers
A Delicious Series Back for Season 2
Just finished this delightful and delicious series. I'm not sure where Jinny's Kitchen will be off to next as even in the ends of earth they were very popular and had to turn customers away. The food was the main star, but second to that were the group of delightful characters preparing and serving these amazing Korean dishes. Now if we could only have a cookbook of all the Jinny's Kitchen recipes, life would be perfect. Well done to the actors and production crew of this fun series!!First posted after starting the series---I've only watched the first episode so I will post again after other episodes. The setting is Rakjavik, Iceland. Such a beautiful setting to be filming this series in!! All the regulars are back except Kim Taehyung as he is presently serving in the military. Replacing him as the intern is Go Min Si. I am not familiar with her, but so far she has been very entertaining and a great addition to the cast. They promoted Choi Woo Shik to Assistant Manager and he is doing more of the cooking. The entire cast is so good, and their interactions together are hilarious. The restaurant is amazing, very beautiful and they have a nice kitchen to cook in and to film. Of course the real star is the Korean food, and they are holding nothing back. I was in Seoul a month ago and tried Gomtang for the first time. It was delicious!! This is the main star of the menu and the specialty of Lee Seo Jin. They do not cut any corners, and make everything as if this were a 5-star restaurant. I'm so looking forward to the series, and only regret I cannot taste the food.
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1Neomu masisseoyo!
Jinny’s Kitchen S2 added a new cast member and took the show to scenic Iceland. With cold winds whipping across Reykjavik, the team served up nourishing hot soups to warm their customers.Lee Seo Jin-“Boss Dimples”, Yung Yu Mi-“Queen of Serenity”, Park Seo Joon “Ace Pitcher”, Choi Woo Shik-“Class Clown”, Go Min Si-“Rookie MVP”, and Relief Dishwasher-“Mr. Beanie” manned the dining room and kitchen doing their very best to give Iceland delicious Korean dishes. Unlike Mexico where the crew served up very simple dishes, the cast took cooking lessons to be able to prepare the more complicated soups which required more prep work as well. Also, unlike Mexico, where Woo Shik had to try and drum up customers on the boardwalk, the line wrapped around the block on the first day much to the cast’s surprise!
Once again, the cast showed off their cooking skills, this time under greater pressure with a continually full dining room. My absolute favorite was Go Min Si. She was quite impressive as a prep chef, Dolsot Bibimbap preparer, dishwasher, and pretty much anything else the head chef of the day needed. She never complained and simply stepped up and did whatever needed to be done no matter how tired she was. Yu Mi was the epitome of calm and organized as usual. Seo Joon managed 6 or more burners with his intense organizational skills. Woo Shik had his day as head chef dancing and joking but also taking the food seriously. He and Seo Jin also took care of the customers in an orderly fashion.
There was a wide variety of customers, both Icelandic and tourists. For the most part English was the communal language for customers and cast. On the first day an Indian American showed up. While familiar with some of the cast, she’d been in Iceland for 48 hours and hadn’t had any rice and was looking forward to the meal. A Korean American customer had lived in Iceland for 4 years and as he ate said he felt most Korean when eating Korean food. People from all over the world settled in and enjoyed the different dishes and drinks. Most assuredly, the popularity of season 1 on Prime brought people to the restaurant eager to be on television, but most weren’t too overt about it. The show didn’t share how much the dishes were this time which I was quite curious about. The only bill I saw revealed was for two women which came to 20,000 Kronur/144 USD which seemed a bit pricey.
While this year was more hectic than last year, I thought it had its own charm. The pop-ups and music made for a lively kitchen scene. Min Si was a great addition as she learned quickly and made the head chef’s job easier. Of course, each of the cast members played to their own strengths and kept things positive with humor and camaraderie. Jinny’s Kitchen is a hidden gem no longer and wherever they might go for S3 they can expect their global audience to show up.
Some of the menu items to tempt you:
Beef Galbijjim
Dolsot Bibimbap
Dakgalbi
Sundubu Jjigae
Ttukbaegi Bulgogi
7 September 2024
*Neomu masisseoyo-So delicious! (according to the subtitles)
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I wish they'd been able to keep the location secret
Watching them cook was just as hypnotizing for me as the first season. I loved their interactions with one another (I wish there had been more of it), and seeing and learning a little about Iceland was interesting. I'd love to see the Northern Lights. However, there were a couple of reasons I didn't like it as much as season 1.1) It would have been nice if they had been able to keep the location secret. It was blatantly obvious that most of the guests were there because it was Jinny's Kitchen, not because there was a random pop-up kitchen opening.
2) In season one they had a day off and we got to see more of the area that they were in. We didn't get any of that this time.
3) They were such a well-oiled machine that we didn't get a lot of the amusing interactions that we got in season 1.
4) The new "intern" coming in was completely seamless. I was impressed that she did such a good job; however, it didn't make for interesting tv.
That being said, if you enjoy food shows at all, give this one a try.
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