Jinny’s Kitchen – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 of Jinny’s Kitchen picks up where we left off, with a young couple entering the restaurant. The couple places an order with the owner – Seo-jin’s recommendation. They ask for Soju but Seo-jin mentions they aren’t serving alcohol. Seo-joon tells Seo-jin that they could offer the couple some red wine instead.

The main chef gets back to working on the corn dogs and fritters while the gimbap specialist, Yu-mi, rolls one out for the customers.

The customers recognize the intern – Tae-hyung as a singer from a boy group. Meanwhile, Tae-hyung plates the tteokbokki and Seo-jin show the guests how to eat it. The corn dogs are served next after which go white and red wine for the couple. The couple takes Instagram-worthy photos of the meal and enjoys the food.

The employees are curious and start looking at the couple. Tae-hyung talks to the guests in Spanish but they reveal that they were from Amsterdam. There’s another customer who orders ramyeon and Seo-joon takes some effort into the preparation of the bowl of noodles. The old man struggles to use the chopsticks but still enjoys the meal.

The employees notice how there were a lot more people on the street and they have another customer. However, the father and daughter duo do not find the dishes interesting and leave. The other guests also leave after finishing their meals while Tae-hyung washes the dishes like a “cool person”.

Tae-hyung states that he is having fun and tells Seo-joon that he would like the restaurant to be open for longer. Seo-jin laughs but the restaurant is closed at 6:50 pm on the first day. Back at their villa, Tae-hyung states how he was initially hoping there would be fewer customers because he did not want to work a lot.

However, when they did not have many guests, the BTS singer claims he was heartbroken. Seo-jin prepares dinner for his employees and the group has freshened up. They discuss their business of the day and Seo-jin claims that they needed to have more interesting options on the menu like their competitors.

Yu-mi suggests adding a pork version of the gimbap while Seo-jin claims they could have the potato corndog that Seo-joon had practiced making. Tae-hyung is stretching while Yu-mi uses a foam roller before bed and Seo-jin is sleepy. Tae-hyung claims that he was craving jjajangmyeon.

A flashback shows how the singer had been eating ramyeon every night since they arrived in Bacalar. Seo-joon, Yu-mi and Tae-hyung share four packs of ramyeon among the three of them as Seo-jin calls it a night. The next day, the group is dressed in blue shirts and white shorts with the exception of Tae-hyung who is dressed in black shorts.

Seo-jin asks him to change into white shorts and the group chats about forming labour unions as the two seniors – Seo-jin and Yu-mi jokingly target the new intern – Tae-hyung. The episode moves to Woo-shik who is travelling to Mexico from Atlanta. He jokes that he won’t get a warm welcome from his colleagues but will be scolded for joining them late.

Woo-shik mentions that he is looking forward to seeing Seojin. Meanwhile, the designated driver – Tae-hyung drives the group to the restaurant at 12:35 pm. Seo-joon is shocked when the producers ask them if they could open at 2 pm but they take on the challenge and start prepping.

Seo-joon is working nonstop as he preps the tteokbokki, the corn dog batter while the gimbap duo – Yu-mi and Tae-hyung set out to prep for the dish. Tae-hyung is now an expert rice maker and Yu-mi seeks the owner – Seo-jin to help her make a new dish – spicy pork gimbap.

Tae-hyung fries the spicy pork while Seo-jin chats with potential customers. Many customers are interested in eating Korean food in Mexico and promise to show up in the evening. There are three reservations and Seo-jin’s happy dimples are back. Since it’s a weekend, the crew sees new guests as soon as they open. They place an order for bulgogi gimbaps and a corndog.

The group of men ask for Soju but Seo-jin disappoints them when he states they do not serve Korean alcohol. Seo-joon is excited about the customers as soon as they open as he sets up the corn dog station. Tae-hyung is working on the dishes while Yu-mi checks on the tteokbokki and starts making the gimbals.

Seo-jin serves the drinks and the guests spot Tae-hyung and immediately recognise him as someone ‘very famous’. The guests discuss how they are being filmed for a reality show and note the cameras on every table. The food is ready and the guests start eating when two new customers walk in.

They order two gimbaps and Yu-mi gets to work. The customer likes corndog but is upset about there being no sausage. Seo-jin tells him that the sausage was in the bottom half. Yu-mi is stressed and misses making one of the two bulgogi gimbaps for the first customer. She sets off to work when the third set of customers arrives. They order one tteokbokki and two gimbaps adding to Yu-mi’s list of endless gimbaps.

With 5 gimbap orders left, Yu-mi is stressed. The men are also worried and Seo-joon comes out to help her. Yu-mi is rolling two gimbaps at the same time and under pressure but one of them opens up. The first set of customers get their order and enjoy the meal. Yu-mi is back to rolling one gimbap at a time and Tae-hyung helps plate it for the second table.

The couple struggles to use the chopsticks but enjoys the meal nevertheless. Seo-jin interacts with the customers while Seo-joon comes outside to check on the tteokbokki. Since the sauce hadn’t thickened, Seo-joon takes it to the back kitchen and boils it to cook it faster. He and Tae-hyung plate the dish and Seo-jin serves it to the customers.

The guests compare the dumplings with empanadas as they enjoy the fritters. Yu-mi has successfully made all the gimbaps. The first customers ask Seo-jin about the staff and are shocked to learn that all employees are famous actors. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Tae-hyung is making a new, less spicy dipping sauce to go with the gimbaps. The customers enjoy it with the gimbap.

It starts raining all of a sudden and a new customer walks in along with his dog. He places an order for a tteokbokki and compliments the restaurant. The kitchen staff make the order and Seo-jin shows the customer how to eat the meal. The rain stops and all the waiting customers make their way out leaving an empty restaurant behind.

Tae-hyung gets back to washing the dishes while Seo-jin cleans the tables. Seo-joon makes coffee for the staff and the four rest for a while. Seo-joon states that Woo-shik had taken a bus to Bacalar and the episode shows how the actor was brushing up his spoken Spanish to chat with the customers.

Break time is over when a customer walks in and orders a bulgogi gimbap. Yu-mi gets rolling as another customer makes her way inside the restaurant. She orders a cheese tteokbokki with White wine and the back kitchen staff get ready for the order. The two customers chat with each other in Spanish over the meal and enjoy the food.

Seo-joon makes a corn dog for Tae-hyung and Yu-mi but does not know what to do about the cheese spilling from the corn dog. The intern goes out to feed Seo-jin a bite of the corn dogs but the owner goes back to the kitten to finish his share of the snack. Yu-mi practices her gimbap rolling techniques to perfection but they have an unexpected guest in the form of a dog.

Another guest who had shown up earlier in the day arrives and orders a bulgogi gimbap which was already prepared by Yu-mi. Seo-jin tries his best to get the dog to leave the restaurant but the guest tells him that it was normal to have many dogs around restaurants in Bacalar. It starts raining again but there are plenty of new customers at Jinny’s Kitchen.

A family of five and a couple place their order. The couple order corndogs and Seo-jin is flustered by a large number of guests as two more customers walk in. Now, with 4 out of 5 tables full, the staff is working at top speed. The couple has their corndogs while the family gets their corn dog. The solo guest types a review for Seo-jin and translates it into Korean for him to read it.

Seo-joon starts working on the ramyeon while the family orders two more corndogs. There is a new customer that places an order for two more plates of ramyeon. Considering how busy they are, another set of hands comes to the rescue. As soon as Woo-shik arrives, rather than greeting him the group put him to work and he is doing the dishes.

After the dishes are done, Woo-shik chats with his friends and hopes to fit in with Tae-hyung and Seo-joon. He goes out to help Yu-mi but asks for Senior Intern #1 – Tae-hyung’s help as he is still new to the restaurant. The episode ends with Tae-hyung bragging about being Woo-shik’s senior.

The Episode Review

This show is so chaotic and fun but I am sure the pressure is going to build on the staff at Jinny’s Kitchen very soon. All five employees are finally together again and it is hilarious how Woo-shik had to start working in the kitchen as soon as he arrived after his 20-hour-long journey.

The next episode will be very draining for our actors because of the number of customers coming to the restaurant on a weekend. I am excited about the way these actors are implementing the menu to include new dishes on their menu given their experiences with the customers.