Royal Feast (2022)

Am I the Only One?

After reading the reviews, no one touched on my biggest complaint. So, I assume that I am the only one that is frustrated at the terrible English translation. So many words that were used had absolutely no meaning in the context of the story. In fact, this is a problem with many of the current “period” dramas. One can get the gist of many of the scenes, but one cannot understand the nuances between the characters. The only streaming channel that I believe does a decent job of translating is Viki. All of the channels that stream through You Tube are the worst!
I am currently trying to watch the “Blue Whisper,” but the translation is so bad I don’t think I will make it to the end.

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Rubbish

Even if they did had chemistry previously …No chemistry in this drama, it looked forced …. Plot was everywhere and didn’t have no base, no center no base, just all over the place.

Even if they did had chemistry previously …No chemistry in this drama, it looked forced …. Plot was everywhere and didn’t have no base, no center no base, just all over the place.

Even if they did had chemistry previously …No chemistry in this drama, it looked forced …. Plot was everywhere and didn’t have no base, no center no base, just all over the place.



Even if they did had chemistry previously …No chemistry in this drama, it looked forced …. Plot was everywhere and didn’t have no base, no center no base, just all over the place.

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Go in for the Leads, stay for the rest

1. The cast was amazing
2. The story has holes but... the cast was amazing
3. Most characters (not all) had depth but their arcs do not always make sense... but the cast was amazing
4. Be prepared to learn more about the food than you expect... and EAT before/while watching, otherwise you might overeat just from the temptations put before you on screen
5. Don't expect XK & WJY to spend much time together or you'll be disappointed - their romance wasn't developed enough but you can feel the affection and eventual love from their performances... I wish there had been more actual development in this area as those interactions are what pulled me in and what I continue to appreciate most about the drama


I'm not a big fan of historical dramas, especially palace dramas but after completing this one I have to say it was really quite good. I had read many of the reviews on this page before deciding to go ahead and give it a try and I sincerely do not regret the time. The production value was engrossing. The actors were delightful, though - YES - some of the characters always made me want to SLAP them, and YES there were some plot holes that started to bug me more after I had finished the drama. Overall, even with all the palace intrigue, plots, politics and ladder-climbing, it was still worth it.

Give the first 5 or 6 episodes a try - if you don't like it then just go watch the summarized XK/WJY romance (over 1 hour of just their romantic scenes) easily available on Youtube.

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Fix-it Fanfiction (featuring cooking puns…it just happened idk)

I was very excited about this show. For multiple reasons. The most important being that it paired up two actors who previously portrayed one of my all-time favorite couples in any Cdrama ever. The other is the concept of Royal Kitchens which reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Korean dramas: Jewel in the palace. Suffice to say...it did not deliver on either front...sort of.

The plot: Similar to The Story of Yanxi Palace, Royal Feast uses the excuse of the harem setting to make a commentary on the commodification of women. From being buried alive along with your husband, to a woman’s life being treated as less important than a barely formed fetus (something that is ironically still fresh news in our time). The show doesn’t really have a clear or concise plotline. Instead, it’s made up of slice-of-life episodic stories that each capture a new horror or tragedy of being trapped in the Palace. That said, either through bad editing or bad writing, but most probably from a combination of both, the attempt is sloppy and not as impactful as the graceful scene that was drawn in Yanxi Palace. Characters are raw sketches of what they could be, the passage of time is extremely precarious, and stories are not properly developed and end abruptly, with little impact or consequence for the rest of the plot. It’s really hard to connect with the characters because it feels like instead of getting to know them, we are swiping through an album of pictures with faces that rapidly become familiar in motionless snapshots, without much knowledge of their personality, unique voice, wants or needs that would help flesh them out as believable human characters. Overall, the show feels like a script that needed to be worked on. It’s like a dough that hasn’t properly risen yet.

Acting: I think everyone tried...but their characters were just boring. Right off the bat, I think Xu Kai was miscast. He has the looks of a free-spirited youngster and doesn't have the gravitas of a crown prince or emperor. He does this "puffing of the chest" acting and it just didn't work for me. I don't think it's his fault. I just think he was wrong for the role. I don't like the agist, sexist takes I've seen about Wu Jinyan's looks in this show. She's a good actress and that's the only aspect I care about. Sadly, she was given the bare minimum to work with here. The only standout in the cast was He Rui Xian who injected as much unique flavor into her character as she possibly could.

The production: The production is beautiful. From the artistic food arrangements, and the opulent sets, to the extravagant dresses and the saturated cinematography, the show looks expensive and high quality but all the world’s professionalism and money can’t buy a show any credit if its all just fodder for a story that doesn’t utilize the ingredients it has at its disposal to the fullest. A real waste.

Music: Did this show reuse Yanxi Palace's music? It sounded just like that and somehow less magnificent too... how did they manage that?!
Rewatch: No. Despite the moderate episode number, the show still managed to become really boring after episode 30 and that's being really generous as many would argue it was boring all the way through.

Negatives: There is something really wrong with the post-production of this show. The editing and flow of narratives are all over the place. There is at once too much time wasted on every arc while also everything is underdeveloped and not thoroughly thought out. The romance is instantaneous, the friendships and rivalries are not given enough background to feel genuine, and the political plots are there but it also feels like the show didn't want to waste time to develop any of it so it's just "So problem existed and um...emperor had to solve it...and then HE DID!YAY!"...very weird! Every character is super bland. No one has proper motivation or any charisma. I just kept waiting for someone, anyone, to develop some interesting personality trait but it was all for naught. Plus, the show tries too hard to be inoffensive to the point that all the villains are misunderstood or secretly really tragic. None of which lands at all because every villain was super stereotypical and common. Like I have seen similar idiots in at least 10 other shows and books.

Overall: Once the novelty of seeing my favorite couple living out their best Alternate-Universe-fix-it lives wore off, it just became a task to finish this. The plot was kind of better when the kitchen stuff was happening; though this was nowhere near as well-thought-out or exciting as Jewel in the palace, and once the main character moved to the harem, the plot just straight-up died. This was the blandest harem ever. And I sat through The Sword and The Brocade! Not a single interesting person in that palace! Everyone was like those caricature village people in games.
This wasn't a hate-watch though. More of a pity-watch or a mercy-watch. That is like mercy-kill but more painful and took much longer.

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Gourmey food and relationship management!

It genuinely surprises me that this drama has such low ratings. After reading the top popular reviews, I prepared myself for foolish plotlines, silly characters, and lots of skipping.

Instead, I discovered one of the better-paced C-dramas I've watched: it is slow but progresses steadily, never dragged nor produced irrelevant fluff to fill time. All the characters had their distinct personalities, backgrounds, and arcs (excepting the Crown Grandson/Xu Kai's character, who is perfect son and monarch material from beginning to end), interacted with one another reasonably from their unique character perspectives instead of falling into stereotypes or tropes. The plotline generally aligned with historical touchpoints, but spun a lot of creativity into what types of people who might have lived through them and how they might have experienced that life, creating a lot of depth and humanity. This is NOT a romance-heavy story, although ML/FL's relationship is a main throughline of course. Many people seem to watch it mainly as the non-official continuation of STORY OF YANXI PALACE, and either love it or hate it for how well this drama fulfilled that fantasy. While the story does do a lot of fan service to that effect, it would be a mistake to see the story only from that lens. It has its own focus, themes, and things it wants to convey.

SOME CRITIQUE: The acting is mostly good for Idol-ish drama full of pretty people. I do notice that the main pretty actors--ML/FL, Empress Hu, You Yifan--all overly-rely on a wooden face and subdued reaction to fit a somber sense of historicity, but aren't always consistent or able to convey that various thoughts/emotions are running beneath the calm surface, which more-established actors can manage (the Dowager Queen is fantastic, always a clear sense of righteousness and harsh intellect shining through; and Ziping, too, as the rough but loyal friend). This is no NIRVANA IN FIRE, or THE RISE OF PHOENIXES, where viewers are constantly aware of conspiracies afoot and double-meaning in every other phrase. There isn't, in fact, a lot of tension in the political plot line or palace intrigues in general. Often, viewers only realize some early scenarios are supposed to hint at conspiracies or hidden doings, only AFTER everything is already exposed--which is fine if you've been patient in watching to those later episodes, but not so great to keep you gripped while things are actually happening.

VERDICT: But ultimately I don't think the drama is impacted by these issues, because although a lot of the story is based around politics, the main theme is on how to see people, understand their worth, and the value of managing relationships. Treating people well and wisely is more than just a matter of one person with another, but is inherently political and impacts matters of State and power. FL is strategic, self-determined, and kind--but demonstrates that being kind doesn't mean being a pushover, and that kindness will win out in the end because the vast majority of people aren't pure evil. They may harbor their own goals, dreams, hopes, have people that they love/protect/aid, and therefore conspire against you or try to trip you up wherever possible. At the same time, they're flesh and blood too, and are moved by your kind treatment such that at the lowest points they leave a space open for FL to survive, or are slowly persuaded by ML/FL's leading-by-example to see the fault in their own ways, ultimately become redeemed in various ways. This is a hopeful drama that showcases the strength of women, working in one of the only professional places available to them, fighting for a space to exist and prove their worth to others and themselves. It says, everyone has a REASON for being the way they are, and people just want to live their life in the best ways they know how to, whether that way is worthy or full of jealousy and hatred. FL chooses to see and nurture the good that exists in everyone, and ultimately is rewarded by a peaceful marriage, well managed Inner Court, and country, and so it is a very happy ending!

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Just because of Xu Kai

Almost didn't watch this because what AvenueX @YouTube said in her review. But this is Xu Kai drama, so here I am still watching it....

What AvenueX said in her video is so true. This drama just for the sake Xu Kai & Wu Jin Yan pairing. In my opinion she's not even the best partner for Xu Kai. Maybe I've to watch YanXi Palace first so I can ship them together....

In the term of story this is not very good. They combine Food & politic, but didn't do the very good job, so yeah it's kinda messy. At the end this drama is about food or politic is very questionable.... The food itself yeah at first kinda drooling, but I've watched drama with more drooling food.

But yeah when you put politic in ur every plot that when you can see that all the people basically so messy & hide ugly self within themselves & once you fall down the rabbit hole into the dark pit you can't get urself out of it....

So yeah this drama just for the sake pf the actor/ess involve, nothing more

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High budget production for a disappointing story and performance

The first thing that strikes when watching this drama is the sheer detailing of the beautiful costumes, the mouth-watering foods, the grandeur of the location and set and the cinematography.

However, the drama falls really short in terms of the story and the unconvincing acting of the entire cast with the exception of Crown Dowager Zhang, matron Sheng and Yin Ziping.

As a viewer, I cannot really grasp who or what is really the star in this drama. Is it the food, the lives of these women, palace life during that period, the love story between Yao Zijin and Zhu Zhanji, the sacrificial burial of concubines? Seriously, I am lost.

If I compare historical dramas that have relied heavily on one element of Chinese culture, for example Winter Begonia that used Chinese Opera to depict the formation and evolution of an amazing friendship, Marvelous Women that used Chinese raw silk embroidery to showcase women's empowerment and friendship; I see that these cultural items really delved and carried us along the story. They were the backbone of the story and very intelligently melded with.

Here, food as a very important element of Chinese culture is used but it is not cohesive with the story. We get to see only fancy preparations due to culinary contests, fancy ingredients or names of dishes, the abuse or misuse of medicinal food, remembrance of childhood food prior to death, fabricated village food and sufferings of farmers and lastly, food during famine. However, the underlying message is unclear...what is the story trying to show us? They just seem incidental to the scenes. Also the use and abuse of food is omnipresent throughout the drama... on one hand, the message is not to waste food and immediately after, another scene would contradict the message...be it by the Emperor Yongle himself who arrogantly stares down at the fancy food or the grandson who childishly demands that Yao Zijin prepares fresh food for him while throwing a tantrum...

Secondly, the facial or body expressions of the casts, especially that of FL and SFL really appalled me. They seem to have only 3-4 expressions in their repertoire and it became painful to continue watching. There was no dimensionality in the characters of the entire cast. I understand that this drama is not a character-driven one but still, one would expect some form of character development...

Finally, it reverts back to the haphazard story of the drama... the palace plots were hardly dramatic, their resolving felt like a breeze. The episodes I forced myself to watch had not real arc, they were just linear in story telling and thus, failed to grab and keep my attention.


Never have I felt so frustrated by a historical drama which promises one thing but really falls short on delivering it.

P.S: Xu Kai really should stop taking on roles in high-budget productions and really focus on improving his acting skills. He could have the potential but his drama choices can really break his career which so far seems to be sustaining itself because of his pretty face.

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It was An Ok Drama

I watched Royal Feast because I love both leading actors. I was waiting for them to have a reunion since The Story of Yanxi Palace and I gotta say that it did not meet the expectations. I didn’t really like how the leading actors were in love but didn’t really show the love towards each other. There was about one or two kiss scenes but nothing too romantic in the drama which was a little disappointing because I’m crazy over romantic scenes. There was 40 episodes which is a lot of episodes but I felt like it went by so fast and I didn’t really know what was happening most of the time but maybe that had something to do with the bad subbing during the time. I felt like they were rushing the story because we didn’t actually get to watch theirs lives unfold we just know about it because they talked about it. Im usually not big on side character story’s but if they had incorporated some side romance story’s maybe it would have been a better drama. But I gotta say that the best thing about the drama was the food and costumes. Everything they made looked really good. ☺️ Overall I don't love it or hate it. I wouldn’t recommend it to you for romance but I mean if your bored and have nothing to do and happen to love food dramas than this would be the one.

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A well written yet bittersweet historical tale

I had put off watching this drama for quite some time due to the low-ish rating and because I was scared I would compare the drama to the other drama starring the same leads - Story of Yanxi Palace. After finishing the entire drama, it does not fare far behind Yanxi Palace, but it is definitely not to be compared.

If you are watching this drama for a quick and easy romance, I don't think this is the right drama for you. Romance is secondary to the point the drama is trying to show. It follows the main FL's story as she enters the palace as a mere food maid. The characters throughout the drama, were well developed (although play into some cliches of palace drama and fighting) and even the so called "villains" cannot be considered entirely bad. It's rare for all the characters to all be relatable to a certain extent.

However, romance is definitely present, in the details, and hidden in the strong understanding between the two leads. I would say, it's definitely a slow burn.

I tend to start skipping parts of dramas, especially when they begin to drag out scenes and have unnecessary plot lines, this drama has definitely been a hard to skip drama. And while I understand why some might have a low rating for this drama - when considering the cast and previous dramas, it was indeed well down and worth a watch.

There's more to this drama than just the cast, you may even learn a lesson for yourself, hidden in the lessons of cooking.

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I am surprised to see the low ratings given to this drama. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think it is comparable to Yanxi Palace. The story kept me captivated with the many going-ons and mysteries behind the characters in the Forbidden City. There is sufficient suspense and twists throughout the drama although I must admit that it was difficult at times to understand the motivation behind each character.
I like the way the stories behind the food are woven into the story and it is quite a visual feast looking at the depiction of the many dishes. In this respect, I think Royal Feast wins over Yanxi Palace as it has this added dimension.
Wu Jin Yan gives a spunky portrayal Yao Zi Jin; one would say that it is an almost similar character to Wei Ying Luo of Yanxi Palace. In Royal Feast, Xu Kai has a more substantial role compared to in Yanxi Palace and he pulls off his portrayal of the honorable prince and emperor Zhu Zhan Ji.
Overall an entertaining watch!

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Very underwhelming

I got here, at this series, because I followed the work of both leads in the 2018 production of the "Story of Yanxi Palace". That was a gem and a reference point to me, when it comes to Chinese dramas at their best.
This is why I was shocked to see the lack of chemistry between two actors who played being in love before, albeit a doomed love, in the "Story of Yanxi Palace".
Also, the lead actress did not really look like her former self not only in terms of acting, but also in terms of physical appearence. She did not look older, but different. And that was strange.
The story line sometimes feeled like in a stop and go movement, and overall I kept on going till the last episode just hoping that I will be proven wrong in all my negative assessments.
I was not.

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A lot of gaps & unfulfilled potential

The storyline was weak & had gaps.It didn't utilize the full talent of the cast & we didn't really see a lot of dynamic roles nor extensive & significant use of different range of emotions.The casting was truly genius but the storyline dissapointed.We couldn't really connect much with the characters as all of them to a certain point were portrayed as deceitful & involved in the power struggle.I wish they could've have taken more time to truly think about the main characters' love story as it felt like it wasn't really well thoughtout. The food and how it was prepared and how it originated was really fascinating and was the only upside of the show for me.Overall i would love another drama focusing on the two main charactors and their lovestory which we couldn't really see in the Story of Yanxi palace.

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