Best Chicken

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Best Chicken
Promotional poster
Hangul
최고의 치킨
GenreRomantic comedy[1]
Written by
  • Jo Ah-young
  • Park Chan-young
Directed byLee Seung-hoon
Starring
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes12
Production
Camera setupSingle-camera
Production companies
  • iHQ
  • May Queen Pictures
Original release
Network
ReleaseJanuary 2 (2019-01-02) –
February 7, 2019 (2019-02-07)

Best Chicken (Korean: 최고의 치킨; RR: Choegoui Chikin) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Park Sun-ho, Kim So-hye and Joo Woo-jae. It aired on MBN and Dramax from January 2 to February 7, 2019, every Wednesday and Thursday at 23:00 (KST).[1]

Plot[edit]

Park Choi-go quits from his office table job to open a chicken restaurant in a middle-income neighborhood of Seoul. Renting a plot of land where a sauna stands from the landlord, Seo Myung-dong, he has to face Myung-dong's temperamental granddaughter and the sauna's owner, Bo-ah. For the past five years, Bo-ah, a failing webtoon artist, has been holing up in the sauna after a conflict with a popular webtoon artist over ownership rights led to her being shunned from the community. Myung-dong asks Choi-go to admit Bo-ah as a part-timer in his restaurant in exchange for a lower rent fee, hoping that she can regain her spirit.

Bo-ah is hostile at Choi-go for disturbing her peace and regards him as simply a rich bourgeoisie who wanted to experience the life of a commoner. Helped by her childhood friends: Hwang Min-ah, Oh Yeong-ho, and Kim Kyu-man, they try to sabotage the joint through various means, such as handing out scathing flyers, which backfires when it turns viral and therefore garners attention. However, Choi-go's seriousness at his job and unfailing kindness to Bo-ah cause her to begin questioning her first impression. Since Choi-go never studied cooking, the restaurant operates at a loss until he hires Andrew Kang, a bum with a tremor who used to work at a three-star Michelin restaurant.

Around the time when Bo-ah softens and falls in love with Choi-go, two adversaries come into the scene. The first is Choi-go's ex-girlfriend, Moon So-dam, who works at a food TV program and wants to reconnect with Choi-go by doing a free publicity of the joint. During the broadcast, Min-ah, Yeong-ho, and Kyu-man successfully do a sabotage, causing its suspension for two months. So-dam becomes suspicious of Bo-ah, who did not participate in the plan, tries to warn Choi-go, who refuses to believe her, and attempts to catch the trio off-guard when they try another sabotage. However, Andrew bails them at the last minute and makes them promise not to do it again. The second adversary is Choi-go's domineering mother, So Oh-sook, who is angry at him for quitting his previous job and attempts to reduce his chance of winning big by opening a chicken joint down the street after tricking Bo-ah into giving her his recipe.

Feeling guilty, Bo-ah admits her previous actions to Choi-go and considers resigning. While upset, Choi-go comes to realize that he has grown to love her and confesses, begging her to stay. Min-ah, Yeong-ho, and Kyu-man are initially livid at Bo-ah for not telling them to stop harassing Choi-go sooner, but quickly make amends when a tragedy strikes her: the death of Myung-dong. During the funeral, Bo-ah's deadbeat father, Gong-cheol suddenly appears to take his legal inheritance, despite the fact that his father had left all his possessions to Bo-ah, and redevelop the neighborhood, which would raze the chicken joint to the ground. Assisted by her friends, Bo-ah manages to convince the neighborhood not to sell their land.

Several months later, Choi-go's chicken joint is growing popular. Oh-sook chooses to stop bothering Choi-go and sell her joint. So-dam has moved on and is dating Choi-go's brother, Joon-hyuk, with whom she grew closer while investigating Bo-ah and her friends. Thinking that he has nothing more to offer to Choi-go, Andrew resigns and opens a restaurant nearby. Bo-ah, meanwhile, finally decides to draw webtoon again, having made a promise to Myung-dong to live her life to the fullest.

Cast[edit]

Main[edit]

An employee of a large corporation who quits his job to open his own chicken restaurant, which he considers a dream project.[2] He is a very optimistic and idealistic man, sometimes outrageously so.
The owner of a public bathhouse that her grandfather rented out without her consent who dreams of becoming a webtoon artist.[1] She has a negative view of the world after her work was rejected five years ago because of a feud with another webtoon artist, regarding everyone new to her as a nuisance.
A once promising chef who is currently homeless.[3] A serious person at all times, Andrew has a bad case of tremor which discourages him from doing physical work for a long time. A running gag in the series is characters mispronouncing his Western name, such as Edward or Alexander.

Supporting[edit]

Choi-go's older brother who is an Oriental Medicine doctor. He excels in academic studies, but is bad at table waiting, as the chicken joint find out when he substitutes for Bo-ah while she is on vacation.
  • Son Min-ji as Hwang Min-ah
Bo-ah's friend who is smart and does all the planning.[1] She works as secretary at the neighborhood's real estate firm.
  • Jeon Seong-hwan as Oh Yeong-ho
Bo-ah's friend who likes to fool around.[1] He runs the neighborhood grocery store.
  • Yoo Moon-chi as Kim Kyu-man
Bo-ah's friend who runs the neighborhood butcher shop.[1] He has an identical younger cousin who is still a high schools student.
  • Myung Kye-nam as Seo Myung-dong
Bo-ah's paternal grandfather and the landlord of the neighborhood. Though appearing grumpy, he is very caring to Bo-ah, having raised her by himself since young after her mother died and her father left.
  • Hong Soon-chang as the real estate manager and Min-ah's grandfather.
  • Ahn Young-chae as Kwon-hyuk
A legendarily fast delivery man from the neighborhood who speaks very little. Near the end of the series, he is hired by Choi-go to become the chicken joint's delivery man.
A popular webtoon artist whose feud with Bo-ah over ownership rights led to her being excluded from the community.
Choi-go's and Joon-hyuk's overbearing mother and a retired restaurant manager. When her husband was unable to find a job, she became the family's sole breadwinner, which the brothers speak of positively, but it also caused her to develop a view that only she knows what is best for them.
Choi-go's ex-girlfriend who works at a TV station specializing in food programs.
A part-timer at Choi-go's restaurant.[4] He is hired by the chicken joint as additional manpower when So-dam's TV crew is about to shoot.
Bo-ah's father. He abandoned the family when she was young and only reappears in her life after Myung-dong's death.

Production[edit]

Filming began in September 2018.[2]

Original soundtrack[edit]

Best Chicken OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Recorded2018
GenreSoundtrack
Language
LabelWarner Music, Forest Media

Part 1[edit]

Released on January 2, 2019 (2019-01-02)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Sweet Stranger"Kim Yoo-kyungOh Joon-sungKim Eun-bi (EB)3:28
2."Sweet Stranger" (Inst.) Oh Joon-sung 3:28
Total length:6:56

Part 2[edit]

Released on January 9, 2019 (2019-01-09)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Dr. Dream"Kim Jin-ahOh Joon-sungSohee (Elris)4:04
2."Dr. Dream" (Inst.) Oh Joon-sung 4:04
Total length:8:08

Part 3[edit]

Released on January 10, 2019 (2019-01-10)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Chicken Song" (치킨송)Oh Joon-sungOh Joon-sungChick Choir2:35
2."Chicken Song" (Inst.) Oh Joon-sung 2:35
Total length:5:10

Part 4[edit]

Released on January 16, 2019 (2019-01-16)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Heaven"Kim Yoo-kyungOh Joon-sungSeven O'Clock3:58
2."Heaven" (Inst.) Oh Joon-sung 3:58
Total length:7:56

Part 5[edit]

Released on January 17, 2019 (2019-01-17)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Lucky"Oh Joon-sung, Eun Jong-taeOh Joon-sungJ. Mee4:07
2."Lucky" (Inst.) Oh Joon-sung 4:07
Total length:8:14

Ratings[edit]

Average TV viewership ratings (nationwide)
Ep. Original broadcast date Nielsen Korea[5]
1 January 2, 2019 1.267%
2 January 3, 2019 0.927%
3 January 9, 2019 1.207%
4 January 10, 2019 0.939%
5 January 16, 2019 0.995%
6 January 17, 2019 0.941%
7 January 23, 2019 1.270%
8 January 24, 2019 0.781%
9 January 30, 2019 1.249%
10 January 31, 2019 0.714%
11 February 6, 2019 1.000%
12 February 7, 2019 0.710%
Average 1.000%
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f ""The Best Fried Chicken" Tells of Chicken and Revenge". HanCinema. Newsen. Archived from the original on April 13, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "박선호X김소혜, 한일합작 드라마 '최고의 치킨' 캐스팅 확정(공식)". Newsen (in Korean). Newsen. Archived from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  3. ^ 드라맥스 '최고의 치킨' 측 "박선호·김소혜 출연..내년 1월2일 첫 방송". Naver (in Korean). MK Sports. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  4. ^ '최고의 치킨' 펜타곤 홍석, 지옥에서 온 치킨집 알바생 '기대'. Naver (in Korean). Tenasia. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  5. ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". Nielsen Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2018-05-04. Retrieved 2018-05-03.

External links[edit]

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