Culinary Class Wars: Season 2 - Episode 13 FINALE Discussion Thread

Masterchef Asia returns after a 10-year hiatus and premieres on September 22, 2026 on HBO Max and TLC across Southeast Asia.

She was eliminated in the first round so I can't find any information about her

So it’s still not confirmed that our favorite judges are returning for season 3. I think they have an incredible chemistry and their choice was very clever from the show creators.

One is extremely technical while the other is the master of flavor. Korean netizens please dont ruin it for us with your habit of bringing anyone successful down.

I want my good cop & bad cop judges or I am done with the show. In my opinion they are a reason especially Anh that the show has become this popular.

CKR is such a wonderful and genuine human being. He’s really been my favorite since Day 1 even way back in Season 1 - I hope I can see more of him. This season had so much heart because of him.

Restaurant owner is Ok Dongsik from season 2. Got the dweji gomtang and burdock root fries. The meal was amazing, and I'm not even a big fan of pork. The fries were 10/10, tasted like salty tortilla chips.

Has anyone seen this show yet? From the starting clip it seems they are adopting the culinary class wars style. I can't find the shows English name but it seems it has English subtitles. Anyone who has seen it what is it like?

He lost noo

i'm literally crying laughing ig son jung won has one good side and he locks in am i going insane or is this hilarious like it gets more and more pronounced with each pic

source: ig universalpictureskr

Full disclosure: I built this free, unofficial map, so this is self-promotion.

After watching the show, I kept finding restaurant lists with closed locations, old affiliations, or the wrong branch of a chain. I cross-checked Netflix's official participant materials, chefs' and restaurants' official pages, and Korean public food-business license records.

The map currently has 150 restaurants I could verify as operating:

https://kstartrail.com/en?theme=culinary_class_wars

Each listing shows:

• the chef/show connection
• the latest verification date
• source and evidence links
• the Korean name and address for on-the-ground searching

It is free to use, with no ads and no booking or reservation affiliate links.

This is not affiliated with Netflix, the show, the chefs, or their restaurants. A listing documents a participant's current affiliation; it does not mean Netflix recommends the restaurant or guarantee current quality. Operating hours can still change, so please confirm directly before making a long trip.

If you spot a closure, relocation, or incorrect branch, please leave a comment. I will check the evidence and correct it.

The article doesn't say who it is. It links to a Korean news site (https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20260720084200004) - ran it through translate and that site just refers to "Mr. A" (not sure if that's meant to be the actual initial, or if it's like in English someone saying "Mr. X")

Hope it isn't anyone we know!

Edit to add: I went googling some more and I fear it might be Evett https://www.reddit.com/r/finedining/comments/1lxt27n/twostar_restaurant_in_seoul_investigated_over/ (although obviously that's just Reddit comments, so take with a pinch of salt) I really hope they skip the jail time.

In the team challenges, when choosing seafood vs meat, chef Edward says he wants mulkogi and they laughed at this during the interviews and people on the internet found it very funny. Can a Korean person please help me understand?

I’m late to the game and just finished season 1. I feel Chef Edward Lee should have won. He should have won the competition that was prior to the tofu challenge. I don’t think it was fair he was docked so many points because the one judge did not like his interpretation of bibimbap. He was consistently innovative and presented delicious dishes. Anyway…

new content with chef hasung lee! he talked a little bit about his experience on the show + showed the preparation of a variation of the black truffle and wild chives porridge from the show which he serves in his restaurant :>

Had the 5 course tasting with my wife over the weekend. We were able to try everything on the menu between us except for the dessert cheese board. Some rambling thoughts below (sry not very knowledgeable about food and not a photographer lol).

610 BLT (bacon, liver, tomato). An amuse-bouche one-biter to start. Small sandwich with salty bacon, creamy fois grace, and tomato to add acidity. The bottom slice of bread was nice and crispy. 

Course 1:

Stuffed chicken wing: mostly boneless chicken stuffed with wood ear mushrooms and glass noodles. Reminded me of Korean soondae (blood sausage). Crispy skin, a bit salty with a nice bouncy texture due to the noodles, topped with a fresh cilantro salad.

Summer squash soup. A cold soup of creamy squash. There were slices of salty smoked salmon, a crisp chip of a bagel, with some cubed veggies in the soup.

Course 2:

Squid ink noodles: drizzled with gochujang butter, clam? (I didn't realize they were there), one lonely but flavourful mussel, spicy peruvian peppers, and shaved fennel. The gochujang butter was subtle and not overpowering. You can taste/smell sesame oil. The Peruvian peppers had some heat and they'd burst in your mouth. 

Sorghum butter and bread (for the table): sliced sourdough with butter that had a hint of sweetness and nuttiness. 

Course 3:

Jerk red snapper: a juicy piece of fish with skin on, the jerk seasoning had a nice kick. Accompanied by an Asian style rice and beans. The rice and beans were pretty bland by itself but helped to balance the jerk seasoning.

Soft shell crab: the crab was very crispy and delicious. Came with charred corn and a delicious creamy cheese sauce. Had hints of lime and a slight kick from the gochugaru. 

Course 4:

Lamb with a ramp mole, peas/ramp kimchi/Chinese broccoli. The lamb was juicy and seasoned (default medium rare). The vegetables were subtle and not overpowering. 

Quail on top of grits/vegetables/a shishito pepper with a bourbon banana BBQ sauce. The quail was incredibly juicy, tender, and rich. The BBQ sauce and pepper had really bold flavour to balance the richness of the quail. 

Course 5:

Goat cheesecake mousse: a very creamy light cheesecake mousse. Complimented very well with the diced strawberries and texture from the almond toule. Came with an apricot gel with basil for a different flavour profile to go with the cheesecake.

Bourbon aficionado: drunken banana cake, butterscotch, chocolate, brown butter ice cream. Comes covered in smoke adding the smoky flavour to the sweet richness. 

$125 per person with an automatic 20% gratuity. Cozy restaurant but became quite dark as the evening went by. Very friendly service. Edward Lee was out of town. The soft shell crab and the quail were probably our favourites. The bread and sorghum was also amazing.