The food in KBS2's Love on the Menu (사랑이 온다) centers on two places: the side-dish shop where Han Gyu-rim works and the restaurant Kim Mu-jin runs. One dish passes between them, the kimchi fried rice Gyu-rim orders off Mu-jin's menu at the end of episode 12. Below are the food moments KBS's own clips show and a recipe for that fried rice.
Spoilers through episode 21, aired October 11, 2026. KBS's preview page lists episode 22 for Saturday, October 17, at 8 p.m. KST.
A side-dish shop and a restaurant
KBS bills the show as a "family recipe drama" about a man and a woman who gather the pieces of a broken family and set "the warmest table in the world." On KBS's character page, Gyu-rim (Hani, credited as Ahn Hee-yeon) is 33 and a side-dish shop employee who gave up on college to support her younger siblings. Ha Seok-jin plays Mu-jin. Episode 1 has the two working at the same restaurant; after an eight-year jump, by episode 4 she works at a side-dish shop and he runs a restaurant that turns couples away. Cast and episode details are on our Love on the Menu drama page.
Food moments in KBS's clips, episode by episode
| Episode | Aired (KST) | What KBS's clip shows | Clip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 4 | Aug 2 | Gyu-rim works at the side-dish shop of Kang Ae-sim's character; Mu-jin runs a restaurant that bans couples | Shop, restaurant |
| Ep 7 | Aug 15 | Mu-jin turns up at the shop and Gyu-rim tells him, "Just go" | Shop visit |
| Ep 10 | Aug 23 | Jin Kyung's character and Gyu-rim's father (Ryu Seung-soo) talk about their children at their regular kalguksu place | Kalguksu |
| Ep 12 | Aug 30 | Gyu-rim's mother, Yun-hee (Yoon Yoo-sun), visits the shop in secret and complains, "Even I could make it tastier than this" | Shop scene |
| Ep 12 | Aug 30 | Jin Kyung's character apologizes to Gyu-rim's father for "the tuna sashimi incident" and offers to buy him dageumbari | Apology |
| Ep 12 | Aug 30 | Gyu-rim walks into Mu-jin's restaurant and orders something that isn't on the menu | Ending |
| Ep 13 | Sep 5 | The order is kimchi fried rice, and Mu-jin cooks it for her | Highlight, cooking |
| Ep 16 | Sep 13 | Gyu-yeong (Park You-na) holds a last family meal and nobody comes | Family meal |
| Ep 19 | Oct 4 | Gyu-rim's father eats the lunchbox Yun-hee left behind: "I know this taste" | Lunchbox |
| Ep 20 | Oct 10 | Yun-hee has left home and works part-time at a barbecue restaurant | Barbecue job |
| Ep 20 | Oct 10 | The owner hands the side-dish shop over to Gyu-rim, and Mu-jin signs a supply contract with the shop | Handover, contract |
| Ep 21 | Oct 11 | Mu-jin drops his restaurant's no-couples rule | Rule change |
Clips are from KBS's official KBS Drama channel on YouTube. Quotes are HallyuMate translations of KBS's Korean clip titles; dates are 2026 Korean broadcast dates.
Among these clips, kimchi fried rice is the only dish tied to the lead couple. The other foods the titles name are kalguksu and sashimi. The shop's side dishes, the lunchbox and the family meal go unnamed, so this guide doesn't guess at them.
The off-menu kimchi fried rice (episodes 12 and 13)
In KBS's preview for episode 12, Gyu-rim resigns as the family's eldest daughter and tells her family she will no longer sacrifice herself alone or keep struggling to get by. The episode ends at Mu-jin's restaurant, where she places an order that isn't on the menu. Episode 13 reveals the order. KBS's highlight clip is titled for the reason she went to his restaurant and asked for kimchi fried rice "that isn't even on the menu," and a second clip shows Mu-jin cooking it, a dish that holds memories only the two of them share. Its title line: "I'll make it for you every day from now on."
Kimchi fried rice (kimchi-bokkeumbap)
Adapted from Maangchi's recipe. Serves 2 to 3, about 10 minutes once the rice is cooked.
- 3 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup chopped kimchi, aged and sour
- ¼ cup kimchi juice from the jar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 to 3 tablespoons gochujang
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 3 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
- 1 sheet gim (roasted seaweed), cut into strips
- 1 fried egg per bowl, optional
- Heat the vegetable oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat and fry the kimchi for about a minute.
- Add the rice, kimchi juice, water and gochujang, and keep stirring for about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the sesame oil and take the pan off the heat.
- Top with the green onion, gim and sesame seeds, plus an egg if you like, and scrape up the crisped rice from the bottom of the pan as you serve.
The water keeps the rice from burning and spreads the gochujang and kimchi evenly. Fresh rice that has cooled a little works best; rice straight from the fridge is firm and clumpy, so break it up and separate the grains before it goes in. Ham, Spam or leftover pork turn it into a fuller plate.
Use the oldest, sourest kimchi you have. How hot the dish gets depends partly on the gochujang, and Korean tubs carry a heat grade (our gochujang vs gochugaru guide explains the labels). With a hot tub, start at 2 tablespoons; with a mild one, use the full 3.
Cooking for one, a third of the recipe comes to 1 cup of rice, ⅓ cup of kimchi, about 1⅓ tablespoons each of kimchi juice and water, 2 to 3 teaspoons of gochujang and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.
More to cook from Gyu-rim's world
KBS's clips never say what Gyu-rim's shop sells or what Yun-hee packed in the lunchbox, so we won't guess. For the side dishes a shop like hers lines up, start with our banchan explainer. If the sour kimchi jar is still half full after the fried rice, it goes into kimchi jjigae, and for a lunchbox that is a meal on its own there is our kimbap recipe.
More drama food
Tastefully Yours (ENA, 2025) puts a stubborn chef opposite an heir chasing top culinary honors. Our K-drama food guide covers dishes that recur across many shows, from ramyeon to chimaek, and the K-drama schedule lists Love on the Menu's upcoming weekend episodes.
Love on the Menu FAQ
What food is in Love on the Menu?
In KBS's own clips, the dish tied to the lead couple is kimchi fried rice: Gyu-rim orders it off the menu at Mu-jin's restaurant at the end of episode 12, and he cooks it in episode 13. Gyu-rim works at a side-dish shop, and other clips show a kalguksu restaurant, an apology over sashimi, a lunchbox and a barbecue restaurant.
What does Gyu-rim order at Mu-jin's restaurant?
Kimchi fried rice, which isn't on his menu. The order closes episode 12, and episode 13 shows Mu-jin making it.
Can you make kimchi fried rice with leftover rice?
Yes. Fresh rice that has cooled a little is easiest, but cold rice works if you break up the clumps and separate the grains before it goes into the pan.
Where can I watch Love on the Menu?
In Korea, KBS2 airs it on Saturdays and Sundays at 8 p.m. KST, and KBS's program page has a replay section.