[Provided by Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
[Provided by Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Chef Kim Mi-ryeong, known as "Imokase No. 1," received a wave of harsh criticism over her food on a recent cooking competition show.

In the sixth episode of tvN's variety program "Street Restaurant Fighter," which aired Sunday, 18 of the country's top restaurateurs who had survived the first round continued their head-to-head, same-price battles in a street beer festival setting.

That day, Cho Seo-hyeong and Lee Jae-beom of "Byeoreun Nae Gasume" faced off against Kim Mi-ryeong and Lee Jun-seong of "Gotgan" in a 10,000-won ($7) matchup. Kim's menu for the first half featured subyuk-twigim — deep-fried boiled pork — and pork rinds, items well-suited to pair with beer. Sales at Gotgan were strong, but the star ratings told a different story.

Customers praised the braised pork dishes from Byeoreun Nae Gasume, while Gotgan drew complaints: "too dry," "the subyuk seems like it was only fried on the outside" and "it's too cold."

Gotgan far outpaced its rival in sales, but the star ratings diverged sharply — Gotgan received 2.6 stars against Byeoreun Nae Gasume's 4.5.

When star ratings were combined with sales figures, however, Gotgan edged out a narrow victory.

In the second half, Gotgan redeemed itself, earning a 4.5-star rating with its Jeju boneless and bone-in fried hairtail dish.

Unlike the first half, when pre-fried food had been served, the hairtail was fried fresh and brought straight to customers — drawing rave reviews.


min3654@heraldcorp.com