Review of Dali and Cocky Prince / 달리와 감자탕

Sometime in the midst of my fall 2023 semester, I started going a little stir crazy. I was working multiple jobs, an internship at the Smithsonian, and was a full time graduate student.

I definitely needed an outlet that wasn’t a monetized one, so I ended up buying myself a Viki subscription so I can keep binge watching my Korean dramas instead of being a perfect little person who constantly grinds out work in a productive manner. It was a much needed break, looking back on it in hindsight.

Anyways, I was looking for a drama and was endlessly scrolling one night when I landed on Dali and Cocky Prince. I had literally never heard of this drama in my life before, but I knew the reference to the artist when I see one, so I clicked on the premise.

In a perfect world, if I didn’t have to worry about money, I would work in an art museum and have majored in art history, but because I’m not in a perfect world, I live this fantasy through literature and art. So this drama seemed right up my alley, and I pressed play immediately.

Here’s my review!

The new head of a museum is on a romantic crash course with its creditor.

At first, this drama takes place in the Netherlands. Our main female lead, Kim Dali, is working at an art museum there as a researcher when she’s sent one day to pick up a wealthy Japanese art patron.

When she arrives at the airport, she accidentally picks up the head of a food company, Moo-hak, thinking that he’s the guy she needs to take to the upcoming showcase. They arrive at the showcase and she realizes she took the wrong guy, but after they have a tense, almost steamy night together, it collides their fate for the rest of the show.

Moo-hak returns to Korea, and Kim Dali also is forced to come back after she learns her adopted father has died. Devastated, she has to take over his struggling art museum, which is in immense debt and about to close because of it, and figure out how to save this museum quickly.

As it turns out, Moo-hak is a major creditor for the museum, and when he gathers all of his thugs to demand his money back, he’s mortified to see Kim Dali is the new owner of the museum.

And because he has a crush on her already, he tries to hide his face, but over the course of the episodes suggests he will become a major part of the museum and getting it on the right track. That said, he has to spend a lot of time with Kim Dali now, who’s struggling with one of her staff members, potential theft of the museum’s funds, and artists trying to withdraw their work in the process too.

It doesn’t help when her ex-fiance shows up, another wealthy man, and tries to worm his way back into Dali’s life. Moo-hak, too, grapples with his increasing feelings towards Dali, and when the grief starts to ease a little bit, Dali realizes she also might have feelings for the guy who’s constantly showing up to her office and acting a little bit cocky and immature.

While this drama leans most towards the dramatic elements, there are definitely pockets of humor, angst, and some mystery elements incorporated into the plot.

Some dramas aren’t able to hook me in for the full length of its run, but I managed to get through this drama pretty easily if I’m being honest.

I liked the premise, and the characters were fleshed out enough for me to care and invest my time into their stories.

Overall Thoughts

I wish more people knew about this drama that I could talk to! All of my friends had never heard of the drama before, so I’m the only one who’s watched it at all.

That said, this isn’t my favorite drama of all time, as there could be some elements to it that might need fixing or tweaking (but will never be), but it was entertaining.

That’s all that matters to me sometimes when I need an escape, and thought this drama served that need quite well. Watch it if you haven’t already and if it sounds interesting to you.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.