Michelin Chef Facing Jail in South Korea for the Crime of … Serving Ants on Sorbet

Truly, you learn something every day in this gig: Did you know that it is not only illegal to serve diners ants in South Korea, but really quite illegal, to the point that they’ll throw your ass in jail over it? Turns out, that is indeed the case: Korean prosecutors recently sought a year long jail term for the owner of a restaurant with not one but two Michelin stars, after he was found to have been serving ants as a dessert garnish on bowls of sorbet. Mmmmm.

Culinarily, eating ants isn’t particularly far-fetched in the worlds of both fine dining gastronomy and subsistence living. They’re consumed fairly widely as food in a number of Latin American, Asian and African cultures, and specific species are considered a delicacy in countries such as Colombia or Cambodia. Those who eat them often describe the formic acid ants contain as having an almost citrusy quality to it, which combined with a bit of crunchy texture, actually does seem like the sort of thing that might make sense on a bowl of fruited sorbet at the end of a meal.

“The owner admitted to serving ants but argued that they were used in a “small part” of the restaurant’s 15-course menu – as a topping for sorbets”
#weird #weirdnews #SouthKorea #Michelin #restaurant #food #foodserive #ants #insects #Cringe
www.bbc.com/news/article…

[image or embed]

— FunHouse Radio (@funhouseradio.bsky.social) 10:47 PM · Jul 23, 2026

At the same time, though, the South Korean authorities might have a bit of a point on the health front. The country apparently has a 10 species list of insects that are “approved for human consumption” under Korean food safety laws, and ants aren’t on it. Now, if the Michelin restaurateur had been sprinkling his desserts with grasshoppers or crickets, no problem! But the country’s health authorities are arguing in court that the specific ants used in this case “contained up to 55 times more heavy metals than typical edible insects,” making them potentially hazardous. Still, feels like the sort of thing you could maybe just order a chef to stop using, rather than putting a guy in prison? Prosecutors also apparently asked for the restaurant–unnamed in court documents–to be fined 20 million Korean won, or roughly $13,500. Given that there are apparently only 10 restaurants in the country with two Michelin stars, all in Seoul, it probably wouldn’t be difficult for a curious gourmand to figure out the restaurant and chef identity.

The South Korean government’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety apparently came across the case after seeing reviews that diners had posted online from the restaurant, which included photos of the ant-laden desserts. The owner and chef, meanwhile, argued that the ants made up just a tiny component of the large, 15-course tasting menu, and that diners were given options on sorbet toppings and could choose to pivot from the intimidating ants to other options such as fermented vinegar and edible flowers. But where’s the fun in THAT? Prosecutors estimated that the restaurant had actually been merrily serving the banned ants for as long as four years, possibly serving up to 49,000 of them to diners in that period.

At the end of the day, this is one of those cases where it’s difficult to see from a distance who is being unreasonable–if this restaurant’s ant toppings are actually packed with lead or mercury, it’s probably best that people aren’t downing them like Nestle Buncha Crunch. But at the same time, plenty of restaurants in other corners of the globe seemingly manage to serve similar insects without incident. Regardless, South Korean courts will reportedly decide the fate of the restaurateur in early September. At the very least, I think we can all agree that in a restaurant setting, it’s preferable to be served ants intentionally than to just find them crawling around on their own.

Obligatory Archer to close us out.

Keep scrolling for more great stories.