Topping the box office ranking this weekend was “Le Grand Chef (Shikgaek),” about two rival chefs. The ticket power of “Le Grand Chef” has sustained for three straight weeks now, drawing more than 2 million filmgoers so far.

This film for gourmets tells the story of a pair of young chefs who enter a tension-filled cooking contest to win a long-lost knife used centuries before by the Grand Royal Chef, a title given to the top male chef in the country who cooked for royal banquets. During the Japanese occupation, the last Grand Royal Chef used the knife to cut off his arms in refusal to cook for the Japanese.

“Le Grand Chef” is the successful adaptation of a best-selling comic book series of the same name authored by Heo Yeong-man. Last year’s box office hit “Tazza: The High Rollers (The War of Flower)” was also based on Heo’s work.

“Le Grand Chef” is billed as Korea’s first feature to deal intimately with Korean culinary creations. It is anticipated to enjoy the same success as the popular Korean TV drama “Jewel in the Palace,” which had a palace chef as its main character.