Pasta Review

Title: Pasta

Genre: Romance, Cooking, Comedy

Episodes: 20

Broadcast period: 2010-Jan to 2010-Mar

Cast: Gong Hyo Jin, Lee Sun Kyun, Lee Honey and Alex.

After spending three years as a kitchen assistant Seo Yoo Kyung (Gong Hyo Jin) is finally to be upgraded to junior cook, or assistant pasta cook, at the restaurant La Sfera. Unfortunately, the head chef runs off with the restaurant money and leaves La Sfera without money and head chef. The manager decides to hire Choi Hyun Wook (Lee Sun Kyun), whom Yoo Kyung had met before on the streets, and had confused him with being the new kitchen assistant. As Hyun Wook enters he ends up firing all the female cooks, which at first seems to be coincidental, but soon he announces that ‘women have no room in his kitchen’. He hires all male cooks for the positions the female cooks had, and soon enough even Yoo Kyung is fired as well. But being stubborn as she is, she refuses to leave, even if she has to continue being a kitchen assistant in order to stay.

At the same time Kim San (Alex) a regular customer, has an interest in Yoo Kyung, but hides the fact that he is the owner of La Sfera. Also, TV personality and cook Oh Se Young (Lee Honey), who happens to be close to Kim San, seems to have a past with Hyun Wook.

The four soon have their work entwined, and as fate has it, also their love life…

I stumbled upon this drama when I was checking out Gong Hyo Jins dramas, and decided to watch it, since I liked the drama “Thank You”. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as pleased as I was when I watched Thank You, but it has its moment. The drama is not bad, just has absolutely no point - I didn’t understand the dilemma, and I didn’t understand the supporting actors (Lee Hone and Alex), except for the unnecessary love triangle/whatever you call four people love drama. Also, I was annoyed at the amount of hostility from the other cooks, though I get the entire “he-fired-everyone- and-wants-to-boss- everyone-else”-vibe, but isn’t that what it means to be a chef… like don’t they do that all the time? And aren’t used to being bossed around…? Hence the “main chef”?

Anyways… Putting that aside, I kind of enjoyed the kitchen/restaurant environment. The main couple was also realistic, ignoring the “no-love-in-kitchen”-part. Their “meet”, and story was pretty decedent and funny.

So all in all nice drama, but to be honest, 20 episodes was a bit stretchy...

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts