Pasta seemed like the modern re-invention of Korean romantic comedies, and it started like that, but quickly turned into a series of events strung together by pasta-making contests.
“It’s food, 'romance' and competition.”
The Rundown
Behind the name: That’s what it’s all about—seriously!
Country: South Korea, 2010
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Released by: MBC (MunHwa Broadcasting Corporation)
Director: Kwan Seok-Jang
Cast: Kong Hyo-jin (as Seo Yoo-Kyung), Lee Sun Gyun (as Choi Hyun-wook), Lee Ha-nui (as Oh Sae-young), Alex (as Kim San)
Compare to: Tarzan? Lol no.
Hate it or Love it? Like it, I guess
Synopsis in a Sentence: A kitchen assistant falls for her arrogant boss and they spend the rest of the series trying to get together, against his own “rules”.
The romance was just like pasta—twisted & displaced, and the comedy quite the same.
On Writing: The Plot
It’ all about making pasta and what’s supposed to be “love”.
But it’s not a bad plot. The writers obviously intended for it to be better than it turned out. On the bright side, the plot was original, unlike many other Korean romantic comedies, and included “cute bits” that highlighted the story. On the down side, after seeing what Korea’s capable of, the story turned out to be a series of events stringed together by contests—literally, it was one pasta contest after another after another after another—and that went on throughout the series. I’m quite sick of Korea telling stories of “clumsy female meets refined male” characters—it’s not cute! Much rather annoying. And that’s exactly what Pasta does
Will make you either love Pasta, or hate it.
(3/5)
On Acting: The Cast
Quite good. Most were good, or great.
Props to Lee Ha-nui, who played the female head cook. Lee Sun Gyun, who played the lead male was okay, but not quite great. His character wasn’t fun either. 
Props also to Lee Seong-Min, who played the comedic villain. Overall, the cast presented a good cast, with the characters blending easily together.
(3.5/5)
On Production:
Great music. Quite well designed. The soundtrack was unique and fresh, with tunes that embellished the story, the set was great, and the direction was good. It’s overall a good production.
(4/5)
On Resolution: The Conclusion
Hmm. Not quite sure what to say about it. It ended quite well, but didn’t quite ‘resolute’. It left us hanging, and not quite sure what to do about it. I’m guessing an attempt to end the story with a twist fell flat.
(3/5)
The Verdict: Recommended to lovers of food, specifically pasta, Italian food… and um, displaced romance?
Overall Score = 13.5/20
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