Cafe Minamdang starts off strong with an interesting concept and a group of fun, diverse characters to make a solid foundation. But as the show moves forward it starts to fall apart a bit. When I say this, I mean its completely watchable, but it loses much of its potential in the final half of the series.
The plot has a good set up and the primary events that take place are good, but the way the show connects these events is a bit of a mess. The amount of times this mystery moves along by Han Joon being sherlock Holmes, Hye Joon conveniently hacking cams and mic's, or people ease dropping in cars ten feet away(without detection somehow) feels a bit like lazy writing, especially when these traits are then taken away in other moments to move the story along in a shallow way. This also makes our main cast look really dumb and vice versa with our main antagonist towards the end. People constantly get played for fools and then have a genius moment which hurts the immersion of the series. Many of the main event are telegraphed making them predictable and many moments that have more writing behind them are not given a proper resolution(with the mayor, Seung Won, etc.).
Its a similar case with the main romance, I'm here for it, but again a lot of these moments don't feel earned by the writing. By the end of the show you don't really care about it as much in this aspect when characters are already together. But when there's first a connection, it doesn't feel earned. Side note having flashbacks with one actor being the same and the other being replaced by a child is odd and even creepy in the romantic scenarios. I didn't really understand the thought process behind that, having people like Han joon and Aunt Lim portraited by the same actors in flashbacks made it feel like there was supposed to be quite the age gap between some of the characters.
Anyways I know that sounds critical but its important to recognize. That being said this show is watchable, especially if you like suspenseful mysteries with a dash of romance. But know the more attentive a watcher you are, the more you will recognize the inconsistencies. Its not the greatest series in that regard, but its an interesting watch and presents some fun characters/ideas. It also sets itself up well for a sequal, which I think would be a great opportunity to create a more polished product, it has potential to have a great second season if done right, or done at all!
Thank you for reading my short review! If you have any questions lmk! I hope you found it helpful, and have a great rest of your day!