WARNING SPOILERS BELOW

Let me start off by saying there were some really good points in this drama, but some major flaws that ruined the greatness of the drama. The plot line was very normal, nothing very unique from other love-hate relationships in dramas, but I don't mind the cliche plots because what matters is how it's carried out. The best thing about this drama though was the relationship between the characters, especially between our leads Xue Tong and Sir Mu. (I just adore Xue Tong, she's a very sweet girl and very relatable for me) Anyways back to our leading couple, they started a relationship very naturally and it wasn't weird that they were once student and teacher. They have a very mature relationship, not flaunting it and caring for each other sincerely. I subtracted 1.5 on my rating because of a couple of major flaws. I didnt really love any of the supporting characters besides Chen Yan (WHY DID THEY KILL HER OFF) and Xiao Tang. Song Qiqi had an affair with that married dude and then disappeared for like the rest of the drama. Liu Qi was really iffy for me. Like he suddenly took an interest in her for like one thing and he continued to like her for a long time without having talked to her a lot. Honestly I thought he was a douche since the beginning episodes... using your friend to get at a girl and then questioning her friendship?? To me that just shows his poor chatacter, I mean he matured towards the end I guess but I still don't understand why he actually likes Xue Tong. Their relationship also was hecka rushed but I kinda understand bc it was to show Xue Tong was pretending to have moved on (at least thats what I think). My biggest annoyance with this drama was Bai Lin. Besides being cute and nice (debatable) she was absolutely awful to her boyfriend. She treated him like a dog and got mad easily, like poor dude had to apologize for everything. I mean she did realize this in the end but her class skipping was also kinda pathetic, like she's in university and doesn't go to class even when its finals or whatever. Also in the beginning she was constantly going to the fan club stuff making her friends do her homework and when she was in class she doesn't even know how to take her own notes. Last thing in my review, like many comments say, the couple of episodes toward the end werent that great and the ending kinda unsatificatory, but I'm glad Xue Tong and Sir Mu ended up together. I started this to kill some time and it did just that. Although the beginning episodes were really good, all I can really remember was the ending and how it was kinda annoying. Overall a decent watch, but definitely not one of my favorites.

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Pleasantly Surprised. Should you watch it? Yes.

I don't know why I suddenly decided to watch this drama considering it's been 10 years and I have a lot of other dramas to watch too. Maybe it had to do with the fact Gong Hyo Jin is the female lead or the fact that I was curious who Yunseo was imitating, but either way I do not regret watching this. Definitely had some iconic scenes.

I read the comments on MDL before watching the drama so I was slightly concerned the male lead would frustrate me, but it wasn't as bad as I thought and really not that bad at all. Maybe it was because I had expected Chef to be a lot worse, especially considering this was made in 2010, but he wasn't the worst guy in the world. I was also worried about the second female lead being super rude to the female lead, but I was extremely shocked the female lead remained good til the end. I know some people hate how the female lead seemed "weak" and how she just accepted the Chef despite his rudeness, but honestly I didn't see her being weak at all. The girl was desperate to learn how to make pasta and I thought she was admirable giving up her pride to continue doing what she wanted to do. I think that's something difficult to do and didn't see her as a "weak female" whatsoever. I think people are biased about feminine female characters, in this drama I saw patience and obedience as her strength (especially considering this was her workplace). So yes, Chef isn't the nicest guy, but he isn't awful either like it was pretty impressive that he expressed his feelings for the female lead constantly, something we rarely see in K-dramas. He wasn't perfect, making him a realistic character which made me like him more. Life is kinda like that. One day you say "no romance in the kitchen" and then you end up doing the exact thing you said you won't. I felt he was a really mature character whether it be helping his ex girlfriend get over her guilt or taking responsibility for being a hypocrite. I enjoyed their relationship wasn't everything about their existence There was no huge obstacle if anything just minor inconveniences prolonging the time it took for them to get together. I really enjoyed seeing the two main characters interact, it was just simple and happy.

Despite my praises of the show it remains a 8.5 for a couple reasons. The biggest issue (that is also its strength) is it was so simple that nothing stood out. This kind of has to do with my personal preference. There was no scene that was extremely power that I would go back and rewatch, although the drama as a whole is pretty good. I also had this at a 9 until the last episode. I was very annoyed with the fact that he tried to take the female lead's chance to go to Italy without telling her. It was very random and annoying, but even without that I thought the ending could have been better.

Pasta wasn't a perfect drama, but it was definitely a good one.

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