Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?
Starring: Ong Seong Wu, Park Ho San, Seo Young Hee, Kim Ye Eun, Choo Ye Jin, Kim Wang Geun
Year Released: 2021
Number of Episodes: Drama, Life
Country: South Korea
Where to Watch: Netflix
Park Seok is the owner of the successful Café 2Dae coffee shop, a small but much-loved establishment with a group of loyal customers. He works alone in the coffee shop, and has not taken on any staff, even though his solo efforts are starting to take their toll on him. One day, a young man named Kang Go Bi comes to the coffee shop and samples Park Seok’s coffee. He immediately develops an earnest passion for coffee and convinces Park Seok to take him on as a part-time worker at the coffee shop. But Kang Go Bi soon proves that he really wants the older man to become his mentor and to learn how to become a proficient barista in his own right. The duo eventually forms a close bond and learns no end of life lessons from one another – while also helping bring a little warmth into the lives of their many and various customers.
This was the first drama that Therese and I watched after Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow finished. We didn’t want our next show to be bogged down with so many intense storylines and characters and this one seemed to fit the bill so off we went…
The Story
So this story follows our main character, Kang Go Bi. He goes to a coffee shop run by a lone wolf named Park Seok and decides that he wants to learn all there is to learn about coffee and prepare it. He approaches Park Seok to try to get him to take him on as a part-time worker at his coffee shop but Seok isn’t that interested. Determined to make this happen, Go Bi keeps showing up and helping Seok until Seok gives in. The show itself is about these two and the community of regulars that come through the coffee shop day in and day out.
This isn’t a drama that has a lot of bells and whistles. It’s character-driven and while I enjoyed the slow pacing of the show since it worked for the kind of drama that this was, I can’t say that I was completely enamored with anything or anyone, after all, was said and done. It was fine to watch after coming off a thread of intense dramas but it wasn’t exactly memorable.
The Cast
Aside from Park Ho San, Lee Kyu Hyung, and Kim Mi Kyung (who played Mi Na’s Mom), I didn’t recognize a lot of the other actors and actresses. I’ve only seen Go Bi in one other movie but that’s about it so everyone was pretty new to me. The characters that stood out for me in this one outside of Kang Go Bi and Park Seok were the baker and Park Seok’s girlfriend. Jung Ga Won (the baker) was super cute and I liked her enough that I looked her up to see if she was in anything else that I’ve seen or am interested in seeing and she was in a handful of dramas that I’ve seen and even loved but I have no clue who she played in those other dramas so I’m definitely going to be paying attention to her from now on. Kim Joo Hee was cute and I loved seeing her with Park Seok. I did enjoy how loyal the customers of Cafe 2Dae were and I liked seeing Go Bi fumble his way to that ending.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this drama was on the slower side but it worked for the kind of drama this was. This served as a palate cleanser for me and while I appreciated that, this isn’t a drama that I’d watch again. It was fine and all of the coffee tidbits were interesting but that’s really all that I remember. Still, I’m glad that I was introduced to the new characters, and will definitely be checking out the actors and actresses in their other stuff.
Final Rating
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