Second Plate – Series Review

Yuhyeon must work closely with his former rival.

Yuhyeon is an assistant manager at Truewell Food, where he helps clients develop new food products. After finishing his latest project, he's ready to enjoy a well-deserved break. Instead, his boss has another assignment lined up for him. A famous Korean chef, Oh Mingyeom, is collaborating with their company on a new product. He owns a popular restaurant overseas and has specifically requested Yuhyeon as his project manager. Yuhyeon isn't thrilled about working with this particular client, but he has no choice in the matter.

Yuhyeon and Mingyeom attended the same culinary school, where Mingyeom was Yuhyeon's junior. Since then, their careers have gone in different directions. Mingyeom has become a celebrity chef with a successful restaurant overseas. Yuhyeon has settled into an ordinary office job at a food company. Currently, Mingyeom's restaurant is undergoing renovations, so he has returned to Korea for a short visit. He plans to head overseas again once this project is finished. After losing touch with Yuhyeon years ago, Mingyeom wanted a chance to reconnect with his old schoolmate. He's excited that they'll get to work together.

Yuhyeon can't stand Mingyeom. The two were rivals back in culinary school. Their reunion brings back some unpleasant memories. Yuhyeon feels uncomfortable around his former schoolmate and asks him to find another project manager. Sorry, not happening! Mingyeom insists that he wants to work with Yuhyeon. Besides, he's only staying in Korea temporarily. If Yuhyeon hates seeing him so much, they can just finish the project quickly and go their separate ways. Yuhyeon agrees that the easiest solution is to put aside their personal issues and focus on work.

Yuhyeon gets annoyed being around Mingyeom.

Yuhyeon and Mingyeom begin working together in the kitchen, experimenting with different recipes until they come up with something marketable. Unfortunately, Yuhyeon finds his former rival so irritating. He can't hide his hostility and keeps snapping at Mingyeom. During one particularly tense moment, Yuhyeon kisses Mingyeom. Yuhyeon hopes the kiss will make things so awkward that Mingyeom requests another manager. Instead, his plan backfires. Mingyeom still wants to work with him.

To Yuhyeon's annoyance, Mingyeom takes his sweet time developing a new food product. He's a perfectionist who needs every dish to taste just right. Although Yuhyeon is frustrated, he still samples Mingyeom's cooking and offers suggestions on how to improve each recipe. As they spend more time together in the kitchen, they have more personal chats. Mingyeom is surprised to learn that Yuhyeon no longer cooks. He loved Yuhyeon's dishes back in school. However, Yuhyeon insists that he was never a good chef. He seems particularly sensitive about the subject and doesn't want to discuss it.

Yuhyeon's boss is getting impatient with the lack of progress. They haven't even developed a single product sample yet! Yuhyeon is under pressure to speed things up. As the project manager, he's supposed to keep his client on schedule. If they miss the deadline, his boss warns Yuhyeon that his work performance could suffer. At their next meeting, Yuhyeon is in a foul mood. When Mingyeom starts teasing him, Yuhyeon snaps. Yuhyeon reveals the reason why he stopped cooking is all because of Mingyeom. This accusation catches the celebrity chef off guard.

Second Plate begins with a mysterious grudge. Yuhyeon seems upset with Mingyeom, but the story is annoyingly vague about their past relationship. How do they know each other? Why is that one guy beefing with this other guy? The series won't explain their backstory, so Yuhyeon's one-sided feud just feels awkward. On a scale of "he hurt your feelings" to "he ruined your life", how badly did Mingyeom screw you over? Until I know what happened, I can't decide how to feel about either character.

In Episode 3, Yuhyeon explains what's going on between them. At last, some answers! I'm trying my best to follow along… But ugh, the badly translated subtitles make every line feel like solving a riddle. When the characters say anything complex, the wording gets so awkward. If you're a BL studio trying to attract international fans, crappy subtitles are the kiss of death! While it's easy to blame the translations, I suspect the real problem is the writing itself. We get some cringy dialogue like, "I'd rather DIE than have you give up because of me!" Oh, for crying out loud! No matter what language you say that in, it still sounds pathetic.

The longer Yuhyeon stays mad at Mingyeom, the less I enjoy their relationship. This series focuses too much on the bitterness instead of the sweetness. Every episode, Yuhyeon acts like the president of Mingyeom's hate club. Oh, I can't stand you! Ugh, get away from me! All this hostility is killing the romance. How am I supposed to believe they're in love when Yuhyeon seems so annoyed at Mingyeom? Plus, their conversations feel repetitive because Yuhyeon is always complaining about something. Mingyeom dared to speak to him? Time for another round of sulking!

Second Plate does have some delicious moments. Near the end of Episode 3, the couple confronts each other in the stairwell. Suddenly, Yuhyeon grabs Mingyeom's shirt and yanks him closer. Their faces are inches apart. Ooh, I immediately sit up straighter and lean toward the screen. Now, you've got my attention! At the end of Episode 4, they have another tense encounter in the kitchen. All that pent-up frustration comes pouring out in a passionate kiss. OKAY! Now we're cooking! Their chemistry is heating up. I'm finally feeling some romantic sparks between them.

Yuhyeon's actor (Ji Yun Jae) does well throughout the series. His best moment comes in Episode 5, where he pours so much feeling into an emotional scene. Oof, you can really feel his character's agony! Even though the poor guy is stuck with Naruto-esque dialogue ("Effort can't beat talent!"), he still makes the cheesy shounen anime lines feel convincing. I also like his co-star (Ko Jeong Mo), although I think he's better during the lighter moments. When Mingyeom flashes a mischievous smile or teases Yuhyeon, the actor's charming side comes out.

Eventually, we learn that Yuhyeon's bitterness comes from his insecurities. He resents Mingyeom for being a better chef. I think this is an interesting idea for a character arc, but the writing is just too shallow. I'm annoyed because this studio keeps casting capable actors with good chemistry, only to give them crappy scripts. Anyway, I do enjoy the finale, where the couple makes up and shares a few cute moments. Overall, Second Plate is a mediocre BL drama. I won't come back for a second viewing, but at least the story ends sweetly enough to redeem itself a little.