> Be careful what wish for .. it (this) might not be what u expect it to be

It is an unique concept and there is not much to the story every an 8 episode short show. Whilst the drama seemed to sometimes struggle with “ sticking out” in comparison to fantasy predecessors; the likes of Hotel Del Luna and Mystic Pop-up Bar which follow similar premise ; due to the poor build-up of screenwriting at times. Ji Hyo’s onscreen persona Hee-Ra is a case and point of this problem; a character who the screenwriters want to keep you in the dark about for as long as possible, but rarely arising strong emotions for viewers with her recondite past, as there was little dramatic buildup or unseen twists which haven’t been “seen and done before” here.

Song Ji Hyo was really good here. Starting off on a note which was hard to take seriously with her patchy red hair-dye job, Ji-Hyo undeniably has a charisma which allows you to easily become attached to her as the drama unfolds. This performance was equally rivalled by Chae Jong Hyeop’s sweet ambience onscreen as side character and teen high-schooler Gil-yong.

Nam Ji Hyun wasn’t bad per say here as Jeong Jin, but her performance didn’t quite resonate as much as it should’ve done either. Admittedly this isn’t entirely the actress’ fault. It was evident to see the goal here with her character ; a relatable and normal female lead with a mysterious past, but the ideology behind this type of FL is usually built upon emotional investment and sentimentality . Jin instead was nearly always unfazed and apathetic. Whilst it didn’t seem to be intentional, Ji Hyun’s facial expressions just seemed to radiated stoic expressions half the time , as though seeing a magical wish come to life is just another daily occurrence in the life of a mundane heroine. She is also too emotional and appear to have less maturity than a HighSchool student.

Then there’s the “ potentially romantic “setup between Jin and Gil-Young onscreen. Whilst respectfully in real-life we shouldn’t forget these actors are nearly the same age and do have really good onscreen chemistry , the age gap between their onscreen personas was fairly significant . The result being that Gil-yong's obvious crush on Jin feels like it should be a more plausible romance than it really should. This might or might not relate to his “ secretive” wish, but then most of the problems of this drama seemed to manifest by tense build-ups, and then unsatisfactory results. Instead they should have paired Gi-Young with his pretty highschool classmate .

“ The Witch’s Diner” is a fairly mediocre fantasy drama-not bad with solid performances by most of the cast and intriguing subplots, but just lacking the grandeur and originality of its fantasy predecessors. The series could’ve easily done with more division even in this short space of time to build upon the characters ( who often felt one-dimensional), or at least have commissioned more episodes in order to divide time between storyline and character development more interchangeably.

**If there is a Season 2 without Ji-Hyo I wouldn't watch ; not worth what we have seen from rest of the main cast**

No matter how you look at it, the drama was a missed opportunity for something much better. It's a very dumbed-down secondhand tacky "be careful what you wish for" type of story. Little to no dynamic between the female lead and the witch until the last episode. The introduction of the female lead and her "wish" was definitely a weak start for the drama. Poorly written and executed love interest for the female lead, it wouldn't have been an issue if they didn't give her a trashy pair up but instead something that would serve the narrative and the resolution better. None of the clients were interesting and the outcome was always lacking the x-factor other than the obvious trade off of the deal. At least the drama looked nice and the cast was good enough.