The Good Doctor - Pancake vs. Triangle Kimbap
As for how these pancake dates came to The Good Doctor, executive producer David Shore isn't quite sure himself. "I honestly don't remember if it's in [the original Korean drama upon which the show is based]," he tells TV Guide with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure that's ours though ... our thing for the two of them. That'd be a nice thing for people to do: enjoy their pancakes for dinner while watching The Good Doctor."
- David Shore's interview with TV Guide (Nov 7, 2017) [source]
The pancake dates are certainly created by the US writers. In the original K-drama, it was not pancake but Triangle Kimbap 삼각김밥 (seaweed covered rice ball) which is one of Korean convenient stores' best selling products. Dr. Park Shi-On had a kind of obsession with Triangle Kimbap.
“Triangle Kimbap is food like Park Shi-On. I mean, triangular shaped food is rare except for Triangle Kimbap, isn't it? I wrote it because both of them are similar in terms of rarity. Autistic people are likely to be sensory-dependent, and many of them are also sensitive to the shape of the food they eat. Therefore, I imagined that Shi-On enjoyed eating Triangle Kimbap not just because it is more convenient to eat but because he likes its strange shape."
- Korean drama writer Park Jae-Bum's interview (October 16, 2013) [source]
