Dinner Mate (2020)

It's a very heart warming romantic comedy about two people who need to get over their painful first loves. They also make fun of traditional kdrama tropes a little -- it's so funny! For those who have watched Crash Landing On You, you'll find special sentimental value in the references (and perhaps some closure... you'll know what I mean after watching the first 5 minutes)

Both leads are seasoned actors already but this puts them under a different light -- Seo Jihye, who is almost always "the rich and proper/cold second female lead," plays a completely different personality in this drama; and Song Seung-heon, whom I honestly only remember vaguely from Autumn In My Heart, also gets to show off his comedic side with this drama. Both the chemistry and the comedic timing are impeccable, and the show has me laughing really hard every week. The two second leads are also well-chosen for the role, even though it's my first time watching either of them act!
And omg the older couple (you'll know who I mean) -- comedic value A+

There aren't a lot of songs in the OST, but the few songs truly convey the vibe of the scenes they're associated with, and I would put the songs on repeat! Would also rewatch the particularly funny scenes -- omg those CLOY references are A+!

I would say this is a great show in the rom com genre, and is a must-watch if you liked Seo Jihye in Crash Landing On You!

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Feel good

Premise of the story was good and the actors were well suited to their role.

I liked the idea of having a dinner mate without knowing their names, Maybe I should try it sometime hahaha!

It was a feel good drama that made me sigh every so often. There was a mental health challenge thrown in as well. I like the way it resolved along the way.

The kdrama all in all was about trusting strangers, falling in love, embracing the past, understanding it's implication on the future, and forgiveness. It made me feel good at the end of it.

Thank you and well done to the whole cast and crew!

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I'M GONNA MISS THEM SO MUCH :(

I'm not gonna lie, I didn't think I'd watch this at first but then after I knew about Kim Jung-hyun's cameo I had to watch it because of the tragic ending for Seo Ji Hye and him in CLOY.

The drama was sweet haha, in the sense that it's a feel-good 'summerish' drama and I loved it. Been watching this religiously every week as it came and this is such a pleasure to watch. Lightweight and funny. I loved the ML's chemistry and I loved their characters too. But especially WOO DO-HEE PD-nin, she’s just amazing. I don’t think I've ever liked a FL as much as her (maybe IU in Hotel del Luna? And maybe now So Yea Ji in It's Okay Not To Be Okay?) AND KIM HAE-KYUNG, that adorable yet sexy human omg, it was my first drama of the actor and he was really good. But also let's not forget about our KEANU and 'JENNIFER' (sorry, I call her like that after 'Thirty but Seventeen', that name suites her so much haha), they were absolutely adorable and that funny music that used to come every time there was scene with them killed me all the time.

This is a must watch for those who want a little break from all the somehow complicated dramas we had this year but honestly for everyone. This drama offers everything: a good laugh, some dark and heavy topics such as psychological issues, romance, friendship, and really good supporting cast.

The OST was also really good tbh, I listen to the song often. I rarely rewatch dramas, hence the 5 but ignore that and know that this drama came as a surprise and filled my heart with happiness.

I really enjoyed watching this.

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Dinner date anyone?

They say don’t talk to strangers.

When I had my first heartbreak the first person who knew about it is the cab driver. I can’t contain my sadness and cried inside the cab, when the driver asked me what is wrong; I just spill out everything to him. He was just listening to me and very seldom interrupts me but his being there with the sympathetic ear encourage me to pour my heart out. Knowing it would be likely to meet him again, ever, I have told him my story in all honesty, the details, the ugly parts and everything in between. There is no holding back. Why? Because he is a stranger. He can judge me, he can give his advice no matter how hurtful it may be, he can say whatever he wants but because he is a stranger to me I can accept it.

This Kdrama is about this premise. The lead actor becomes the stranger that was able to witness the lead actress’s misfortunes in her relationships and become the person she has become so honest and truthful about her life. The guy who is also reluctant to open up about his own relationship and brokenness to others has begun to accept the concept and the comfort of opening up with the person that is not in any way familiar and interested with his stature as a well-known Psychiatrist.

They decided to become the strangers one is comfortable enough to have dinner dates and talk about anything and everything in their lives except the information of knowing ones name and pre-occupation and not crossing the line of liking each other. The truthfulness, the comfort, and the enjoyment of having someone who understand and listen has caused them both to breach their agreement and knowing both their identities has led them to more complicated situations that they need to resolve to stay true.

The story also tackles other relationships that hamper our growth as a person, the fear of judgement and failures, of obsession for acceptance, mental health problems, total forgiveness that brought about healing and transcending social norm that women marry for future comfort rendering them weak and incapable.

I love watching this kdrama and I have lots of take away but what stands is the authenticity of our own life, being true to yourself and to people, we make mistakes and have weaknesses and we suffer the consequences of bad decisions and we should own up to these and not blame our partners, our friends, our work, our peers our families. In our pursuit of what we called “grandiose dreams” in the guise of offering such to people we love are in itself the reasons of our inability to express and show our love and affection. This blinds us and become selfish pursuits to fill our egos. How ironic is it for a successful mother who published a book about good food but can’t even remember a shared meal with her family in her deathbed. Now she feels the pain of longing doubled by the realization of how it also causes suffering to her son deprived of her love. Then time runs out.

Another reason to love it is it's OST from
Eun's Midnight Cinderella, to Shaun's More than Words, Ovan's Would you like to have Dinner , MC's Yummy Yummy, Sondia's Dear My Star and Ryu Ji Kwang's With You. Everything is in my playlist and I even play it on guitar. It just makes me feel good listening to it.

The actors Seo Ji-Hye and Song Seung Hon's beautiful chemistry on screen adds up to the magic also and so with the rest of the cast. If you love light romantic dramas like me, then this should be on your dinner plate.

May we never run out of time loving, the meals we shared on the table become as meaningful as the presence of those around it. Enjoy watching. Bon Appetit!

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Light romcom drama with a bit of a twist

yes, i came here for Seo Ji Hye after crash landing, I wanted more of her acting.

the story was kinda normal, the only twist in the drama was that the mains ( Do Hee and Hae Kyung) were "Dinnermates" despite that the series was still enjoyable. all the characters were well portrayed, the cast was also exceptional. cinematography was on point. All in all the drama was wonderful. Wouldn't see myself rewatching it though.

Also wanted to add that "Ah-yeong" (played by Ye Ji-Won) was my favourite among all the characters, her presence in the drama was exceptional. All her scenes were really wholesome, Especially the scenes with Do Hee just watching their scenes together warms my heart.

This is extra but lol the scene where they went on a company trip, and had like this paint gun fight was so extra I was laughing the whole time. Plus everytime "Keanu" comes to the screen this specific like sound plays HAHAHAHA I cant- I just love it.

Anyways would recommend this to people who enjoy light romcom dramas with a bit of a twist.

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Only the first 8 episodes were worth watching.. Overall, lots of wasted potential.

(This review has lots of rants and is full of spoilers. So don't read this if you insist on watching and don't wanna be spoiled.)

Why you should watch this drama:
- Good OST, cast, cinematography.
- To some extent, it challenged gender stereotypes (Gun-woo as a manly LGBT character, the nurse being male, the CEO of a media company being a woman, Do-hee not being afraid to speak her mind)

Why you shouldn't watch this drama:
- Poor portrayal of psychotherapies and people with mental illnesses. I didn't like that this drama demonised Jae-hyuk and made him out to be such a despicable person. Even at the end, I couldn't really sympathise with him. It's almost as though the drama is trying to say that he deserves to be hated because of his mental illness. Furthermore, some things that Hae-kyung says as a psychiatrist are unethical and/or unrealistic (though I understand it is supposed to make the drama funny). As a psychology major, such poor representations are huge red flags for me. They just show that the writer didn't do her research properly. Many scenes in the show reflect a lack of sensitivity with regards to mental issues. Psychiatrists don't just say "You must have ____ disorder" without doing a thorough assessment, and eating disorders don't magically disappear after having a delicious meal. So disappointing as this was supposed to be a show about food, with one of the main characters being a psychiatrist. Many times I find myself wondering if the writer had some prejudice against people with mental illnesses.

- Poor/inconsistent characterization. I was excited to see so many quirky characters but most of them just end up being plot devices. Byung-jin (the nurse) was there to bring Hae-kyung home, Ah-yeong (the CEO unnie) was there to get Do-hee to come to the office or force her to go home, Gun-woo (the gay stylist) was there to bring Jae-hyuk home. Lol. They had so much potential for character development. Literally every main character and important side character had something that could've been developed in a wholesome manner. So it's a huge pity that all of them just ended up being such flat characters. Also, Jae-hyuk's BPD is being unrealistically portrayed here. It's just impossible for Do-hee to not know about his disorder during the times they were dating. At the very least, Do-hee should've been very emotionally affected while dating him, but her flashbacks suggested that she was happy and blissful. It's just... unrealistic. It's not possible to hide your BPD since it is part of your personality.

- Plot holes. I'm looking at you, homeless guy Keanu. It wasn't explained where/how he got his new clothes and had a chance to shave or shower before appearing at Hae-kyung's clinic to warn him about Jae-hyuk. LOL I guess that's a minor thing but yeah it really bugged me. And it wasn't explained how he was allowed to start practising as a psychiatrist again. (Like, what in the world.) I'd assumed that his license got revoked after Jae-hyuk reported about him committing medical malpractice - which became plothole number 2. Shouldn't there have been some form of official investigation? And with a proper investigation done, the hospital and/or the public would have realised that Jae-hyuk was lying in his articles about Keanu's medical malpractice. Plus the ending where he became travel buddies with Jae Hyuk is just meh. In real life psychiatrists/psychologists/therapists are supposed to establish clear boundaries with their clients/patients.

- Many things that the characters do and say just don't make sense to me. Some examples that come to mind:
(1) Do-hee telling Hae-kyung to go away when Jae-hyuk broke into her house. Someone trespassed into your home because of his mental illness and you're telling your psychiatrist boyfriend, who's probably experienced in dealing with such situations, to go home?
(2) Ah-yeong trying to set Do-hee and Jae-hyuk up in the beginning even though she is her best friend/unnie and knew about how Do-hee got dumped? Who does that!?
(3) Ah-yeong and homeless Keanu falling in love was funny but again, unrealistic. I can understand why Keanu would fall for her but not the other way round.
(4) When No-eul revealed on-air that Hae-kyung was her ex-boyfriend, Hae-kyung didn't even get mad. He and Do-hee didn't even talk about what happened. If I were him, I would be mad at not just No-eul, but at Do-hee for allowing this to happen on her show. I thought he had pride? After all, he did try to track down Do-hee to give her a piece of his mind when she insulted him at the start. (Again, inconsistent characterisation).

- Felt like the writer just had CLOY fever, as evident in all the CLOY references and the whole Jeju-island arc/meeting-you-was-destiny theme at the start. Honestly, now that I've watched all the episodes, the first 8 episodes before the exes appeared were totally irrelevant to the main storyline. Ironically though, they were the episodes I enjoyed the most. It seemed to me that the writer could not decide how to develop this drama and added the front part and all the CLOY references for the likes. Even Do-hee reminded me of Yoon Seri lol.

- A lot of parts in the drama felt very anti-climactic.
(1) The part in which Hae-kyung's mom died, I could not decide whether I was supposed to feel sad for him...
(2) The car accident was very wtf for me?
(3) The scene in which Do-hee broke down in front of the police station with Jae-hyuk behind her. I think I was supposed to feel sad but I couldn't sympathise with her at all because she made so many weird decisions that normal people in distress won't make.
(4) Jin No-eul's storyline. She cried, she lost, she gave up. Why include her in the story when she's not even important lol.
[Sorry I can go on and on but I will stop here.]

Final comments:
The drama tricked me into thinking that Do-hee and Hae-kyung were the main characters but the real main character is Jae-hyuk. Every major event in this drama revolved around him. Yes he is annoying, but he is also the person who grew the most. Furthermore, the actor who portrayed him really shined in this drama. I was very very impressed by how he portrayed Jae-hyuk's mental breakdowns. So that's a plus point. Other than that, this is a very disappointing and cringey drama. You won't learn anything new about life/ food/ psychotherapy. Instead, you may gain more negative stereotypes of mental illnesses and false impressions of how therapy is carried out. So I won't recommend it unless there are actors in the cast that you're a huge fan of and want to support no matter what.

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Amazing

Everything about this series was great. I’m usually not a fan of melodramas because they are often slow and kind of melancholy but this one was so good. There was mystery, action and romance. The chemistry between the two leads was amazing. I love the female lead character. She was strong, smart and overall hardworking, she carried herself well, with class while still being a good person. The male lead was top notch.
They had grown up conversations, didn’t fall for Foolishness or manipulation. Loved it.

Mature series with an upbeat vibe.

Character development was great.
Chemistry was great.
Acting was great.
Ending was great.
Scenery was great.
Story was great.

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Not Good Enough

" Dinner Mate " started smoothly, but quickly started dragging.

The first few episodes of the drama were interesting. It was a fun ride to watch the main characters meet by chance again and again, but being ignorant of who they were in reality (him being the doctor the girl was trying to track down and her being the broadcasting employee whom he was trying to avoid). That scene with the cheating boyfriend on the island was pure entertainment as well and it gave the couple a solid start. Finally, the female lead was one of the best characters of the drama, as she was unconventional for Korean drama standards, dynamic, strong opinioned, and a delight to watch till the very final episode. In addition, the story of the homeless man and the director of the broadcasting company was quite interesting and sweet.

However, the drama started lagging after those first episodes. It was disappointing to discover that, even though the description and the name itself indicated that the couple will bond over food, there were few to non foodie moments. So why go with that concept if you aren't going to use it? Just say that is about people with exes and emotional problems that heal each other. I mean, I get this is based on a manhwa which probably used the two characters as dinner mates, but the drama did not. Also, speaking about the exes, they were okay at first, but they got way too annoying. In addition, the introduction of them wasn't smooth when it came to the female lead. We first saw her going on a surprise trip, hoping to get proposed by her boyfriend, so she clearly was over her, let's call him main ex. But no, another one was thrown to us out of nowhere. I mean, the male lead was straight forward about his ex girlfriend and his feelings for her. But for the girl, the whole situation was messy. However, that was not the main problem with the exes. It was interesting that they had a background story to boot their motives, but they were way too obsessive, especially the girl's ex, and that got tiring after a while, as she kept telling him that she was over him and he just kept bothering her.

Also, the main romance was boring. They didn't start on romantic premises, which was a relief and refreshing. However, they became a couple a bit too rushly and that did not help with the built-up of the love story. The drama got boring too, as the story repeated cliche trops when it came to the main plot.

So, overall, four out of ten.

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True Title: Ex Mate

I mean, 32 episodes, and they created this? There was nothing special about this drama, not even the mental illness they try to project was properly educated.

I actually felt truly sad for male ex towards the end of show, as he did a "fanfuckingtastic" job of portraying a psycho and someone who is in real pain... nonetheless at fault. No sympathy for female ex though.

But salute to main leads, who despite good at acting, failed to create an inch of chemistry and love. Perhaps because of the lackluster script, that never gave them a chance to sizzle the screen, and they had a very less time together because of their crazy exes's.

Ps: There was a moment at the end of episode 15 when male ex-finally understood that he might lose the women he loves for doing all the crazing things so he decided to remove her from her mind and when he crosses her in hospital corridor, and pretended not to know her, broke my heart. I really felt bad for him... I wish him to find him his own happiness now. Overall, it was just an average show!!!

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Light hearted, easily forgettable drama

I love the actor Song Seung Hoon since I saw him years ago in Autumn in My Heart but in this drama, the character he portrayed seemed mediocre. Doesn't have much character build up and not much drama to express his acting.
At the beginning it was interesting to watch how the main leads meet and we look forward to what would happen next. But then out of the blue came the exes at the same time then it got annoying. But then the girl's ex-bf pretty much took over the show, or at least that's how I feel. He has some past that he couldn't talk about and somehow the characters in the show are connected to him. I feel like this character overshadowed the main lead and actually the actor portrayed his character real well that I just feel so sorry for him. Then like a lot of k-dramas, they speed things up towards the end just to wrap things up. It was well wrapped up, but just like dumplings, you can wrap it good, but the inside also matters. In this case, it was average at best.

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Pros: Good acting, decent OST... yea that's where it ends
Cons: NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE WEBTOON, infuriating exes, questionable motives, cliche galore, repetetive... yea this one can go on for a bit.

In summary, if you read the webtoon (or the summary above for that matter), get ready to be dissapointed because them getting aqainted to try out food was like 2% of the whole story, the beginning half was one coincidence on top of another mixed in with a cliche here and there. The progression in their relationship was patchy and gosh darn those frustrating exes which never existed in the original webtoon. It would be a stretch to call this jumbled mess of a plot an 'adaptaptation' of the webtoon, which was far more subtle and thorough.

It's a cute series to watch with your fastforward button handy, cause none of the scenes without the leads are really important or worth watching. Except the homeless guy maybe.

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