MBC Mon-Tues Romance Drama Dinner Mate Premieres to 4.8%, 6.1% Ratings with All the Hallmarks of Classic Boy Meets Girl Hijinks and Cuteness

My Monday picked up majorly and a new 8-week addiction has formed. MBC premiered new Mon-Tues drama Dinner Mate (Shall We Have Dinner Together) and it’s basically tailored made to hit every one of my rom-com happy nodes. There’s handsome but still has a nice personality Song Seung Heon and ordinarily pretty and warmly confident Seo Ji Hye hitting the ground running right from the get go as the story blasts off with no hesitation. Kim Jung Hyun makes a welcome cameo as Seo Ji Hye’s cheating boyfriend turned ex and it doesn’t bother me that he’s being used as a jump off point for the main romance, smart production companies can and should cast Seo Ji Hye and Kim Jung Hyun in their own happy ending romance drama down the line but here it’s all about the broken-hearted girl and the boy who witnessed it all go down and can’t walk away. Dinner is a stand in for getting to know you and it’s the perfect soothing balm for a time when dining out feels like a distant return to normal. Episode 1 of Dinner Mate was a full return to normal for me in watching a rom-com the way it should be.


Comments

MBC Mon-Tues Romance Drama Dinner Mate Premieres to 4.8%, 6.1% Ratings with All the Hallmarks of Classic Boy Meets Girl Hijinks and Cuteness — 43 Comments

    • Basing it on the stills he probably got his clothes wet and had to wear ahjummas clothes. Time to check out this new drama. The last drama I watched with him as lead was Black.

  1. I personally didn’t enjoy it. There were moments I really liked, for example the opening scene and the motorcycle chase scene but overall it’s a miss for me. It recycles almost every romantic comedy drama cliches but not in a good ways.

    I recommend jtbc “Sweet Munchies.” The aesthetics are beautiful, and uniquely filmed. The musical scores are gorgeous. And the highlights is the food, featured throughout the episode. It made me drool like a dog. Also the love triangle includes a guy liking a guy! I’m always down for boys love. Sadly it seems the female lead will get together with the male lead.

    The story is compelling and the leads are wonderful human beings. It’s going to be a fun ride seeing them overcome their struggles.

    • How about we just respect what the Writer and Production of #DinnerMate has to offer and leave them be.

      You can state your reservations to the KDrama but don’t you think it’s unfair to make comparison to competing dramas aired simultaneously. Just saying….

      • @shannon

        Having negative opinions is not a sign of disrespect.

        I don’t think it’s unfair to compare different dramas. It’s not against the law and basically everyone does it.

        It’s would be a scary world to live in, when people are not allow to voice complaints or criticisms and can only say positive things.

      • Nothing harmful if people make a negative comment on the drama. It is a matter of like and dislike, nothing personal at all. As long he or she does not use foul language to attack the actors/actresses or anyone who makes a comment here.

      • You both must be new to this blog because everyone here including the writer criticizes and compare things all the time.

        Stop acting like an internet policeman lol

      • It is a matter of taste. Youlike A because of something. She does not it like, so take it with a pinch of salt.

      • Lol, I’m not new to this blog.
        You have your own respective opinion but, if you want to talk about Sweet Munchies go in their thread and brag about it.

    • Chill guys. Laura just gave her opinion. And what so wrong about comparing two dramas since they both aired on the same day??? It doesnt mean we hate it or disrespect it. We just share our opinion.

      Well, totally agree with you Laura. The first episode of this drama was meh. The unfaithful bf and another girl… this drama is so typical but what to expect from korean romcom drama??? Lols.

      • @ yui

        Thank you!

        Many of the scenes in episode 1 kept on making me wonder and contemplate where I have seen those scenes or drama tropes before, so many deja-vu moments for me haha

    • Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll give the JTBC Show a try. Dinner didn’t click with me. I couldn’t get past the first five minutes at all. Odd because I usually give a drama four episodes before giving up.

      • @ m
        No problem, it’s not a super fast-pace drama but it gives me a good, relaxing vibe.

        This is like my current currently-airing dramas schedule:
        Mon/tues: Sweet Munchies
        Wed/Thurs: Kkondae Intern & Mystic Pop-up Bar
        Friday/Sat: The Eternal Monarch King

        —so far the wed/Thursday dramas are making me most excited haha

      • Thanks. I liked the focus on food but I wish the female lead is someone like Nam Ji Hyun or Jung In Sun. I also tried both Mystic POB and Kondae Intern pilot episode. And like you also watching TKEM.

    • @Laura Did you say boys love? I need another BL after 2gether The Series ends (and this week’s will be the finale episode of My Engineer, and next week will be YYY’s finale week). However, I’m hesitant to check the series after reading the description that follows right after.

      • Where your eyes linger is a Korean BL that has just started it is mini about 15 mins each episode. First one was cute, looks promising.

      • @brightwin
        Unfortunately it’s Korea, so it’s most likely a one sided love. But yes one of the love interest is gay.

        Oddly, near the end of the episode, the main male lead bumped into the gay love interest and they have a strange long eye contact with each other, abnormally long…

        I watched 2gether and it was so cute but unfortunately I agree with the majority, they were acting more like friends than lovers near the end of the series :/

      • @brightwin
        Unfortunately it’s Korea, so it’s most likely a one sided love. But yes one of the love interest is lgbt.

        Oddly, near the end of the episode, the main male lead bumped into the male love interest and they have a strange long eye contact with each other, abnormally long… lol

        I watched 2gether and it was so cute but unfortunately I agree with the majority, they were acting more like friends than lovers near the end of the series :/

  2. Loved her since Punch! Glad that leading roles are finally coming her way. Hope that this is the romcom fix for covid blues!

    • She plays the role very well. We do not know whether she remains loyal to KRW’s character until the very end of Punch.

    • Really liked her in Punch, as well. I didn’t watch 49 Days or any of her past dramas so that’s how I first got to know her. Glad she got a lead role this time.

  3. I love the storyline of the new MBC Drama #DinnerMate, finally I get to see my 1st fave among all the Korean Hearthrobs #SongSeungHeon and the intriguing and elite style North Korean chaebol from my most-favored KDrama #CrashLandingOnYou #SeoJiHye.

    I expect a tumultous/funny turn of events between these two awesome and good looking couple #SongSeungHeon and #SeoJiHye.

    • I enjoyed the 1st episode. I think this drama is about two people getting to know each other and in the process, healing each others wounds. I’m ready for a calm, soothing, fun romance. Not every romance has to be filled with angst and drama to the nth degree.

      • I have a feeling it’s because MBC prefers to cut corners with relatively low-budget productions by unknown writers and avoid ratings-related risk, which ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then again, I do not think MBC operates with any logic at all, given how it abolished its weekend dramas in favor of variety shows with 3% numbers.

      • @ Dakcgigo

        i watched 365 repeat the year and find me in your memory, these two are good drama but both, i must say underrated. vieweship rating of 365 ‘ waa just slighlh higher than find me but still it’s low

  4. Love it,
    It’s not groundbreaking but it also doesn’t pretend to be more than a simple happy drama.
    I also start watching love equation-chinese drama, there is this warm feeling when you see good people get together.

    No murder, trauma, PTSD, child connection, just normal

    • Oh I love Love Equation… Just a simple series with a lot of heartwarming scenes but I do find fault in their break up tho, it was not necessary. Can anyone recommend any good cdrama like this cause I’m willing to give a good one a chance these days, a lot of times on my hands.

  5. It hasn’t grabbed me completely but I’m curious for now and will keep watching to see its progression.
    SSH seems okay here. And SJH doesnt overact the comedic parts. In fact I think she’s one of my fav actresses cos on top of being so pretty, I’ve rarely seen her overact. She always brings a sort of calmness and groundedness to her characters. And seems so cool off cam. If anything will continue watching this for her. <3

  6. Just watched the pilot episode and it feels so good along with a smooth story flow.The bgm, juju scenes are captivating.SJH deserves a big round of applause for making her character feel so real. The dialogues are quite meaningful and there is no cringiness so far. Hope it keeps up to its pace in a mature way. And yeah SSH is doing pretty good as well.After My Princess this is his first romantic drama in 9 years.

  7. Now, that’s how to catch your audience….a snappy 1st episode. SSH so funny as the straight man….love him in Black, never laughed so hard when he was walking around in that trench coat and sitting without a care….I actually enjoyed his latest dramas. A lot of comments saying he can’t act? Wonder if they have seen Obsessed, he made me tear up in that movie. And the leading lady is up to par, the first time I saw her was in 49 days, she was the villain, held up her own against the main characters…. i thought she was very pretty. But I never watch any drama with her until Crash Landing. Is this her first starring role?

  8. I liked the pilot episode.. Yes it has some old romcom cliches too but still it was quite enjoyable to me..Both leads are good together..Let’s see how it goes from here on

  9. I bet she will work with Kim Jung Hyun again in the future, but now it’s too early. They both have new projects and need to separate from their Crash Landing roles to make them work. After a year or two, we’ll probably see them reunite as main leads in a drama.

    Anyways, I loved the first episode. It was fun

  10. Just an enjoyable watch for now. I like the Female lead, she’s strong and outgoing but also vulnerable in some moments. She’s not super annoying and knows to apologize when she’s in the wrong. I just hate it when writers make their FL unreasonably stubborn.

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