# Dinner Mate (저녁 같이 드실래요?)
**Dinner Mate** (저녁 같이 드실래요?, *Would You Like to Have Dinner Together?*) is a 2020 South Korean romantic comedy television series broadcast on MBC, based on a webtoon of the same title, in which a man and a woman mistaken for a couple at a restaurant agree to share dinners without revealing their names.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/) • [2](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php) It stars [Song Seung-heon](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-seung-heon) as food psychiatrist Kim Hae-kyung and Seo Ji-hye as video producer Woo Do-hee.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 저녁 같이 드실래요? (literal title: Would You Like To Have Dinner Together)[4](https://asianwiki.com/Dinner_Mate) |
| Network and run | MBC, May 25 to July 14, 2020, 32 episodes aired Monday and Tuesday at 20:55 as two 35-minute episodes per day[2](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php) |
| Source material | Original webtoon of the same name by Park Si-in (박시인)[2](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php) • [5](https://www.hanaw.com/download/research/FileServer/WEB/industry/enterprise/2023/04/11/230412_kakaoent_final.pdf) |
| Main cast | Song Seung-heon (Kim Hae-kyung), Seo Ji-hye (Woo Do-hee), Lee Ji-hoon (Jeong Jae-hyeok), Son Na-eun (Jin No-eul)[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate) • [6](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/) |
| Production | Directed by Ko Jae-hyun (고재현); written by Kim Joo (김주)[7](https://content.mbc.co.kr/program/drama/3501989_64284.html) |
| Audience rating | 7.4/10 on IMDb from 846 votes[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/) |
| Streaming | Available on iQIYI from June 18, 2020; added to Netflix as of 2023[2](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php) • [8](https://www.kdramalove.com/DinnerMate.html) |
## Premise
The setup follows two strangers who meet at a restaurant, are mistaken for a couple, and decide to eat dinner together.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/) Woo Do-hee is a producer at the online video company 2NBox who has just discovered that her boyfriend cheated on her; Kim Hae-kyung is a psychiatrist who practices food therapy, analyzing people by watching them eat and treating patients over a meal rather than in a clinic.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate) • [9](https://dramasoverflowers.substack.com/p/review-dinner-mate-is-a-classic-rom) The two agree to become strict "dinner mates": they share meals but do not exchange names or professions, and feelings develop anyway as their former first loves re-enter their lives.[10](https://www.cosmo.ph/entertainment/honest-review-dinner-mate-a2520-20200719)
MBC's own program description frames the series as a story about two emotionally guarded adults recovering the capacity to love, and about the meaning of eating and spending time together.[7](https://content.mbc.co.kr/program/drama/3501989_64284.html) At the May 2020 press conference, Song Seung-heon described the series as a heart-warming love story about healing the wounds of past relationships, and connected it to the growth of single-person households and the honbap (dining alone) and honsul (drinking alone) trends in Korea.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate)
## Cast and characters
- **Song Seung-heon** as Kim Hae-kyung (김해경), a food psychiatrist.[6](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/)
- **Seo Ji-hye** as Woo Do-hee (우도희), a producer of viral comedic content at a live-streaming production company.[6](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/) • [11](https://zapzee.net/2020/07/05/review-dinner-mate-eating-alone-sounds-even-more-delicious/)
- **Lee Ji-hoon** as Jeong Jae-hyeok (정재혁), Do-hee's former boyfriend.[6](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/)
- **Son Na-eun** of the girl group Apink as Jin No-eul (진노을), Hae-kyung's former girlfriend.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate) • [6](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/)
The supporting cast includes Ye Ji-won as media manager Nam A-young and Ko Kyu-pil as secretary Park Jin-kyu.[8](https://www.kdramalove.com/DinnerMate.html) Cameos drew particular attention: Kim Jung-hyun, Seo Ji-hye's co-star from *Crash Landing on You*, appeared in the first episode as Do-hee's cheating ex-boyfriend, and [Sandara Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/sandara-park) played one of Hae-kyung's patients, a Hallyu star unable to eat because of online hate comments.[10](https://www.cosmo.ph/entertainment/honest-review-dinner-mate-a2520-20200719)
## Production and broadcast context
For Song Seung-heon, the series marked a return to MBC romantic comedy nine years after *My Princess* (2011); he said he had been waiting for a romance drama and took the role after the script conveyed the excitement of early-stage love.[3](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate) For Seo Ji-hye it was the follow-up to her widely seen role as Seo Dan in *Crash Landing on You* (2019 to 2020), and the drama leaned into that connection with a *Crash Landing on You*-inspired fantasy scene in which Do-hee imagines herself as a woman from [North Korea](https://www.edgepedia.org/north-korea).[10](https://www.cosmo.ph/entertainment/honest-review-dinner-mate-a2520-20200719)
The series aired as an MBC Monday-Tuesday drama from May 25 to July 14, 2020, and was simulcast internationally, including on the Chinese platform iQIYI.[2](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php) • [12](https://www.samsungpop.com/common.do?cmd=down&contentType=application%2Fpdf&fileName=2020%2F2020091409332436K_01_07.pdf&inlineYn=Y&saveKey=research.pdf) Netflix added it to its catalog in 2023, though that version removed [Audrey Hepburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/audrey-hepburn)'s recording of "Moon River" from the opening scenes, a sequence in which Do-hee imagines herself as Hepburn's character at the start of *[Breakfast at Tiffany's](https://www.edgepedia.org/breakfast-at-tiffanys-film)*.[8](https://www.kdramalove.com/DinnerMate.html)
## Themes and reception
Reviewers identified emotional healing as the drama's core subject: breakups, abandonment, loneliness, and the influence of parents, treated through the ritual of shared meals.[13](https://once-upon-a-drama.com/2021/03/09/dinner-mate-drama-review/) • [14](https://www.allocine.fr/series/ficheserie-1000001473/critiques/) The leads' chemistry was the most consistently praised element, along with an unconventional, strong-willed female lead and an OST that reviewers singled out.[15](https://www.thereviewgeek.com/dinnermate-e9and10review/) • [16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/reviews)
Criticism centered on the script and the ex-partner characters. Viewers found the obsessive former lovers repetitive and, in several accounts, stereotyped manipulators in the mold of conventional K-drama villains, and some argued the food premise was underused relative to the title's promise.[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/reviews) • [14](https://www.allocine.fr/series/ficheserie-1000001473/critiques/) One reviewer noted that, although the series is based on a manhwa in which the two leads act as dinner mates, the drama itself gave few food-centered moments, instead focusing on people with exes and emotional problems who heal each other.[16](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/reviews) On IMDb the series holds 7.4/10 from 846 votes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/)
## References
1. [Dinner Mate (TV Series 2020), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/)
2. [Dinner Mate (Korean Drama, 2020, 저녁 같이 드실래요?), HanCinema](https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Dinner_Mate.php)
3. [Song Seung-heon back on small screen with 'Dinner Mate', The Korea Times (May 26, 2020)](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/shows-dramas/20200526/song-seung-heon-back-on-small-screen-with-dinner-mate)
4. [Dinner Mate, AsianWiki](https://asianwiki.com/Dinner_Mate)
5. [Kakao Entertainment industry report (2023), Hana Financial Investment](https://www.hanaw.com/download/research/FileServer/WEB/industry/enterprise/2023/04/11/230412_kakaoent_final.pdf)
6. [저녁 같이 드실래요? | 드라마, iMBC](http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/dinnermate/)
7. [저녁 같이 드실래요 (Dinner Mate), MBC Global Media](https://content.mbc.co.kr/program/drama/3501989_64284.html)
8. [Dinner Mates - Korean Drama Review, kdramalove.com](https://www.kdramalove.com/DinnerMate.html)
9. [Review: Dinner Mate is a classic rom-com with updated vibes, Dramas Over Flowers](https://dramasoverflowers.substack.com/p/review-dinner-mate-is-a-classic-rom)
10. [An Honest Review of 'Dinner Mate', Cosmopolitan Philippines (July 19, 2020)](https://www.cosmo.ph/entertainment/honest-review-dinner-mate-a2520-20200719)
11. [K-Drama Review: 'Dinner Mate' Eating Alone Sounds Even More Delicious, ZAPZEE (July 5, 2020)](https://zapzee.net/2020/07/05/review-dinner-mate-eating-alone-sounds-even-more-delicious/)
12. [미디어/엔터테인먼트 industry report (2020), Samsung Securities](https://www.samsungpop.com/common.do?cmd=down&contentType=application%2Fpdf&fileName=2020%2F2020091409332436K_01_07.pdf&inlineYn=Y&saveKey=research.pdf)
13. [Dinner Mate - Once Upon a Drama (March 9, 2021)](https://once-upon-a-drama.com/2021/03/09/dinner-mate-drama-review/)
14. [Critiques de la série Dinner Mate, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/series/ficheserie-1000001473/critiques/)
15. [Dinner Mate - K-Drama Episodes 9-10 Recap and Review, The Review Geek](https://www.thereviewgeek.com/dinnermate-e9and10review/)
16. [Dinner Mate (TV Series 2020) - User reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12415644/reviews)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Romance and melodrama series › Romance melodrama miniseries › Romantic comedy series › Workplace romance series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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