Dinner Mate

Dinner Mate^[3] (Korean: 저녁 같이 드실래요?) is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Song Seung-heon, Seo Ji-hye, Lee Ji-hoon, and Son Na-eun, and based on the 2013 webtoon Would You Like To Have Dinner Together? by Park Si-in. The series is about an unexpected dinner between two strangers in a restaurant, Woo Do-hee (played by Seo Ji-hye) and Kim Hae-kyung (played by Song Seung-heon). The two happen to have dinner together at a random place and decide to become dinner partners.^[4] The drama was aired by MBC TV on Mondays and Tuesdays from May 25 to July 14, 2020.^{[5][6][unreliable source?]} It was also available globally on iQIYI with multi-language subtitles.

Dinner Mate
Promotional poster
Also known as	Let's Have Dinner Together?
Hangul	저녁 같이 드실래요?
Lit.	Would You Like To Have Dinner Together?
RR	Jeonyeok gachi deusillaeyo?
MR	Chŏnyŏk kach'i tŭsillaeyo?
Genre	Romance[1][unreliable source?]
Based on	Would You Like To Have Dinner Together? by Park Si-in
Developed by	Park Jae-beom
Written by	Kim Joo Lee Ju-ha
Directed by	Ko Jae-hyun
Starring	Song Seung-heon Seo Ji-hye Lee Ji-hoon Son Na-eun
Opening theme	"Dinner Mate Open Title" by Jonghyuk Jeon
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	32 (2 episodes per day)[a]
Production
Producers	Go Jae-hyun Park Bong-sub
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes[a]
Production company	Victory Contents
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	May 25 (2020-05-25) – July 14, 2020 (2020-07-14)

Synopsis

Woo Do-hee (Seo Ji-hye), a producer at a digital content company, and Kim Hae-kyung (Song Seung-heon), a psychiatrist, meet by coincidence and end up eating dinner together. Later, they meet again by coincidence and decided to become "dinner mates". With no knowledge of each other's personal details (name, occupation, etc.), they only meet up to eat dinner and talk.

Cast

Main

• Song Seung-heon as Kim Hae-kyung, a psychiatrist and food psychotherapist.
• Seo Ji-hye as Woo Do-hee, a producer-director at 2N BOX.
• Lee Ji-hoon as Jeong Jae-hyeok, a medical journalist freelancer. Do-hee's first love in college.
• Son Na-eun as Jin No-eul, a fitness instructor. Hae-kyung's first love.

People around Hae Kyung

• Lee Hyun-jin as Kang Gun-woo, stylist.
• Kim Seo-kyung as Lee Byeong-jin, Hae-kyung's secretary.
• Jeon Guk-hyang as Lee Moon-jung, Hae-kyung's mother.

2N BOX

• Ye Ji-won as Nam Ah-yeong, CEO of 2N BOX and friend of PD Woo Do-hee.
• Ko Kyu-pil as Park Jin-kyoo, planning team leader.
• Ahn Tae-hwan as Kim Jung-hwan, planning team member.
• Oh Hye-won as Im So-ra, ASMR creator.
• Kim Young-chul as Jjoda Man.

Do-hee's family

• Jung Eun-pyo as Woo In-ho, Do-hee's father.
• Yoon Bok-in as Jun Sung-ja, Do-hee's mother.

Others

• Park Ho-san as Keanu / Kim Hyun-u

Special appearances

• Kim Jung-hyun as Lee Young-dong, Do-hee's ex-boyfriend (Ep. 1–2)
• Jung Sang-hoon as ER doctor (Ep. 2)
• Kim Hyun-sook as Keun-hee (Ep. 1–2, 8)
• Lee Si-eon as food truck operator (Ep. 3)
• Sandara Park as Hae-kyung's patient (Ep. 11)
• Tae Jin-ah as himself (Ep. 4)
• Kim Won-hae as depressed widower (Ep. 7)
• Kim Jae-won
• Seo Eun-soo as flight attendant (Ep. 1–2)
• Ryu Ji-kwang as himself (Ep. 14)
• Kim Hee-jung as eating show host (Ep. 14)
•  ?? as Do-hee's blind date mate (Ep. 28)

Production

Development

The series is the third collaboration between director Ko Jae-hyun and actor Song Seung-heon after Black and Player.^{[citation needed]}

Original soundtrack

Dinner Mate OST
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	2020
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Warner Music Korea Victory Contents

Part 1

Released on May 25, 2020 (2020-05-25)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Would You Like to Have Dinner" (저녁 같이 드실래요)	OVAN , Mr.Black	VAN.C	OVAN	3:18
2.	"Would You Like to Have Dinner" (Inst.)		VAN.C		3:18
Total length:					6:36

Special track

Released on May 30, 2020 (2020-05-30)^[7]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"The Girl Come and Go" (오다가다 그녀)	Lee Ryu	Lee Soo-ha	Tae Jin Ah	3:32
2.	"The Girl Come and Go" (Inst.)				3:32
Total length:					7:04

Part 2

Released on June 2, 2020 (2020-06-02)^[8]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Yummy Yummy " (얌얌)	Lee Hyun-seung, MC Mong, Chancellor, TM	Lee Hyun-seung, TM	MC Mong	3:33
2.	"Yummy Yummy" (Inst.)		Lee Hyun-seung, TM		3:33
Total length:					7:06

Part 3

Released on June 6, 2020 (2020-06-06)^[9]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Dear My Star" (나의 별)	Kang Hyo-jun	Lee Hyun-seung, TM	Sondia	3:36
2.	"Dear My Star" (Inst.)		Lee Hyun-seung, TM		3:36
Total length:					7:12

Part 4

Released on June 9, 2020 (2020-06-09)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"More Than Words" (사랑한다는 말로는)	Mr.Black	SHAUN	SHAUN	3:17
2.	"More Than Words" (Inst.)		SHAUN		3:17
Total length:					6:34

Part 5

Released on June 16, 2020 (2020-06-16)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Midnight Cinderella"	Mingji, Eun	Andrew Choi, Mingji	Eun	3:51
2.	"Midnight Cinderella" (Inst.)		Andrew Choi, Mingji		3:51
Total length:					7:02

Viewership

Dinner Mate : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Episodes		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1–16	N/A	1065	901	919	N/A	N/A	N/A	825	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	738
	17–32	N/A	N/A	N/A	802	N/A	895	N/A	793	N/A	N/A	N/A	770	N/A	N/A	N/A	759

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.^[10]

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea[11]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	May 25, 2020	4.8%	—
2		6.1%	6.5%
3	May 26, 2020	5.7%	6.4%
4		5.9%	6.8%
5	June 1, 2020	4.1%	5.2%
6		4.8%	—
7	June 2, 2020	4.4%	5.1%
8		4.9%	—
9	June 8, 2020	3.5%
10		4.4%
11	June 9, 2020	3.4%
12		3.9%	4.3%
13	June 15, 2020	3.0%	—
14		3.7%
15	June 16, 2020	3.0%
16		4.2%	4.6%
17	June 22, 2020	3.5%	—
18		4.9%	5.2%
19	June 23, 2020	3.4%	—
20		4.8%	5.1%
21	June 29, 2020	3.3%	—
22		4.8%	5.0%
23	June 30, 2020	3.0%	—
24		4.4%
25	July 6, 2020	2.3%
26		3.1%
27	July 7, 2020	2.6%
28		3.4%
29	July 13, 2020	2.9%
30		3.7%
31	July 14, 2020	2.9%
32		4.3%
Average		4.0%	—[b]

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee / Work	Result	Ref.
MBC Drama Awards	2020	Drama of the Year	Dinner Mate	Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries / Short Drama	Song Seung-heon	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries / Short Drama	Lee Ji-hoon	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Son Na-eun	Nominated
		Best Couple Award	Song Seung-heon and Seo Ji-hye	Nominated
Seoul International Drama Awards	2021	Outstanding Korean Drama	Dinner Mate	Nominated	[12][13]

Notes

1. In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.^[2]
2. Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.