Korean Dramas Around Food© Glovic Entertainment

6 Korean Dramas On Netflix And Viki That You Should Never Watch On An Empty Stomach

Salva Mubarak
Senior Features Writer

If you’re a K-drama rookie, you would start watching one without a few snacks in hand. However, veteran watchers know the folly behind watching any Korean TV series on an empty stomach. While K-dramas have become popular mostly because of their dreamy main leads and swoon-worthy romantic storylines, the food featured in the shows is another thing that keeps us hooked.

MORE: Best Korean Movies on Netflix

From steaming bowls of ramyeon to the mouth-watering Korean barbeques that deserve shows of their own, K-dramas are a foodie’s paradise.

Korean Dramas About Food On Netflix

Here are some of our favourite food-centric K-dramas that will make your mouth water right from the start...

Chocolate

The show follows Lee Kang (Yoon Kye-sang), a seemingly cold-hearted neurosurgeon who once dreamt of becoming a chef and Moon Cha-yeong (Ha Ji-won) who became a chef after a chance encounter with Lee Kang when she was a child. Their paths cross once again when they begin working together and Cha-yeong helps him rediscover his love for food.

Watch it on Netflix

Let’s Eat

If there’s ever a drama to not watch on an empty stomach, it’s this one. The story revolves around a group of people who are obsessed with food. Lee Soo-kyung is a lonely divorced woman who moves into a new neighborhood where she meets a group of people who are as in love with eating and everything food as she is. Through drama, including a murder investigation, and scenes that could only be described as food porn, Soo-kyung learns how to live all by herself.

Watch it on Netflix


Eccentric Chef Moon

Another story where food brings two unlikely people together, this drama follows Yoo Yoo-jin (Go Won-hee) and Moon Seung-mo (Eric Mun) as they rediscover the meaning of life through food. Seung-mo is a celebrity chef who decides to give it all up and move to a remote countryside village, following a tragic accident. Yoo-jin is an eccentric designer who finds herself in the same village after losing her memory. The two end up living together, because that’s just how it works in Dramaland, and things are rocky from the start. Eventually the two warm up to each other, especially after Yoo-jin’s clear love for food reignites the same in Seung-mo.

Watch it on Viki

Wok of Love

Down-on-luck chef Seo Poong (Lee Joon-ho) finds himself working at a shabby, failing Chinese restaurant run by a former gangster Doo Chil-sung (Jang Hyuk). Seo Poong decides to turn the restaurant around and hires Dan Sae-woo (Jung Rye-won), a former heiress looking for work after her life upended following her father’s arrest. There’s a love triangle, humour, and, most importantly, lots and lots of food.

Watch it on Netflix

Jewel in the Palace

Still from Korean TV show 'Jewel in the Palace'©MBC

Set in 15th century Korea, the historical drama revolves around Jang-geum (Lee Young-ae), a kitchen cook who goes on to become the first female royal physician. While the show is not primarily about food, it still remains a major theme through Jang-geum’s extraordinary journey. The show follows her incredible rise in the royal court and how she navigated through this male-dominated world successfully.

Watch it on Viki

Pasta

In case the title of the show didn’t clue you in, this show revolves around the lives of a group of people working at the fictional Italian restaurant La Sfera . There’s Seo Yoo-kyung (Gong Hyo-jin), a culinary school graduate who wants to make it big in the industry, and Choi Hyun-wook (Lee Sun-kyun), the head chef at La Sfera who refuses to work with female chefs because of his ex-girlfriend, Oh Sae-young (Lee Ha-nui). Sae-young sabotaged Hyun-wook’s chances at winning a prestigious cooking competition and went on to become a celebrity chef. The three reunite at La Sfera and complications arise and drama ensues.

Watch it on Netflix

How Are You Bread?

Genius pastry chef Han Do-woo (Kim Jun-myeon) runs a mysterious bakery where it’s rumored that eating any of the baked goods will make one of your wishes come true. This gets the attention of Noh Mi-rae (Lee Se-young), a variety show writer who wants to feature Do-woo and his bakery on the show. Do-woo hates publicity and wants nothing to do with it but Mi-rae won’t take no for an answer and sets about to persuade him at all costs, including infiltrating the bakery. Unsurprisingly, the two start warming up to each other, and love blossoms.

Watch it on Viki