Romance, comedy, and lips-smacking foods are such a perfect blend for a perfect binge-watching session. The romantic-comedy genre has always been such a popular topic in the entertainment industry.
We have continued to like the wholesomeness, the heart-fluttering moments, and the way a scene can give us some serious butterflies in our stomachs; there are many popular dramas like Put Your Head on My Shoulder, My Girlfriend is an Alien, Falling into Your Smile and many more. The list is endless. Dating in the Kitchen aired from 15th September 2020 to 29th September 2020. The story revolves around Gu Sheng Nan(Zhao Lusi), an assistant chef at Zijing Hotel.
Working a job she loves, free to express herself through her cooking, Sheng Nan soon learns that her job may be threatened due to the impending acquisition of the hotel. Moreover, a situation of misunderstanding arises between her and her soon-to-be boss, Lu Jin(Lin Yu Shen). Lu Jin is a business prodigy who does not hesitate to make tough decisions. Firmly decided to condemn Zijing Hotel, he comes across the dishes of Gu Sheng Nan by accident.
A hardcore food enthusiast, Lu Jin changes his mind after recognizing Sheng Nan’s talent and skill as a chef. The unexpected bond between the two through their love for food paves the way for their unexpected love story. The audience loved this show for the light-hearted theme and the sweet romantic scenes that made their hearts swoon. Both on and off-screen chemistry of the actors was lovable.
The simple storyline, the heartwarming moments, and even their bickering were so natural. This drama captured those little moments where the couple grows as they go through different situations in their relationship. If you haven’t watched this drama yet, you can watch it on Viki Rakuten, and if you cannot get enough of the sweetness, we recommend you watch these beautiful dramas.
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1. Perfect and Casual
This is an underrated gem. Perfect and Casual revolves around two polar opposite people who, by accident, share a common house. The male protagonist is a cold and perfectionist professor, Zhang Si Nian and his female counterpart is a sunny, casual, and easygoing college student, Yun Shu.
They get into a frantic quarrel in the beginning, and Yun Shu is later shocked to find out that Zhang Si Nian is her university professor. Through a series of events, they decide to get into a contractual relationship.
A perfect recommendation for those who love the contract love trope, Perfect and Casual will capture your heart with the fluffiness and their on-screen chemistry. A story to look forward to, with a cold male lead and a sunny, bright female lead, and how she melts the icy professor is worth watching.
- Airing Date: Sep 28, 2020 – Oct 20, 2020
- Cast: Wei Zhe Ming, Wei Zhe Ming, Margaux, Zhao Luo Ran, Sheng Gang Shuai, Dai Yun Fan
- Director: Shuang Li
- IMDb score: 7.8
- Number of episodes: 24
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
- Streaming Platform: iQIYI, WeTV, Viki.
2. Falling into Your Smile
This drama is very popular, and if you haven’t watched it yet, then this is your sign to give it a try. Tong Yao(Cheng Xiao) loses her video game-obsessed boyfriend and finds herself scouted to the professional esports team, ZGDX. She is the only female professional video game player and is determined to establish her presence and prove that girls can be excellent players in the esports industry.
Lu Sichen(Xu Kai), the leader of ZGDX, initially disapproves of her. A famous personality in the esports world followed by female fans, he rarely opens up his heart to anyone.
You can expect a lot of teasing and bickering here, but that surely would not disappoint you. Their budding romance and beautiful understanding and friendship between the team members will surely capture your heart. Lu Sichen, being every girl’s dream man, is another reason to add Falling into Your Smile to your watchlist.
- Airing Date: Jun 23, 2021 – Jul 15, 2021
- Cast: Xu Kai, Cheng Xiao, Zhai Xiao Wen, Yao Chi, Rachel Wang, Zhou Yi Ran
- Director: Qiu Zhong Wei
- IMDb score: 8.2
- Number of episodes: 31
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Youth, Sports
- Streaming Platform: Netflix, YouKu, TencentVideo
3. The Oath of Love
Another age-gap drama, Dating in the Kitchen, is a beautiful story of a young cellist and her father’s doctor. Lin Zhi Xiao(Zi Yang) is an aspiring cellist pursuing her passion for music. Her life completely changes when her father gets hospitalized for cancer.
There, she meets Gu Wei(Zhan Xiao), the doctor in charge. Young and mature, they eventually start spending time together discussing her father’s treatment and helping each other organize their thoughts.
This cute and realistic romance between two people going through tough times together will touch you deep inside. The calmness you can find here, the character growth, everything makes this a perfect drama to watch in a binge-watching session.
- Airing Date: Mar 15, 2022 – Mar 31, 2022
- Cast: Yang Zi, Xiao Zhan, Xia Zhi Qing, Hao Wen Ting, Daisy Li.
- Director: Lu Ying
- IMDb score: 7.9
- Number of episodes: 32
- Genres: Romance, Life, Youth, Drama
- Streaming Platform: TencentVideo, Amazon Prime Video, WeTV.
4. You are My Glory
Looking for some cute and wholesome romance? Make sure you check this out. The story follows a famous actress, Qiao Jingjing(Dilraba Dilmurat), and an aerospace engineer, Yu Tu(Yang Yang). To save herself from embarrassment as well as ensure her endorsement, Qiao Jingjing decides to devote all her free time to mastering ta skills of the video game she is the ambassador of.
To do so, she accidentally reaches out to her childhood crush, Yu Tu, to help her learn the game. The mischievousness, maturity of the characters, and wholesomeness of the characters will surely keep you hooked up to every scene of this drama. We can directly see how growing up changed their view of the world.
The way they connect and the way their fondness grows over time, this drama is a sure-shot recommendation for romance lovers.
- Airing Date: Jul 26, 2021 – Aug 16, 2021
- Cast: Yang Yang, Dilraba Dilmurat, Pan Yue Ming, Hu Ke.
- Director: Wang Zhi
- IMDb score: 8.3
- Number of episodes: 32
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Life, Drama.
- Streaming Platform: Prime Video, WeTV, Viki.
5. Please Feel at Ease, Mr. Ling
This is not typical of your poor girl and rich boy love story; it has a catch. Gu Anxin(Zhao Lusi) is a hardworking young woman working her best to make ends meet. One day, she suddenly gets into an accident with an unknown young man, Ling Yue(Te Liu), who ends up losing his memories.
Not knowing his identity and being left with high charges against her, she has no option but to take care of him until he gets better. As the story progresses, we are introduced to many new elements which make the show very interesting.
Some conflicts and some misunderstandings spice up the show. Not to mention, we also have a very cute and sweet romance in here. It is a must-watch for those who enjoy tension as well as romance and comedy in a single show.
- Airing Date: May 20, 2021 – Jun 9, 2021
- Cast: Zhao Lu Si, Liu Te, Yana Zhang, Daisy Li.
- Director: Zhong Qing
- IMDb score: 7.6
- Number of episodes: 24
- Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama.
- Streaming Platform: Viki Rakuten.
6. Love Scenery
Older female lead and younger male lead. You definitely cannot get over how much cuteness oozes out of the show. Lu Jing (Lin Yi) is a 4th year student of computer science and also a hardcore fan of the famous singer Zhu Liang Chen (Lulu Xu). After accidentally meeting an unknown gamer online, Lu Jing starts playing regularly, unaware the player is none other than his favorite singer.
The warmth and simplicity of the story, the scenes that will make you crackle up with laughter in almost every episode, and the chemistry will pull you into their world. It is a beautiful story of mutual growth in relationships. The show is kind of slow at first, but after a few episodes, it picks up the pace, changing the attractiveness completely.
- Airing Date: Apr 8, 2021 – May 1, 2021
- Cast: Xu Lu, Lin Yi, Hu Bing, Hu Yun Hao, Zhong Dan Ni, Jiang Yu Wei.
- Director: Zoe Qin
- IMDb score: 8.2
- Number of episodes: 31
- Genres: Music, Comedy, Romance
- Streaming Platform: iQIYI
7. She and Her Perfect Husband
The story of two people forced into marriage. Qin Shi(Mi Yang) is a lawyer, single, and focused on her career. Having excellent capabilities, she joins a top law firm, but the only condition is that she has to be married. Unaware of this factor, she later finds out that she is married while attending a party.
That’s when Yang Hua(Xu Kai) appears as her “husband”. He was forced by his mother into this matchmaking session. Seeking help from Qin Shi, they decide to register their marriage, and later, Qin Shi’s ex-boyfriend appears in the scene.
It is understandable that the story might sound complicated, but it is actually worth giving it a shot. The way the main leads trust each other, the clarity in their actions, and the mutual understanding is really worth watching. A highly recommended drama to add to your watchlist.
- Airing Date: Nov 14, 2022 – Dec 11, 2022
- Cast: Yang Mi, Xu Kai, Li Ze Feng, Tang Jing Mei, Wang Zi Xuan, Liu Lin.
- Director: Lin Yan
- IMDb score: 7.4
- Number of episodes: 40
- Genres: Law, Romance
- Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime Video, Viki Rakuten, WeTV, iQIYI.
8. Begin Again
Lu Fangning (Zhou Yutong) is the general manager of one of the biggest home furnishing companies. She is strong, competent, and beautiful but eventually succumbs to family pressure to marry. Setting her eyes on the calm and charming Doctor Ling Rui(Jun Gong), she keeps on trying to get married to him, which she actually succeeds in doing.
The story of this drama might sound cliche and repetitive, but it is not. The videography and the acting are so beautifully delivered that even if you predict what is going to happen, you will still enjoy every scene to the fullest. There are many “laugh out loud” moments, so funny and so much entertaining.
Even the side characters were portrayed so beautifully. The story even has a time skip (no spoilers will be given), which actually increases the beauty of the storyline. It is actually interesting to see everyone has character development. Such a well-written story, Begin Again is surely good enough to enjoy with your loved ones.
- Airing Date: Oct 29, 2020 – Dec 5, 2020
- Cast: Zhou Yu Tong, Gong Jun, Garvey Jin, Wu Man Si, Li Si Qi, Liu Wei Long.
- Director: Xu Chi
- IMDb score: 7.4
- Number of episodes: 35
- Genres: Business, Comedy, Romance.
- Streaming Platform: WeTV, Viki Rakuten, iQKIYI.
9. Shooting Stars
If you are more open to watching dramas in different languages, you can surely try out this K-Drama. Oh Han Byeol(Lee Sung-Kyoung) is the team leader of the PR management team of a big entertainment corporation. Gong Tae Sung(Kim Young-Dae) has lived his life in the spotlight and has an image to maintain, a calm, well-behaved image that is a complete contrast to his actual character.
Only known by his closest people, he is usually very hot-tempered, for which Oh Han Byul has to work very hard. To add more to the story, the male lead and the female lead were friends since their college days. The story of the side characters was written so well that you would not want to skip any moment of their screen time.
With no unnecessary plot twists and tension, Shooting Stars will make you laugh like crazy. The duo is more like enemies to lovers where they are not actually enemies but are always at odds with each other.
Their friendship was for more than 10 years. The way they portrayed their friendship was so funny that you can actually relate to it. Loaded with lots of wholesome moments, this quirky and funny show is definitely worth giving a shot.
- Airing Date: Apr 22, 2022 – Jun 11, 2022
- Cast: Lee Sung Kyoung, Kim Young Dae, Yoon Jong Hoon, Kim Yoon Hye, Park So Jin, Lee Jung Shin.
- Director: Lee Soo Hyun
- IMDb score: 7.6
- Number of episodes: 16
- Genres: Comedy, Romance, Drama
- Streaming Platform: Netflix, Viki Rakuten, iQIYI.
10. Oh My Ghost
Another K-drama to add to your watchlist, Oh My Ghost, is such a wholesome show. Underconfident and timid Na Bong Sun (Park Bo-Young) can see ghosts from an early age. One day, she gets possessed by a confident virgin ghost who is intent on hooking up with her boss, a restaurant owner and chef, Kang Sun Woo(Jo Jung Sook).
Na Bong Sun works as an assistant chef at Kang Sun Woo’s restaurant. She particularly gets yelled at due to being not of much use to the restaurant. Kang Sun Woo can be seen as an arrogant character in the beginning, but he starts to change when the lustful ghost sets her claws on him.
Oh My Ghost might seem cliche, but it is pretty different from other similar tropes. Here, we can see how he loves both sides of Na Bong Soon, not knowing the brighter side is actually the spirit possessing her body. We can visibly see how she has great character development. Two famous actors side by side and a great supporting cast make the show beautiful all over.
- Airing Date: Jul 3, 2015 – Aug 22, 2015
- Cast: Park Bo Young, Jo Jung Suk, Kim Seul Gi, Im Joo Hwan, Kang Ki Young.
- Director: Yoo Je Won
- IMDb score: 8.0
- Number of episodes: 16
- Genres: Thriller, Comedy, Romance, Supernatural.
- Streaming Platform: Viki Rakuten
