You'll salivate over the food, swoon over the ML (who delivers a pretty heartfelt speech/confession), cheer for the supportive BFF, and wish you could be as awesome as the FL. Dine with Love is a genuinely lovely romance depicting the realistic struggles and dynamics of a modern relationship. Sure, there are cliches and tropes, but there also aren't any goofy/silly antics either. Gao Hanyu showcased his potential to be a romantic lead in Love is Sweet, so it is wonderful to see him take on that role here opposite a radiant Jade Cheng, who portrays a very smart and extremely capable female lead. (There's not enough of them in C dramas!) Except for the loser ex-bf, the supporting cast is great too -- even the annoying influencer turns out to be cute and likable.

The show, structured more like a K-drama at 16 episodes of 75 minutes each with a much shorter opening credit sequence, was perhaps at its strongest in the first four and final episodes. Even with its flaws, however -- the pacing and storytelling was somewhat uneven in the middle -- it did a good job depicting the challenges of work/life harmony and the consequences when that balance is off kilter.

I had to ignore the auto Mango subs, which were beyond atrocious and almost useless. I genuinely hope this one gets picked up by Viki or Netflix so that it can get the proper subbing and wider audience it deserves.

For those wanting a more satisfying ending, there is a 23 minute epilogue as well that Mango released on YouTube.