Monday is the hardest day of the week. You get home tired, overstimulated, and ready to switch off. K-dramas are built for this. The best ones do not demand your full attention every second. They pull you in slowly, keep you company, and make an hour feel like a gift. Here are five K-dramas to queue up after a long, hectic Monday.
Reply 1988 (2015)
Network: tvN | Episodes: 20 | Streaming: Netflix
This is the comfort drama that most K-drama fans return to more than once.
Set in the Ssangmun-dong neighbourhood of Seoul in 1988, the show follows five childhood friends and their families living side by side in the same alley. The five leads are Deok-sun (Hyeri), Jung-hwan (Ryu Jun-yeol), Sun-woo (Go Kyung-pyo), Dong-ryong (Lee Dong-hwi), and Taek (Park Bo-gum). Each character carries a distinct personality and a full family life behind them.
The drama aired on tvN between November 2015 and January 2016. It ran for 20 episodes. Each episode clocks in at over an hour, so it is not a quick watch. But the pacing is intentionally slow and warm. Nothing explodes. Nobody is chasing anyone. It is just neighbours cooking, arguing, eating together, and growing up.
The show is set against the backdrop of 1988 Seoul during the Olympic Games, following the journeys of five friends living with their families in the same neighbourhood. The production uses real cultural markers from the era, including fashion, food, and music, to recreate the period.
Reply 1988 holds a 9.0 rating on IMDb from over 9,700 votes on AsianWiki. Many viewers describe it as comfort food. It can make you laugh, cry, and think about your own life, and even years after its release, new viewers continue to discover it.
Also Read: 5 K-dramas to watch if you’re a chaotic overthinker
My Mister (2018)
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Streaming: Netflix, Apple TV
My Mister is slower and heavier than a typical evening drama pick. But it is the kind of heavy that settles the noise inside your head.
The show was written by Park Hae-young, directed by Kim Won-seok, and starred Lee Sun-kyun and IU (Lee Ji-eun). It aired on tvN from March to May 2018, running across 16 episodes.
The story follows Park Dong-hoon (Lee Sun-kyun), a middle-aged engineer stuck in a job under a boss who is younger and less capable than him. His home life offers no relief. He crosses paths with Lee Ji-an (IU), a young woman carrying debts, a disabled grandmother, and a history of being alone. The two begin to see each other clearly in a way that no one else in their lives does.
It is not a romance in the conventional sense. It is a story about two people who are exhausted by life and find something steady in each other’s presence. On a Monday evening, that specific kind of quiet resonates.
IU and Lee Sun-kyun were both widely praised for their performances. The show holds a 9.0 rating on IMDb. Each episode runs roughly 70 to 90 minutes.
Hospital Playlist (2020)
Network: tvN | Episodes: 12 (Season 1), 12 (Season 2) | Streaming: Netflix
Hospital Playlist is exactly what it sounds like and also nothing like what you expect.
The show was created by the same writer-director team behind the Reply franchise, Lee Woo-jung and Shin Won-ho. Season one aired on tvN every Thursday from March to May 2020. By the end of the first season, the series became the ninth highest-rated Korean drama in cable television history.
The series follows five doctors in their 40s who have been best friends since entering medical school in 1999. They work at the same hospital during the day and play together as a band at night. The five leads are played by Jo Jung-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Dae-myung, and Jeon Mi-do.
The medical cases are real and sometimes heartbreaking. But the show never lingers in despair. Critics have described Hospital Playlist as the TV equivalent of comfort food. The core friendship is warm and engaging, and the five doctors share the kind of relationship that is akin to a close-knit family.
This is a drama that does not rely on a main villain or a central conflict. It simply shows what a good life, good friends, and meaningful work can look like. After a day of office politics and back-to-back meetings, that is exactly the kind of television you need.
When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025)
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 16 | Streaming: Netflix
This is the biggest Korean drama of 2025 by any measure.
Written by Im Sang-choon and directed by Kim Won-seok, When Life Gives You Tangerines stars IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, and Park Hae-joon. Netflix released the series every Friday from March 7 to March 28, 2025.
The drama won four awards, including Best Drama, at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards. At the 2025 APAN Star Awards, IU took home the Daesang, the Grand Prize, and the show also won Best Drama and Best Director.
The story begins in 1950s Jeju Island. It follows Oh Ae-sun (IU), an aspiring poet who lost both parents, and Yang Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum), the steady and devoted man who loves her from the start. The narrative moves back and forth between their youth in Jeju and their life together in 2000s Seoul after marrying and having children.
The production budget was reported at approximately 60 billion KRW, around 41.5 million USD, making it the most expensive K-drama produced to date.
It is not a light watch. But it is a slow, beautiful one. The Jeju cinematography is exceptional. The performances from IU and Park Bo-gum are both measured and deeply felt. Put this on when you want something that actually means something.
Tastefully Yours (2025)
Network: ENA, Genie TV | Episodes: 10 | Streaming: Netflix
If the first four options feel too heavy for a Monday, this is the one.
Tastefully Yours is set and filmed in Jeonju, South Korea, a city known for its culinary heritage. The show aired on ENA and Genie TV beginning May 12, 2025, and ran for 10 episodes. International viewers can stream it on Netflix in select regions.
The series was directed by Park Dan-hee and written by Jung Soo-yoon. It stars Kang Ha-neul and Go Min-si as the two leads.
The story follows Han Beom-u, the successor of a large food company who runs Seoul’s best fine dining restaurant but has no real interest in flavour, and Mo Yeon-ju, a chef who runs a one-table restaurant in a remote corner of Jeonju. The two grow together and fall in love while running a small restaurant in the city.
The show is light, funny, and visually appetizing. Jeonju’s food culture gives the whole thing a warm, grounded texture. At 10 episodes of one hour each, it is entirely bingeable across a few weekday evenings. It does not try to be anything more than what it is: a clean, well-made romance built around good food and two stubborn people.
It is the K-drama equivalent of a proper meal after a long day. Filling, satisfying, and exactly what you needed without knowing you needed it.