Our Dining Table

Restored my appetite for food and life

If you are ever in need of a healing/comfort drama, this is the series for you. Calling this a BL does not feel very fitting, as the romance aspect took the backseat, allowing other themes to shine. This is the ultimate found family, hurt/comfort, and slice of life drama to me, with the added bonus of a warm love story.

If you're used to the fast-paced romance centric series, you might see this as an extreme slow burn. However, please stick through and finish this, I promise you won't regret it.

Yutaka and Minoru are just two very earnest and lovely individuals who are both fighting their own demons. Tane, the little angel, brought Yutaka into their family and each member of the family made it so easy for Yutaka to feel a sense of belonging. Every meal invite is very genuine and intentional. Yutaka's love for his newfound family is so heart warming - the way he goes out of his way to make sure he can make the best bento for Tane is just so tender. Minoru, Yutaka, and Minoru's dad became each other's safe space, and I love that they showed the gradual trust they built between the three of them.

I also love how they presented food in this series. Both Minoru and Yutaka have their struggle with food and eating - Yutaka just eating the easiest thing he could find/make just for survival, and Minoru losing his appetite in life which extends to his food too. However because they met each other, Yutaka became more intentional in his cooking to provide the best meal for Tane and Minoru, while Minoru started to found passion in his life again which showed in him starting to cook more of his late mother's recipe. The whole food aspect was presented so well that it inspired me to cook for the first time in a month - they helped me regain my appetite for food and life.

One thing this drama could improve is the fleshing out of Yutaka's family issues and its resolution. It feels half baked and I didn't feel like his sense of abandonment and exclusion was properly addressed.

Despite its flaws, this series will remain one of my healing series and I am so grateful to have watched this.

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heartfelt and very sweet (minor spoilers)

Our Dining Table is a great mix of fluffy and emotional. The way their relationships (Yutaka and Minoru, and also Yutaka and Tane) grew from strangers to friends to honestly family was so touching. I loved all the hints we got of the relationship between Yutaka and Minoru growing, and getting to see them figure out how to be there for each other and communicate was really nice. The angsty moment they had was delicious too

Tane was such a bright spot, I loved every scene he was in. He was acted really well, not just when he was happy but when he was sad and sick too. I also really liked Mr. Ueda, he was funny and such a matchmaker, but when he did have more serious scenes he really nailed them. The memories of Mrs. Ueda were really touching too

I really loved everything about this show except that the actors had no chemistry when they kissed.... That one part was super awkward lmao and kind of disappointing! But everything else was so good that it didn't really hinder my experience much

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Another solid adaptation in the always welcoming intersection between cooking delicious food and queer stories. Which seems a specific niche, but we're getting a bunch of them, and I'm thankful for it.

I read this manga a while ago and re-read it when I found out it was being adapted because it's such a cute, heartfelt, sweet short manga and the adaptation is successful in representing all of that. Both tell the story of a reserved and taciturn young man who meets a little boy and his scary looking older brother, a meeting that will prompt them to connect and learn what it means to develop a found family.

The adaptation of the story isn't exactly beat by beat, the drama expands on some things the manga doesn't get involved in and changes some things from their manga order, but does so in a way in which it feels organic for the new format and doesn't take away from the story.

The biggest change from source material to live action, I think, is the perspective in with Yutaka's family is seen. The manga doesn't have much of an intention for Yutaka to mend any bridges with his family and instead focuses on his newfound one with Minoru, but the live action changed that view and goes into Yutaka's family more in order to have a different take on that relationship. That is more of a choice of what kind of story you want to tell, I don't think either is better, it's just a matter of narrative intent for each one.

I have to commend them on finding a little kid who could be as adorable as Tane is in the manga, which seems impossible but they did it.

Another solid entry in the cooking adaptations and totally recommended for those who seek some cozy warm feelings and the story of people finding where they belong.

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Healing for the tarnished souls ❤️

Where do I even begin. Literally made an account just to review this and that's how good it is. The story, the acting, the improvisations, everything is perfect. I've read the manga and it was amazing. But this is the first time that the serialisation is even better than its original manga version. Usually improvisations to a manga just makes it worse but oh my God!! The makers nailed it on this one!!! It's literally is perfect. You can really feel the emotions portrayed by each one of them. No overacting, no unnecessary story stretch. The main leads nailed every single emotion they had to show. I loved everything single character. Yutaka, Minoru, Tane, their dad, the coworker, even Minoru's shop manager; all of them have my heart ❤️. I wish they get the recognition they deserve. The Thai BLs haven't been upto mark since a long time but still get a lot of hype. But BLs such as this one remain underrated which is so disappointing. I hope I got my point through that it's perfect in every way. I wish I could explain more but I'll end up giving spoilers away. So if you plan on watching this, grab yourself your favourite drink, get cozy and be ready for the most soothing ride you'll have in a while. You'll be happy and satisfied by the end. Just go for it.❤️❤️100/10!!
Just wanted to add that Minoru and Yutaka are the greenest flags you'll find. Their communication and understanding is absolutely beautiful 💚

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It was such a cute show.

It was exactly what you expect in a Japanese bl. It was so cute!!!! I loved it!! It had it's up's and down's but defiantly worth watching. The way that they involve all the different characters in a way that you wouldn't expect. Or the problems that the individuals face. It had a good story line and overall a great and enjoyable show! I loved it. Defiantly watch. Amazing. Super. The best. Just to cute to handle. Ok now i need 500 charecters and have no idea what else to say without spoilers? So i'll just repeat watch it until i reach the right amount of words! Watch it! Watch it! Watch it!

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Watch this when you need to be healed.

Just a perfect drama. Watching this feels like a warm hug at the end of a long day.

While so many BLs have toxic characters, miscommunication built in as a plot point, and tropes stuffed in to the gills, Our Dining Table comes in quietly and softly. The characters are so realistic without being awkward or forced. The dialogue and interactions are never overly dramatic for the sake of it. This is as much a love story as it is a story about friendship and family, and finding "your place" in the world.

I could pull this apart with all of the things that make it so good, but it needs to be experienced!

I think everyone should watch this drama at least once, it is setting a new standard of the shorter episode BLs for me and will absolutely be rewatched as a comfort show. This was a healing experience!

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I kinda shock when this series came out. I just finished the manga night before, then suddenly the live action out already. Like im not even complaining because inukai in here. He was everywhere in jbl that year. At first im not sure how this serie turns out, because of tane is really the cutest character alive, but the child actor really did the best apart for through the series, and im glad they dont change most of the actual plot of manga. Except when hteir first kiss, it actually happen on the lips but it more refreshing and make sense when minoru did it on the cheek. Like they barely even make skinship, so that must be weird when you doing at the lips. As for tane i hope you doing gret boy, because your yukata is actually minoru's. hahahaha...

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Most wholesome bl I've ever seen!!!

Everything in it was really cute and so wholesome that it melts my heart to this day. The drama is really light and the plot is so easy to follow through. Really love this short ass drama. Indeed a slow placed drama that gently takes and tells the viewer where the story flows.

Plot: I can safely say, this was easy to understand not complicated and pretty unique. The sense of belongingness that Yutaka craves was found at this small family of Minoru. It didn't felt so stretched. I was satisfied how neatly written and laid out the plot was. It didn't make me think, they could have just jammed it all in in just few episodes. I know there's not much anything going on the two leads for the most eps til we reach eps 8-10.5 but that didn't felt dragged in a sense that I expect them to fall in love in the first few eps. I didn't think that's something I should expect. I just immersed myself to the cuteness and gentleness of this series. It's basically just that moment where Yutaka shared his food with the kid then got invited by Minoru in their house. I get the feeling of loneliness of Yutaka longing to be belonged and that just stroke a chord with me. That gap really felt real to me. One might say this is their comfort series and I won't really blame them.

Cast & Acting: The cast was also something I should praise them. Although it's not a groundbreaking cast or impactful acting performance but they really did well setting the tone of the series. Not too much dramatized scenes. The acting felt casual or natural. The kid really sold me. He's so cute and adorable and really acted naturally. He's one that made the series cute. The two leads have chemistry with each other and how they interact with each other felt clean. There's no disconnection I felt as a viewer toward their chemistry. Inukai (Yutaka) really showed his emotion (that scene where he was teary-eyed talking to Minoru's father) when needed. Sometimes I felt portrayal of Minoru is giving Sarawat vibes. How stoic he was every EP but not necessarily a problem for me to pinpoint. The kiss ain't really felt awkward either. The dad of Minoru and the kid is just light-hearted and we love it! The exchange in dialogues not felt off. The brother of Yutaka's foster family is bland and more stoic than Minoru. He's the only the least liked character of mine. Just hating on Yutaka but I just love that in the end he really meant well and took care of Yutaka when he was sick. The other cast are fine. Not much problem here. All did well I guess.

OST: Good not much to say.

Overall opinion:
This was really good especially if u want something easy to follow plot, good cast and not complicated in any aspect of bl. I didn't see much cliche here or BL trope we used to encounter in BLs out there. Overall this was a wholesome watch and who knows I might watch it again whenever I miss it. Definitely a great series to pass the time and probably the best Japan BL I've seen in years!!

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