Three Meals a Day () is a South Korean reality cooking show broadcast on tvN. The cast live in a small rural or fishing village for three days a week and are tasked to use whatever food they find there to cook three meals a day. They also experience village life while interacting with the locals and entertain various celebrity guests for dinner.
Nine seasons aired from October 2014 to July 2020 on Friday nights at various time slots. Each season featured different locations and casts, according to various themes. There are four themes in total: Jeongseon Village and Fishing Village, which recur across multiple seasons; Gochang Village; and an all-female cast edition Mountain Village.
Two web spin-offs featuring various cast members of New Journey to the West were also produced and released on producer Na Young-seok's YouTube channel. Three Meals in Iceland was released from September 20 to November 29, 2019, while Three Meals a Day for Four, featuring Sechs Kies, was released from May 15 to July 24, 2020.
In October 2021, a third spin-off was released for television broadcast, featuring the cast of hit drama series Hospital Playlist.
Production The idea for Three Meals a Day came about from a joke on Grandpas Over Flowers, which producer-director Na Young-seok and actor Lee Seo-jin had worked together on previously. Due to his poor cooking skills while filming Grandpas Over Flowers, the production crew jokingly nicknamed Lee the "Cooking King." This became a running gag about Lee starring in a fake cooking show titled Cooking King Seo-jinnie, a parody of the popular drama series Bread, Love and Dreams, which eventually materialised into Three Meals a Day.
Lee was cast for the first season of the series, also the first of the Jeongseon Village editions, alongside former Wonderful Days co-star Ok Taecyeon. In the second Jeongseon Village edition, former guest Kim Kwang-kyu joined the two as a regular cast member. On top of the regular cooking premise, the trio were given the additional task of growing and harvesting crops from spring to early fall, with grocery shopping strictly prohibited.
The first four seasons of Three Meals a Day in 2014 and 2015 alternated between the Jeongseon Village and Fishing Village editions, showcasing different seasons in different locations. Cha Seung-won, Yoo Hae-jin and Son Ho-jun formed a separate cast for the first two Fishing Village editions. In 2016, this cast filmed in a new location for the standalone Gochang Village edition, alongside new member Nam Joo-hyuk.
Later in October 2016, it was announced that Lee Seo-jin would return for a new season, a year after his last appearance in Jeongseon Village 2. New cast members Eric Mun and Yoon Kyun-sang joined him for Fishing Village 3, filmed on a new island location. The same cast returned in 2017 to the same location, but were tasked with island farming instead of fishing, hence the Seaside Ranch subtitle for the fourth Fishing Village edition.
On July 1, 2019, it was confirmed that actresses Yum Jung-ah, Yoon Se-ah and Park So-dam had joined the first all-female cast for the Mountain Village edition, which began airing in August.
In 2020, the original Fishing Village cast returned for the theme's fifth edition. Unlike previous editions, this season was filmed on an uninhabited island due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing.
Overview SeasonTitle Location Broadcast date No. of episodes Time slot (KST) Ref. 1 Three Meals a Day: Jeongseon Village JS Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province October 17 – December 26, 2014 11 21:50 – 23:10 2 Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village F Manjae Island (Sinan-gun, South Jeolla Province) January 23 – March 20, 2015 9 21:45 – 23:10 3 Three Meals a Day: Jeongseon Village 2 JS Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province May 15 – September 11, 2015 18 21:45 – 23:25 4 Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village 2 F Manjae Island (Sinan-gun, South Jeolla Province) October 9 – December 11, 2015 10 5 Three Meals a Day: Gochang Village Gochang County, North Jeolla Province July 1 – September 16, 2016 12 6 Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village 3 F Deukryang Island(Goheung County, South Jeolla Province) October 14 – December 30, 2016 12 21:15 – 23:00 7 Three Meals a Day: Seaside Ranch F August 4 – October 20, 2017 12 21:50 – 23:25 8 Three Meals a Day: Mountain Village M Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province August 9 – October 18, 2019 11 21:10 – 23:00 9 Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village 5 F Jukgul Island (Wando County, South Jeolla Province) May 1 – July 10, 2020 11 21:10 – 23:00 Spin-off 2 Three Meals for Four M Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province May 15 – July 24, 2020 10 Fridays, 23:00 – 23:15 Spin-off 3 Three Meals a Day: Doctors M Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province October 8, 2021 to December 3, 2021 8 Fridays, 20:50 – 22:25
Cast NameSeason(s)Ref. Jeongseon Village Fishing Village Gochang Village Mountain Village Lee Seo-jin 1 234 Ok Taec-yeon 1 2 Cha Seung-won 1 25 ✓ Yoo Hae-jin 1 25✓ Son Ho-jun 1 25✓ Kim Kwang-kyu2 Nam Joo-hyuk ✓Eric Mun 34 Yoon Kyun-sang 34 Yum Jung-ah ✓ Yoon Se-ah ✓ Park So-dam ✓ Eun Ji-won ✓ Jang Su-won ✓ Kim Jae-duck ✓ Lee Jae-jin ✓ Jeon Mi-do✓ Jo Jung-suk✓Jung Kyung-ho✓Kim Dae-myung✓ Yoo Yeon-seok✓
List of episodes, guests and ratings In the tables below, represent the lowest ratings of the season and represent the highest ratings of the season.
Jeongseon Village Jeongseon Village 1
In the first episode, the production crew introduces the below rules for the cast's village experience:
All ingredients used, except rice, must come from their farm Every meal has to follow a pre-determined menu Preparation for winter should be undertaken during their free time Cell phones will be taken away to aid integration into farming life
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest(s) AGB Ratings NotesNationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 October 17, 2014 Youn Yuh-jung, Choi Hwa-jung 2October 24, 2014 Shin Goo, Baek Il-seob 5.729% 6.484% 3October 31, 2014 Kim Kwang-kyu 6.697% 7.765% 4November 7, 2014 6.963% 8.099% Kim Ji-ho 5 November 14, 2014 Ryu Seung-soo 6.984% 8.859% 6 November 21, 2014 Go Ara 7.231% 9.169% 7 November 28, 2014 Son Ho-jun, Choi Ji-woo 7.799% 8.990% 8December 5, 2014 8.177% 9.277% Lee Soon-jae, Kim Yeong-cheol 9 December 12, 2014 Lee Seung-gi, Kim Kwang-kyu 8.746% 9.368% 10December 19, 2014 Lee Seung-gi, Kim Kwang-kyu, Youn Yuh-jung, Choi Hwa-jung 11 December 26, 2014 — 5.748% 6.274% Average
Jeongseon Village 2
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest(s) AGB RatingsNationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 May 15, 2015 — 7.886% 8.775% 2 May 22, 2015 Park Shin-hye 7.477% 8.006% 3 May 29, 2015 8.240% 8.783% 4 June 5, 2015 Ji Sung 8.857% 9.958% 5 June 12, 2015 8.685% 10.079% 6 June 19, 2015 BoA, Yoo Hae-jin 8.432% 9.872% 7 June 26, 2015 10.500% 11.419% 8 July 3, 2015 Kim Ha-neul 11.990% 13.805% 9 July 10, 2015 11.197% 12.258% 10 July 17, 2015 Choi Ji-woo 11 July 24, 2015 10.918% 11.878% 12 July 31, 2015 Son Ho-jun 10.310% 9.742% 13 August 7, 2015 Hong Seok-cheon 10.654% 11.564% 14 August 14, 2015 Lee Sun-kyun 10.188% 11.053% 15 August 21, 2015 11.165% 12.180% 16 August 28, 2015 Park Shin-hye 11.112% 12.091% 17 September 4, 2015 10.766% 11.933% 18 September 11, 2015 — Average
Fishing Village Fishing Village 1
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest AGB RatingsNotesNationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 January 23, 2015 — 9.676% 10.052% 2 January 30, 2015 Son Ho-jun 10.413% 12.118% 3 February 6, 2015 10.549% 10.590% 4 February 13, 2015 — 12.381% 13.941% 5 February 20, 2015 Jung Woo 13.018% 6 February 27, 2015 12.810% 13.658% 7 March 6, 2015 Choo Sung-hoon 13.042% 8 March 13, 2015 12.838% 13.703% 9 March 20, 2015 — Average
Fishing Village 2
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest AGB RatingsNationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 October 9, 2015 Park Hyung-sik 12.815% 14.258% 2 October 16, 2015 12.890% 14.103% 3 October 23, 2015 11.862% 13.558% 4 October 30, 2015 Lee Jin-wook 5 November 6, 2015 11.671% 11.231% 6 November 13, 2015 11.503% 13.226% 7 November 20, 2015 — 12.336% 13.015% 8 November 27, 2015 Yoon Kye-sang 11.600% 12.700% 9 December 4, 2015 11.732% 12.345% 10 December 11, 2015 — Average
Fishing Village 3
Ep. # Broadcast Date AGB Ratings TNmS RatingsNationwide Seoul Capital Area Nationwide 1 October 14, 2016 11.788% 2 October 21, 2016 9.661% 10.038% 11.0% 3 October 28, 2016 10.587% 10.306% 11.6% 4 November 4, 2016 10.057% 9.769% 11.1% 5 November 11, 2016 9.934% 9.843% 10.6% 6 November 18, 2016 10.036% 10.529% 11.4% 7 November 25, 2016 9.685% 10.369% 10.6% 8 December 2, 2016 10.646% 11.464% 11.4% 9 December 9, 2016 10.169% 11.736% 11.1% 10 December 16, 2016 11.395% 11.588% 12.4% 11 December 23, 2016 10.866% 10.6% 12 December 30, 2016 Average
Seaside Ranch (Fishing Village 4)
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest AGB Ratings TNmS RatingsRef.Nationwide Seoul Capital Area Nationwide 1 August 4, 2017 Han Ji-min 11.403% 2 August 11, 2017 9.233% 9.812% 9.8% 3 August 18, 2017 9.817% 11.431% 10.0% 4 August 25, 2017 Lee Je-hoon 8.740% 9.595% 9.1% 5 September 1, 2017 8.330% 9.003% 8.2% 6 September 8, 2017 Seolhyun (AOA) 9.116% 9.388% 10.0% 7 September 15, 2017 8.764% 9.681% 8.6% 8 September 22, 2017 Lee Jong-suk 9.810% 9.5% 9 September 29, 2017 8.580% 9.250% 8.9% 10 October 6, 2017 Shinhwa (Lee Min-woo, Andy Lee) 9.049% 9.641% 7.9%11October 13, 2017 9.085% 10.162% 9.0% 12 October 20, 2017 — Average
Fishing Village 5
Ep. # Broadcast Date Guest AGB Ratings Ref.Nationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 May 1, 2020 — 9.276% 2 May 8, 2020 Gong Hyo-jin 9.842% 10.818% 3 May 15, 2020 12.188% 12.814% 4 May 22, 2020 11.378% 12.580% 5 May 29, 2020 Lee Kwang-soo 11.472% 12.503% 6 June 5, 2020 10.869% 12.228% 7 June 12, 2020 11.194% 12.931% 8 June 19, 2020 — 10.981% 11.645% 9 June 26, 2020 Lee Seo-jin 10 July 3, 2020 11.686% 12.613% 11 July 10, 2020 — 9.427% Average
Gochang Village
After two Fishing Village editions, Cha Seung-won, Yoo Hae-jin and Son Ho-jun are reunited in their first inland location in Gochang County, joined by Nam Joo-hyuk. In order to buy groceries, they have to provide farm labour for which they are paid hourly wages. Through the series, they experience various farming activities: planting rice, rearing ducks, and picking black raspberries, watermelons, sweet potatoes, grapes, muskmelons and pears.
Ep. # Broadcast Date AGB Ratings TNmS RatingsNationwide Seoul Capital Area Nationwide 1 July 1, 2016 10.785% 10.957% 10.7% 2 July 8, 2016 10.181% 10.572% 8.8% 3 July 15, 2016 9.4% 4 July 22, 2016 10.564% 11.591% 10.3% 5 July 29, 2016 11.056% 12.075% 10.3% 6 August 5, 2016 10.194% 10.127% 12.0% 7 August 12, 2016 9.164% 9.833% 10.4% 8 August 19, 2016 8.971% 9.376% 11.9% 9 August 26, 2016 10.840% 11.630% 10 September 2, 2016 9.478% 9.306% 11.3% 11 September 9, 2016 9.328% 9.483% 10.6% 12 September 16, 2016 Average
Mountain Village
Episode # Broadcast Date Guest AGB Ratings Ref.Nationwide Seoul Capital Area 1 August 9, 2019 Jung Woo-sung 7.231% 7.507% 2 August 16, 2019 3 August 23, 2019 7.243% 7.200% 4 August 30, 2019 Oh Na-ra 7.122% 7.236% 5 September 6, 2019 6.635% 6.338% 6 September 13, 2019 Nam Joo-hyuk 5.614% 5.683% 7 September 20, 2019 6.671% 6.913% 8 September 27, 2019 6.184% 5.652% 9 October 4, 2019 Park Seo-joon 6.886% 7.141% 10 October 11, 2019 6.895% 6.812% 11 October 18, 2019 Average
Spin-offs The first two spin-offs of Three Meals a Day were "hybrid" programs produced for both online release and television broadcast. Short highlight videos between 5 and 15 minutes were broadcast on tvN, with the full episodes released on "Channel 15ya" (), a YouTube channel run by producer Na Young-seok and his team. Both spin-offs were born from New Journey to the West, another series produced by producer Na, and feature some of its cast.