JTBC’s weekend drama ‘Final Table’ has climbed to the top of Disney+ Korea’s series chart in its first week on air, while also breaking into Prime Video’s Top 10 TV shows across five Southeast Asian markets. According to the drama’s production side on October 27, the series ranked No. 1 on Disney+ Korea’s Top 10 Series on Monday, October 26, just days after its premiere, and entered the Top 10 TV shows in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand on Amazon Prime Video, based on FlixPatrol rankings from the same day.
The streaming showing stands in contrast to the drama’s television start. Nielsen Korea recorded a nationwide rating of 1.9 percent among paid households for the first episode, which aired on October 24, according to Aju Press. The early streaming numbers suggest a different reception online, where the cooking competition premise and the intertwined backstories of its leads appear to be finding an audience beyond the linear broadcast.
In South Korea, ‘Final Table’ streams exclusively on Disney+, while international viewers watch it on Amazon Prime Video. The third episode is scheduled to air on JTBC on October 31, and the coming weeks will test whether the first-week streaming momentum can be sustained as the competition storyline develops.
The drama follows Kang Han, played by Ahn Hyo Seop, a genius chef who joins forces with Choi Song-i, played by Hong Hwa Yeon, the manager of the restaurant Familia. The two come from different lives but share a grievance against the Pyeongyeon Group, and they decide to enter a cooking survival competition together. The competition, billed as ‘The Table: K Chef 2026,’ aims to select Korea’s best chef, and the pair’s shared motive gives their partnership a personal stake beyond the contest itself.
The supporting characters add further layers to the story. Cha Woo-jin, played by Jang Ryul, is described as Korea’s top chef, yet he is tormented by threats from his stepfather, while Seon Jeong-won, played by Jung Yoo Jin, is the executive producer pouring herself into preparing the survival show. SportsWorld, which first reported the chart results, noted that the mix of a high-stakes cooking contest and the characters’ complicated relationships has driven early interest in the series.
The second episode, which aired on October 25, set up the central partnership. Kang Han was preparing to leave for New York when Choi Song-i tracked him down at the airport and pleaded with him to help restore her late father’s reputation, after her father was unfairly victimized by the Pyeongyeon Group. Reminded of his own painful past and the loss of his father, which he also connects to the conglomerate, Kang Han decided not to board his flight. Watching a promotional video for ‘The Table: K Chef 2026’ featuring Pyeongyeon Group chairwoman Moon Hae-sun, played by Jang Young Nam, he told Choi Song-i, “Let’s do this together,” committing the pair to the competition.
The premiere on October 24 introduced Kang Han as a chef returning after years overseas, where he had honed his cooking in seclusion before preparing a memorial table for his late father. Visiting Familia, a restaurant filled with childhood memories, he was angered by its deteriorated food quality and stormed into the kitchen, where he clashed with Choi Song-i, who is struggling to keep the restaurant afloat after losing her father. The episode ended with a kitchen accident involving a fire extinguisher, establishing the combative but fateful dynamic between the two leads.
‘Final Table’ is written and directed by Kim Do-hoon and presented by SLL, with production by BAE Entertainment and Movie Company Two. Ahn Hyo Seop’s return to the small screen as the mysterious genius chef has been a focal point of early coverage, with his detailed kitchen work, from knife skills to plating, drawing attention in recaps of the first two episodes.
For a series that opened modestly on television, the first-week streaming chart positions are an early sign of life. Whether ‘Final Table’ can hold its Disney+ Korea lead and build on its Southeast Asian Prime Video rankings will depend on the episodes ahead, starting with episode three on October 31.
