Season 1
12 episodes May 20, 2020 8.5
Mystic Pop-up Bar
“Come you poor anguished souls, Won't you have a drink with us?”
2020
Ended • 1 Season • 12 Episodes
Director: Jeon Chang-geun
Overview
At this mysterious late-night food cart run by an equally mysterious woman and her part-timer, customers are provided a space for respite and counseling through their dreams. But most importantly, everyone here is treated equally—living or dead.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 12 episodes
- First aired
- May 20, 2020
- Last aired
- Jun 25, 2020
- Episode length
- 70m
- Network
- JTBC
Latest episode: S1 E12 Episode 12 (Jun 25, 2020)
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Bar Where the Dead Drink and the Living Cry
I’ve always been suspicious of places that advertise themselves as a cure for loneliness. The neon sign flickers, the bartender nods like they understand, and before you know it, you’ve told a stranger about the time your father forgot your birthday. Mystic Pop-up Bar takes this dynamic and cranks it up to supernatural levels: here, the customers aren’t just drunk on soju—they’re dead, or nearly so, and the bar itself is a purgatorial pit stop where unfinished business gets a final pour.
The premise is deceptively simple. Wol-ju (Hwang Jung-eum), a 500-year-old spirit with a sharp tongue and a sharper bob, runs a late-night food cart that materializes in the dreams of the living. Her sidekick, Han Kang-bae (Yook Sung-jae), is a hapless young man cursed with the ability to make people spill their guts the second he touches them.
Together, they serve drinks and dispense advice to a rotating cast of souls—some dead, some just emotionally comatose—who need to resolve their regrets before moving on. It’s Cheers meets The Sixth Sense, if Sam Malone had a drinking problem and Dr. Crowe ran a food truck.
What makes the show work isn’t just the gimmick—though the gimmick is delightful—but the way it treats its characters’ pain with equal parts humor and reverence. Wol-ju’s bar isn’t a place for grand epiphanies or tearful confessions (though there are plenty of those). It’s a place for the small, messy truths that people carry around like loose change: the coworker who resents his wife for surviving a car crash he caused, the high schooler who can’t forgive herself for not being there when her friend died, the old man who just wants to hear his wife say “I love you” one more time.
The show understands that grief isn’t always a thunderclap—sometimes it’s the quiet hum of a refrigerator at 3 a.m., the kind of thing you can ignore until you can’t.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.8/10
"A charming blend of fantasy, comedy, and drama with standout performances and a unique premise."
Viewers appreciate the series for its fresh take on supernatural themes, blending humor and emotional depth effectively. The lead performances, particularly by Hwang Jung-eum and Yook Sung-jae, are frequently praised for their chemistry and charisma. latestnetflix.com's read is that however, some find the pacing uneven and the story arcs occasionally predictable, which detracts from the overall experience.
What viewers praise
- Engaging lead performances Hwang Jung-eum and Yook Sung-jae deliver compelling performances that anchor the series.
- Unique premise The mix of fantasy, comedy, and drama offers a refreshing twist on supernatural storytelling.
- Strong chemistry The on-screen dynamics between the main cast members add depth and enjoyment to the series.
- Balanced tone The series effectively balances humor, drama, and supernatural elements without feeling disjointed.
Common complaints
- Uneven pacing Some episodes drag or feel rushed, disrupting the flow of the story.
- Predictable arcs Certain storylines follow familiar tropes, reducing the element of surprise.
- Underdeveloped side characters Supporting characters often lack depth, making them feel like background elements.
Recommended for
Fantasy-comedy lovers Supernatural drama fans K-drama enthusiasts Lighthearted mystery seekers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThey brought a cardboard Yook Sung-jae to the presser
The night before JTBC's Mystic Pop-up Bar press conference, BTOB's Yook Sung-jae was already in the army. He had posted the date himself on 3 May 2020. Cube confirmed he would enlist as an active-duty soldier on 11 May, location unlisted. The first episode landed on 20 May. Korea Herald noted he was not in the room. latestnetflix.com's take is that jTBC said every episode was already shot, so the schedule would not slip.Castmates sat a paper cutout in his chair. 
, ,
Hwang Jung-eum had to carry the room. It was her first drama in two years. She told Soompi she took Weol-ju because the bar owner looked perfect, ill-tempered, and self-centered until she wasn't. "I thought it would be fun to portray the variety of unexpected charms that Wol Joo has." At the livestreamed presser she added she had been a fan of Bae Hye-soo's Daum webtoon Twin Tops Bar, and that she wanted a part that was not a rom-com joke. "I cried a lot while looking at the original. There's more comedy than I had expected, but the drama balances comedy and serious points well." , ,
Director Jeon Chang-geun was blunt about the adaptation. "The drama is quite different from the original webtoon. There are some differences with the characters. The webtoon focuses on individual customer's stories a lot, but the drama focuses more on the characters helping the customers." Filming started in September 2019 and wrapped 28 February 2020. The first script reading was August 2019 at JTBC in Sangam-dong. Samhwa Networks signed a supply contract that put the budget at 8.6 billion won. It was the first series on JTBC's Wednesday and Thursday slot in eight years. Twelve episodes. About 70 minutes each.
Yook, back for his first drama in three years after Goblin, had already described Han Kang-bae as "a pure soul" who makes people spill secrets on contact. He said he practiced the power in daily life by avoiding touch, then watched his own hands in playback. The show even let him sing. "Love Resembles Memories" went out as part of the OST. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaOkAyo0pI
Nielsen never gave JTBC a free-to-air sized audience. Nationwide shares sat between 1.5 percent and 3.7 percent, with the 28 May episode the low. Netflix is where the tent bar kept serving. The official trailer still sits on Netflix's channel as a 44-second invite to a pojangmacha that treats the living and the dead the same. , Hwang left Yook a taped note at the presser. "You worked so hard and I was worried about you enlisting. However, you look healthy, so that makes me feel relieved. Be sure to watch the drama!" Lee Jun-hyeok told him to eat well, listen to superiors, and come out for a drink. The bar stayed open on Netflix without him.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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