Isekai Shokudou - The food anime I've been wanting for.

It's been a while since I've written an anime review of sorts, but because it's food-themed it fits with the theme of this blog. Also, I really enjoyed it and I wanted to share about it! 8D Welcome to Isekai Shokudou!

What's It About

Isekai Shokudou roughly translates to Other-World Dining Hall (or Restaurant to Another World), and that's basically what this anime is about. It's about a restaurant (by the name of Nekoya) that comes from another world once every 7 days, only that that other world is Earth (or Japan, specifically) and its patrons are from a fantasy world filled with magic, and elves and dragons. The anime focuses on the fantasy patrons that come to this restaurant to eat the food, and it can be fun to watch them react to this "other-worldly" cuisine that's actually normal food to us viewers. Of course, the food is also the highlight for each episode, and they can look delicious. It's a surprisingly relaxing show to watch. 8D

My First Impressions

Food and fantasy are my favourite themes, so I was kinda looking forward to watching it. When I watched the first episode however, I was worried that it will fall into the same tropes I've seen many times when a fight was about to break out in Restaurant Nekoya. I didn't have much knowledge about the anime other than the synopsis and the promo picture, and the promo pic prominently features two cute waitresses.

This one, to be exact.

What usually happens in this scenario is that one of the cute waitresses (the bubbly one) will come out of the kitchen (with arms akimbo) and tells the patrons to stop fighting, followed by her giving a small lecture about proper behaviour or something. Then the patrons will rub the back of their heads apologetically and sit back at their seats, resuming their meals or activities. Then, the scenario ends with the cute waitress smiling at her achievements. I won't go into too much detail as to why I hate this scenario, but it's mostly because it is pretentious as heck.

Thankfully what actually happens is that the owner (chef) of the restaurant himself goes out to tell the patrons to cut it out (while threatening to not serve them again). It's not that much different from what I had imagined, but it's much more believable (and dignified) than seeing grown-ass adults submit to cute girls because they were asked to in a cute or endearing way.

Anyway, later in the episode we are introduced to Aletta (the bubbly waitresses in the promo pic), and while she is cute, what surprised me was that she is cute in a refreshingly modest way! This is such a breath of fresh air in a medium that's saturated with cute girls who act according to the same moe tropes! From then I knew that this anime was worth sticking around for.

Look at this cute!

The Food

katsu-DOOM

What's a food anime without the food as one of its features? The food featured in this series are youshoku, or western-inspired food, prepared by the owner and head chef of Nekoya. The food looks good, but they are quite simple and basic. It's not the outlandish and exciting things you get from food-battle series like Shokugeki no Soma, but for the fantasy patrons of the restaurant, it might as well be. Much of the joy from watching this series is seeing these other-world denizens enjoy the food, which is new and exciting for them. As someone who is familiar with these types of food, there's a strange sense of pride and joy in seeing people new to these food enjoy it very much, even if they're imaginary. What I also appreciate is the commentary that each character gives about the food they eat. It helps those who are unfamiliar with youshoku cuisine to know better about it. It certainly helped with some of the youshoku foods that I've never tried before.

I can't feature all the foods presented in the anime, but I'll highlight my favourites, which are the omurice, Japanese omelettes, and Japanese curry.

Omurice. So luscious...

I love eating eggs, but only when they're paired with something or cooked in a way to mask the overwhelming eggy flavour. So when the omelettes (and omurice) are featured in episode 4, I was like, really craving for a good Japanese omelette. (It's sad that I have not mastered the art of cooking a good omelette though.) Omurice is basically fried rice covered by an omelette. There are many varieties, but the one featured in the anime is the standard ketchup fried rice topped with omelette and more ketchup. I personally prefer the non-ketchup variety though...

Curry rice!

Japanese curry is another thing I enjoy eating. It's different from other asian curries in that it's more like a sweet roux and not as spicy. The combination of beef, carrot, & potato is quite common, but the chicken curry that makes it debut on episode 7 is what caught my attention.

Chicken curry in a gravy boat! 

I'm guessing it's supposed to resemble more traditional curries in terms of spiciness and flavour, but I'm highly curious if it's a new and exciting flavour entirely. I'll have to search around and see if I can find something similar the next time I go to a Japanese Curry House. I'd be very eager to try it!

Menchi katsu!!!

As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of youshoku foods that I've yet to try and am quite eager to search and eat, should I get the chance. One is the minced-meat katsu, and the other is the curry bun. The way the minced-meat katsu is described sounds really delicious, with a crispy outside and a juicy inside with all the meat juices and oil. So yummy...

Freshly-deep-fried curry buns!

As for the curry bun, it's more of a curiosity than a craving. I imagine the closest thing I've eaten to curry buns are curry puffs (of the southeast asian and indian variety). Apparently there are various fillings for curry buns, so I'm quite keen to try one when I get the chance to.

Other things that I haven't tried are some sandwiches mentioned in episode 6. I'm a bit iffy about the fruit and cream sandwiches mentioned by a couple of the patrons. I associate cakes and pastries as things that go more with fruits and custards, rather than bread. There's also mention of a spaghetti sandwich, but I don't like the idea of putting noodles and pasta in bread. That's like more carbs than necessary! I probably won't try something like that (unless I'm starving and spaghetti/yakisoba bread is all that's available somewhere).

The Characters

This scrolling bit in the opening shows most of the characters.

The characters are another thing that's enjoyable about the show. Each episode introduces a new character who stumbles upon the door to Nekoya, and is introduced to a food that's new and delicious to them. It's episodic in nature, but what I like is that the characters don't disappear from the show completely and turn up as repeat customers. What's even better is that these characters actually interact with each other both in and out of the restaurant. It's nice when that happens, as you get to see another side of someone when they interact with different people. (It adds variety too.)

The pic is too long that I had to split it into two parts, lol

The designs of the characters are pleasing to look at, and their personalities are generally likeable. There is one half-elf guy that's a bit of an arse when you first see him, but he's actually a decent guy once you get to know him. Some characters do appear only once and it's a bit of a shame. Seeing that the series is only 12 episodes, there's probably not enough time for everyone to show up at least twice. One of my favourites are a couple of dwarves that visit the restaurant through a door in the mountains. Although they showed up only once (in episode 9), they really liven up the episode with their rowdy and jolly natures. XD

The three mains!

Of course, how could I forget the main characters of the series! There's the Master (right), Aletta (centre), and Kuro (left), and they are the constants in each episode (seeing as they're running the restaurant). The master of Nekoya is a pretty chill guy with a generous heart. Well, being the only Earth denizen in the restaurant, he's pretty ordinary in looks (which makes him pretty much overshadowed by the other characters). Aletta, as mentioned before, is a breath of fresh air and is modestly cute. She makes you want to root for her.

Kuro only shows up halfway through the series (at episode 7), and she's not bad too (both in looks and personality). She looks like the kuudere type, but she's curious and willing to try new things. She does open up to people more as the show goes on, which is a nice thing to watch happen.

And she looks cute gorging down a hundred plates of curry.

The Other World

I like getting to know about fantasy worlds, but exposition in general can be a bit boring. Luckily due to the nature of the show, I can let it slide, since we're not in a rush to get to the action or anything. It's a show that's meant to be enjoyed at a slower, relaxed pace.

While the other wold is kind of a generic fantasy world (which I'm fine with), there's still a lot of thought that was put into the world-building. Some episodes cover topics like history and culture, as well as currency at some points. A nice touch I see is how some ingredients are known in the other world under a different name, with varying shapes, even. What I find funny is also the way the other-world denizens calls Saturday (the day Nekoya is open to them). I'll leave it to you to find that out.

What we see in the show seems to be only scratching the surface and I do kinda wish we could learn and see more about that world, or even have an adventure there. However, this is not that kind of show and it's a bit of a bummer, though I can kind of understand why. I have not read the light novels for this series so maybe a bit more about the world is explained there?

The Hiccups

While I like this anime very much, not everything about it is perfect.

Cue the infamous running rabbit animation!
(Unfortunately I don't have a GIF of it...)

There are some parts where the animation gets a bit funky, with characters being off model and moving unnaturally. I heard it was due to the low budget the production company was given to work with. It was especially obvious in the last episode where there were repeat animations from previous episodes. It's not enough to detract from the experience (much) but it's still a little distracting.

There are also some parts that were a little boring, or could have been executed better. The first time I saw episode 4, it started of as a documentary about lizard-men and it kinda bored me a little, since it was a bit slow. Later episodes weren't so bad about the documentary part since they were generally shorter (and a bit more exciting than lizard-men).

Another part I felt that could have been done better is the restaurant-wide argument about what makes the best sandwich (which happens in episode 6). It's the same kind of argument that happens in episode 1 (minus the fighting), but it feels too drawn out. It's fine if the argument stays between a few characters, but if the whole restaurant gets involved with each patron describing their preferred sandwich in excruciating detail, you'll get burned out really fast.

Take it outside, you people!!

While it does not apply to me, I've seen a lot of people who do not like the show because it's boring and repetitive. (Most episodes are structured similarly, with the differences being the character and the food being focused.) However, I've also seen a lot of people who like the show, so I guess it's one of those things where either you like it or you don't.

Also, I'm not sure how big of an impact this has on the show, but it's unfortunate that the "Isekai" term is generally viewed in a negative light, seeing as how most light novel adaptations are saturated with this genre. Many would associate Isekai anime to be about ordinary (otaku) dudes being transported to another world, who somehow goes on a quest to try and save that world, and scores a girl or two in the process. While it's a shame that people may find the word Isekai in the title off-putting, I find it amusing that the Isekai in the title actually refers to our world, since Nekoya is literally the Isekai Shokudo (other-world eatery) to those other-worldly denizens.

Conclusion

As from what you could already tell, I really like this show. This is one of those few, rare shows that gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling and leaves me generally happy/pleased at the end of each episode. Such anime is referred to as iyashikei, like a form of healing/soothing anime that leaves you refreshed. I'm a bit sad that it had to end but I hope that it gets a second season in the future. Maybe I could try to look for the light novels that this series is based on.

Anyway, I recommend giving this show a try, especially if you're a fan of food and fantasy. You can also think of this series as an introductory show to the world of youshoku cuisine. One thing I have to warn about is the possible slow pace and repetitiveness of the episodes. Still, give it a try when you have nothing to watch or when you want to de-stress.

Second season pls?