So apparently, Nekoya only opens to fantasy characters once a week (essentially the fantasy world’s version of Saturday). I think it was brought up in the first episode but this episode definitely makes it more obvious to the viewer. That certainly explains why Aletta only works once a week (though it’s still sad just picturing her sleeping on that haystack after her shift is over) and it might provide a good excuse for the supportive characters to appear together onscreen.
Now that I’m two episodes in, it seems pretty evident that Restaurant to Another World has an anthology format going on. Episode 2 specifically presents two scenarios: an adventurer named Sarah and a noble named Heinrich. Both stumble upon Nekoya through unique circumstances and experience the wonders of modern Earthen cooking. Presumably, we’ll be seeing more customers in later episodes, how they stumble across Nekoya, and what their favorite meals are. I would like to see an episode focusing on the restaurant staff themselves, especially Aletta, though this anthology format could still be a fun approach for the anime.
It was a lot of fun witnessing Sarah and Heinrich react to their meals. While I think the cooking in Restaurant to Another World isn’t mind blowing, I think the strength of that aspect is actually with how characters react to the food. We’ve definitely seen meat cutlets and fried shrimp in other cooking shows but it’s really entertaining to see fantasy characters express their glee towards these meals in such great detail. There’s also a neat thing where the characters try the food on its own and then try it with extra flavors or condiment, thus expanding their satisfaction towards their meal.
I also just love how the characters are stunned by how well lemon water taste. I mean, lemon water is pretty amazing but I guess no one in the other world thought about mixing the two together.
One last thing, it still amazes me how casual Restaurant to Another World is tonally. We have Aletta dealing with discrimination, Sarah killing monsters in a dungeon, Heinrich assisting political allies and yet all of those worries seemingly vanish when they enter Nekoya and the Owner or Aletta asks what they want on the menu. It also helps that the music is chilled and the Owner is played by Junichi Suwabe (he is super good at sounding relaxed at all times). It almost feels like a reversal on the isekai formula. Instead of someone from our world escaping to another world, it’s the residents of that other world escaping to ours. I’m not sure if escapism is really a theme in this show but but whatever the case may be, I’ll keep enjoying the pleasant atmosphere this show has to offer.
Thanks for reading!
Restaurant to Another World is officially available on Crunchyroll & Funimation.
For more Restaurant to Another World posts, check out the show’s archive page!
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