It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of worldbuilding. I love it when a world you read about or watch something about feels like it was lovingly crafted. The people living there feel realistic, they have their own cultures and their politics are complex yet sensible. I love complex magic systems but I also have a fondness of magic that “just works”. What I enjoy the most in some of my favorite fantasy series is the moments where characters just get to live their lives. I love Shounen action, but sometimes the constant action and drama becomes a bit overbearing. I just want to watch a slime spend 10 episodes planning, organizing and hosting a festival. Some of my favorite memories of early One Piece were when the crew was just goofing around or even as recently as Wano when they were just chilling in the onsen. To make a long story short, Restaurant to another world was always going to be a story that I would like. Having just finished the second volume of the light novel, let’s talk about it.
Nekoya is a restaurant in Tokyo. It serves a host of guests from students to salarymen all throughout the week and does so very well, leaving its customers satisfied. But on Saturday the restaurant is unavailable to the public and that is for a reason. On Saturday, doors appear all over a different world, one filled with fantasy and wonder, that lead to the restaurant. These black doors appear on “the day of Satur” and only in specific locations. They allow for the denizens of this world to enter this restaurant and experience food they could never in their own world. Satisfied, they go back home. Fighting is not allowed and with some of the strongest denizens of their world arriving to this place peacefully, seemingly even claiming it as their domain, no one would dare start a fight there.
It’s through this wonderful restaurant that we get to learn so much about the different people living in this world. It really starts to build a picture as the story continues. My favorite subplot is how the prince of the sand nation is madly in love with the imperial princess Adelheid but doesn’t dare strike up a proper conversation with her. Instead, his sister will initiate the conversations in the restaurant and – spoiler alert – the pair eventually gets married. It strengthens their nations, but it probably would have never happened if they didn’t meet in the restaurant. And through this place we see legendary fighters, wise sages, fairies, lizardmen, ogres, dwarves and many more. Some of the people visiting the restaurant even try to recreate the recipes in their own world or go on soul searching journeys about food. It is ill-advised to read this story when you’re hungry.
Lastly, let’s talk about Aletta. She’s sort of the main character of this story, although it really shifts focus a lot. We’re introduced to her late in the first volume but if I remember correctly she shows up pretty early in the first season of the anime which is a good change. She’s a poor demon girl who stumbles upon the door way too late and ends up falling asleep on the floor of the place. The master of the restaurant then feeds her and offers her a job, vastly improving her life. She even manages to get a proper job in her own world despite how much prejudice there is against her kind. One of the adventurers that frequents the restaurant needs someone to watch her house and if Aletta is good enough to work in Nekoya then the adventurer trusts her. All in all it’s just a very heartwarming story that combines food, worldbuilding and fun characters. I wouldn’t recommend reading all six novels in a row as I worry it would get a little bit much of the same thing, but reading one of these novels every so often is a very pleasant experience. Thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 