Delicious in Dungeon - Episode 1 [Review]
A proper adventure can really work up an appetite, and Netflix’s latest anime, Delicious in Dungeon, presents a fusion of gourmet cooking and fantasy that is wholly unique and thoroughly charming.
After a mysterious man appears and claims to be an ancient ruler of a long-lost Golden Kingdom, adventurers are spurred to explore an expansive dungeon in hopes of uncovering its mysteries and defeating the mad mage responsible for the kingdom’s demise.
Deep in this dungeon, a party of heroes suffers a crushing loss to a powerful Red Dragon. Just before they all meet their end, one of their party - named Falin - is able to transport her comrades back to the surface just before she’s eaten. It then falls on her brother, Laios, to lead the party (which includes magic-user Marcille and a rogue named Chilchuck) back into the dungeon and save her before she’s digested.
That is, after they’ve had something to eat.
Having lost all of their gear as a result of the teleportation spell, the party finds themselves strapped for cash, and with an urgency to delve back into the dungeon to retrieve their fellow party member. Laios contemplates some alternatives, including selling their gear to downgrade and use some of the extra funds to get some supplies, but ultimately he decides to seek out food within the dungeon itself.
With the trusty Dungeon Gourmet Guide at his disposal, Laios is eager to start re-purposing monsters into nutritious and delicious meals for the group. Unfortunately, he lacks the culinary experience to execute properly, which is where a stout dwarf named Senshi comes in.
Senshi has been dungeon-crawling for the better part of a decade, and immediately demonstrates a proficiency in handling monster ingredients. Happy to see Laios’ interest in monster cooking, Senshi volunteers to join the party.
The fantasy world that is being built out in Delicious in Dungeon is engaging, and leans into a lot of the tropes that make dungeon-crawling fun…if not a bit unsettling. For example, at one point Marcille is attacked by a slime, and she casually thinks to herself how a slime attack is how she “died” for the first time. Earlier on Laios asks about how resurrection might work on a digested body. It’s like if Goblin Slayer took a chill pill, and also happened to have a Michelin-star quality chef on hand.
Visually, Delicious in Dungeon does a lot to impress as well. Anime food always seems to be on another level, and for a show where the meal (made up of unusual and unique ingredients) is the star, it’s no surprise that you may find yourself hungry for some Scorpion Hot Pot or Dried Slime Innards.
Between this and Frieren, fans of the fantasy genre are in for a loaded season ahead with some quality anime. Delicious in Dungeon is off to a fantastic start, and is a great addition to Netflix’s anime lineup.
