Restaurant to Another World - Episode 2 (Review)

By: MithrandielA mysterious looking door bearing a cat appears across dimensions once every 7 days. Beyond this door is a simple-looking establishment that offers food so good it inspires legends. The establishment is run by a man called "Tenshu", and he serves a varied clientele; from legendary treasure hunters and samurai, to honorable knights and even a Dragon Queen. Restaurant to Another World is the collected tales of these patrons, and the mysterious chef who prepares some of the best food in this world, or any other for that matter.

The episode opens with an intrepid treasure hunter named Sarah leaving a small-town inn and heading out to explore nearby mines on the "Day of Satur", a weekly occurrence that seems to be of a religious nature.After dispatching a few goblin-looking creatures, she triggers a panel in the wall to reveal the mystical doorway to the Nekoya restaurant. Hesitant, but determined to discover the treasure that brought her mentor into the same mines week after week in his final years, she ventures inside and discovers the newly hired waitress and our mysterious chef.Giving her a rundown of the restaurant, Sarah reviews the menu before selecting the "Daily Special" - which happens to be a Minced Meat Cutlet. The chef happily serves it up, with Sarah amazed with how delicious simple things like the lemon water, bread and soup are all tasting. Finally digging into the main course, Sarah can't help but sing its praises as she devours multiple plates of the minced meat cutlet.Following her delicious meal, the chef comments that her predecessor also was a big fan of the minced meat cutlet, and provides her some sandwiches to go as a gift in memory of their shared acquaintance.The story behind the second meal begins with the samurai known as Tatsugoro visiting a knight by the name of Heinrich Seeleman. He comes bearing a unique-looking sword, which prompts Heinrich to share his own story of discovering the Nekoya restaurant.Heinrich, commanding a large force of men attempting to battle back an inhuman army of "Mothmen", realizes that they require reinforcements from the capital, and goes on an emergency mission to alert the castle. His horse collapses due to the Mothmen's poison, and so the knight is forced to run an extended distance in an attempt to carry his vital message and save his men. His strength fading due to lack of food and rest, Heinrich's mission is nearly a complete failure before he calls out to the God of the Sea and Water to provide him with strength. Miraculously - the door to Nekoya appears.Once inside, the knight believes that he's in a simple cabin within his own duchy, and commands Tenshu to bring him food. The chef isn't bothered by the request, and provides Heinrich with a menu and a damp cloth, as well as some water to refresh himself. Only looking to fill his belly, Heinrich is surprised to see a specialty of his hometown, "shripe" (shrimp), on the menu. He orders it, unsure of how the chef could transport shrimp safely without it spoiling. To his delight, the fried shrimp and tartar sauce are amazing.Heinrich devours multiple plates of the shrimp before realizing he had no money to pay the chef, instead leaving his treasured sword behind as collateral and pledging to return; leaving without collecting the very important detail that the door only appears once every 7 days. Therefore, in his attempt to return not too long afterwards, he was alarmed to find the cabin was empty.Tatsugoro helps to fill him in on the details, inviting him to enjoy fried shrimp with him the following day. The episode ends with Heinrich opening the door to Nekoya, excitedly ordering some shripe.Man, this is a great show. Let's start with the animation: crisp, detailed depictions of the food with vivid color and insane levels of detail. Complementing the visual, like a good wine, is the fantastic writing and descriptions of the food as the various patrons eat. I couldn't help but gulp a few times watching the show, as it takes a lot of the amazing food elements of Food Wars!! and subtracts the excessive fanservice. The result? A warm, feel-good series that allows the environment, the food, and the patrons to serve as the centerpieces for a larger story.I trust that we'll learn more about Tenshu, the friendly and legendary chef who runs Nekoya, as well as glean more history from the other patrons that we met from episode 1.In short, Restaurant to Another World is surprisingly turning out to be my favorite show of the season so far. Beautifully animated, with interesting characters and an anecdotal storytelling style that's easy to pick up and run with.New episodes air Mondays at 11 AM, and you can watch the series on Crunchyroll here.[yasr_multiset setid=11]