Since it’s a fair bit away for the anime I’m currently watching this season, I’ll review one that was suggested to me during the lockdown (when I was going kind of mad needing to find things to watch). So let’s watch a nice happy little series based on a light novel that may get you salivating.
As said above Restaurant to Another World is adapted from a light novel series. Each episode tells the tale of people that visit the Western Restaurant Nekoya, a restaurant in Japan that sells Western style foods. But the unusual things about it is while to most people it seems to be closed on the weekend every Saturday doors appear in a magical world that lead to the restaurant. It is these customers we hear the tales of.
Many episodes follow the format of the person going about their life before finding the door to the restaurant and receiving a meal there which the episode or that half of the episode is named for from the menu. This does mean the show is very easy to drop in and out of, no big arc here that you forget then suddenly wondering what the do dah to kill the big bad was from.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t continuity. While the series is episodic in nature the recurring cast do appear not just in their own introductory episodes, and events that were talked about in previous ones are built upon. Not in any way that would leave the viewer confused though. The actual food part of the episode is very much what you would call Ahem… Food porn. Artistically drawn recreations of foods served at the restaurant and then the eater describing the sensations of eating it.
I can’t really say there is a true main character. The owner and chef of the restaurant goes the entire series without his name being said. The cute demon girl Alette could be argued as the true main character especially going by the opening and ending songs. But once again each episode is more about the visitors to the restaurant and their tales than the people working there.
For the most part the animation is on point but oddly it seems to plummet on episode 8 and episode 8 alone. I became very aware of people using as little movement as possible and reused animation that was already questionable quality. Real shame too as its one that builds on what Alette is doing outside of working at the restaurant. But I assure you it was only that episode I noticed that and the rest are some rather fun tales with some nicely drawn food included.
So yeah it’s a pleasant wholesome wee anime of 12 episodes, don’t go in expecting a grand tale or a mystery to be solved (the closest thing we can go to a reveal is the final episode and its nothing grand or Earth shaking). Just sit back and hear the tales of these Saturday visitors to a quaint restaurant.
Rating: 
