The summer season is well underway and we’re getting a good feel of what kind of anime are currently airing. Following a recent trend on laid back and relaxing anime, Isekai Shokudou gives the audience a weekly glimpse into the show’s magical restaurant.

There’s an old adage that says food is a universal language, Isekai Shokudou goes a step further and includes other worlds and dimensions. There’s more to food than just devouring your meal, there is an inherent soul and love in each dish in the show that brings together people and creatures from all worlds and walks of life.

For most of the week the restaurant, called Nekoya, is an unassuming cafeteria for salarymen from the nearby offices. But every Saturday, doors appear in other worlds that lead weary adventurers, esteemed wizards, elderly merchants and even magical creatures to the warm and comforting walls of the restaurant.

The dishes from our world that are served to these customers might be rare to them, but it’s not the rarity that makes them valuable, it’s the connections that people have with the food and with each other.

From a treasure hunter finding out that her late father’s most priced treasure is a weekly plate of minced meat cutlet and the friends he made while eating it, to a noblewoman whose only memory of the man who helped raise her is eating “clouds” with him – a cold glass of chocolate parfait.

Isekai Shokudou doesn’t have many over-the-top reactions of other food anime, nor does it have any gimmicky plot twists and complicated stories. It spends its entire runtime showing us how good food and good company will shed away pretenses, expose people’s hearts and let them make connections at the dinner table.

This anime invokes personal memories and emotions – maybe you’re reminded of that snack you always bought in grade school with your best friends or that refreshing drink you had once while surrounded by the people closest to you.

The lesson Isekai Shokudou wants us to learn is that food doesn’t only warm our bellies. If we experience them with the right people and a good mindset, it can also warm our hearts.

Anime similar to Isekai Shokudou

If you enjoyed Isekai Shokudou, do check out Food wars. It is strikingly similar in many ways.

What food has a special place in your heart?