Warning: This book review for”Restaurant To Another World, Vol. 1″ by Junpei Inuzuka and Katsumi Enami contains spoilers. If you’re looking for a spoiler-free review, please hit the back button and find that spoiler-free review elsewhere.
Cover of “Restaurant To Another World, Vol. 1” by Junpei Inuzaka and Katsumi Enami.I’m back with another book review! This time I’m reviewing the light novel “Restaurant To Another World, Vol. 1” by Junpei Inuzuka and Katsumi Enami.
So, for those confused by yesterday’s post: Yes, I goofed up and posted the review of the sequel BEFORE the review for the first book. Because of that, however, you’re getting the review of the first book today to make up for it!
Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about: “In Tokyo lies a small restaurant called “Western Cuisine Nekoya,” ordinary in every way—save one. Every Saturday, its door connects to another world! Follow along as a cavalcade of curious guests from half-elves to samurai, dragons, halflings and vampires enter its premises, all with the same goal in mind: to fill their stomachs with the most mouth-watering of foods.”
Plot Development: 5 out of 5 stars
The book divides its chapters into mini, slice-of-life-esque short stories that all mainly take place within the restaurant. Some of the stories are connected to each other through the characters that appear every chapter, but otherwise they could all mostly be read as events that happened at the restaurant at various, non-specified points in time (unless otherwise-specified in the individual stories, of course, such as Sarah and Adelaide’s stories). I’m interested in learning more about how the restaurant’s owner learned about the restaurant being connected to a whole other fantasy world in the first place. Also, how did the grandfather of the current owner know about this? Given that this book is the first volume, I imagine that those questions will be answered in later books.
Character Development: 5 out of 5 stars
A lot of the characters appear only for one or two chapters, given the short-story-like nature of each chapter of the book. However, all of them were very fun to read. I particularly enjoyed reading Princess Adelaide, as well as Sarah and Aletta. I also enjoyed reading the restaurant’s owner himself. I’m interested in learning more about him and his grandfather’s history. I hope to learn more details on their connections with the the restaurant and how it connects to the fantasy world in the first place.
Worldbuilding Development: 5 out of 5 stars
What I really enjoyed about this book was the worldbuilding. It really set the tone for what various characters’ lifestyles were like, and how it affects their reactions to eating the food they discover at the restaurant (also, elves are vegan, which I find interesting). Sometimes it gives them the motivation to recreate the foods back at home, or just to come back as a regular customer. Sometimes there are other people they might interact with often, by coming to this restaurant. It’s fun to see how such a small restaurant impacted a lot of people’s lives, from their motivations in life to even employment, in one or two cases.
Overall, I’m rating this book 5 out of 5 stars!
For anyone interested in reading about food mixed with warm hospitality and a dash of fantasy, this is the book for you! However, make sure that you have something to eat after reading, because this book (and the rest of the series) will make you hungry!
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