While reality TV offers the likes of Masterchef, Iron Chef, Great British Bake-Off and Drink Masters, weebs have their own culinary TV masterpieces to dive into. Food taste is subjective, sure, but we’ve got a list of animes that have a little something for everyone!
Some of the best anime series that’s ever been cooked up!
Food Wars!
Yukihira Sōma, a teen who cooks with his dad at a diner, is offered the seat of a lifetime at a prestigious culinary academy most amateur cooks can only dream of. What lies ahead for Soma is untapped potential in himself, a global array of flavors, blazing cook-offs and friendship!
While friendship may seem an odd ingredient to capitalize on in a food anime, it brilliantly highlights how important teamwork is in a professional kitchen. The manga, written by Yūto Tsukuda and illustrated by Shun Saeki, vibrantly displays their love for food and exploration of global cuisines.
With a punchy MyAnimeList rating of 8.2, Food Wars! is a great anime for anyone looking for expert use of ingredients and adventurous palates! (If you can look past the ecchi aspect of the foodga*ms, that is.) Stream all seasons on Hulu.
Restaurant To Another World
While isekais have often the same premise rinsed and repeated, Restaurant To Another World focuses on the food and the satisfaction of customers rather than its outwardly setting. Based on a light novel of the same name, the anime follows the travels of a restaurant called ‘Yōshoku no Nekoya’ and its head chef, simply and endearingly called “Master” who appear in different lands for only one day a week.
With an array of customers whose tastes vary from the common human tongue, Master puts his heart and soul into his Japanese and Western plates. Be it lizardmen, demon girls, or even dragons, everyone looks forward to Master’s culinary expertise to start or end their day with.
A humble anime often looked over, Isekai Shokudō (Restaurant To Another World) has a 7.4 MAL rating and definitely deserves a watch for those seeking comfort-in-a-bowl vibes. Available to stream on Crunchyroll and Funimation Now.
Yakitate!! Japan
Breadmaking became almost everyone’s new hobby during the pandemic, and if you wanted to seal your love for the humble baked good, Yakitate!! Japan overflows like a sourdough starter with its love for bread! In a quest to have Japan’s own signature bread, Kazuma Azuma, a young baker heads to Tokyo to compete against the best bread makers and hone his skills while creating his own “Ja-Pan” (We love a good food pun).
Some might say that Food Wars! borrowed elements of food battles and cook-offs from Yakitate!!, but this anime does not tend to go over the top with its cooking and grandeur. Yakitate!! has a simple premise, and that is to showcase breads and baked goodies crafted in their most creative and skillful way possible.
With a strong 7.9 MAL rating, aspiring bread makers need look no further than this delicious slice of anime streaming on Crunchyroll.
Bartender (2006)
How many drunk nights has one had, where you’ve rambled about your troubles to your bartender?
Ryū Sasakura runs an invite-only exclusive establishment that serves drinks worthy of any connoisseur’s praise! Sasakura has an innate ability to help his customers out through his drinks, no matter their walks of life, be it a conman or a salaryman, with his sage perspectives (One could argue that it’s liquid luck doing the trick rather than Sasakura himself).
Bartender is not a flashy or heavy anime, despite the exclusive-bar setting. This anime has produced simple and exquisite cocktails worthy of any barman’s attention to replicate.
Be it the classics like Margaritas or the complex Bartender, kickback with this anime and savor life and drink in equal measure. Stream this 7.33 MAL rated anime on Roku.
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
Another isekai, Campfire Cooking still manages to keep the genre fresh by introducing us magical creatures that crave a rather ordinary and mundane salaryman’s cooking. His special skill? He can order/summon food and groceries via online shopping in a fantasy RPG land.
With an absurd and handy skill like online shopping, our protagonist, Mukohda, cooks up traditional cuisines with a twist of ingredients from the isekai land. With an adorable slime and a regal Fenrir by his side, simpleton Mukohda’s adventures are anything but stale.
With his campfire recipes that are so beautifully depicted, this anime has foodies replicating recipes and capturing the essence of Mukohda’s simple, yet effective cooking. With a 7.7 MAL rating, stream this anime on Crunchyroll.
