Let me start by saying that I love food—both the creation and the result, and what comes after. Cooking can be a chore or an art, depending on who you ask, but there’s definitely something amazing about watching the process of ingredients mixing and blending and all coming together. The best part comes last—tasting it. The moment you remember that you’re blessed with taste buds as the different flavors burst in your mouth? Ah, that’s the good stuff right there.
It’s a universal experience that food is something to be enjoyed. Besides being delicious and aesthetically pleasing, eating is an experience we can associate with our memories. For example, this certain dish was something you ate with your parents, this one you shared with your friends after a night out, and this one with your first love. Almost every dish can be linked to a memory, even those you’ve never tasted before, because you can even imagine which person in your life would love to try it or maybe which one would hate it.
So, there’s no surprise when some writers and artists have taken the experience that is cooking and eating and gone all out in showing the artistry behind them in their works. Writers have taken to writing the most scrumptious of descriptions, and artists and animators alike have made videos of mouth-watering visuals, making sure to deal a deadly combo.
But as if that’s not enough, they sometimes like to top it all off with a sprinkling of fantasy elements. Adding fantasy to an otherwise amazing enough concept is good and all, but some may be confused as to why there is a need to. And to that I ask—well, if the anime is just all about food, doesn’t that lessen your excitement for watching it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to take back anything I’ve said beforehand. However, if a show—even an anime, at that—is only all about cooking, what makes it different from any other cooking show? There’s definitely a demographic for those who just love that kind of thing, but why settle for only that when you can add a little bit more magic to an already magical thing? Enter fantasy elements. In a fantasy setting, the dishes we all know and love are given new life and new experiences as we associate them in a world we never thought of before. We get to laugh at the idea of these strange worlds and even stranger characters having a taste of dishes we’ve cooked up and watch their reactions to seemingly mundane everyday food. In a sense, we get to experience the dishes again as we watch them in a new light. With all that being said, I hope no one is too surprised when I say that my guilty pleasure is watching anime all about food and fantasy worlds. Here are some anime recommendations served for you, best consumed while you’re having a meal of your own unless you want your mouth to water the whole time. Trust me on this one (I know from experience).
Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill
Animated in 2023, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill is perfect if you want a silly anime about your regular salary worker from Japan transported into a fantasy world by accident. Where does the food aspect come in? Well, unlike other Isekai anime where the main character is blessed with superpowers most of the time, rivaling that of the powerhouses of their new world, in this show, well, the main character gets something a little unconventional. Tsuyoshi Mukouda’s power is to summon an online grocery. Amazing, I know, and the other characters in the show definitely thought so too (minus the sarcasm) because they laugh at the very thought of it. They leave him out of the “main” storyline of the heroes transported into the world who were assigned a quest to slay evil. Meanwhile, we learn that Mukouda actually prefers this turn of events, opting to explore the world. Along the way, he meets all sorts of people and beings enticed by his cooking, which is, of course, partly because of the ingredients procured from his nifty little ability.
As spectators to this whole ordeal? We can only laugh at the start because can you imagine an online grocery all for yourself in a world where even salt and pepper are a luxury and all you do every day is travel and eat? Sign me up! With his companions—travelers, a local legend, and a tiny little slime—we watch as Mukouda traverses forests and kingdoms with his online grocery and cooking skills in tow, a walking culinary storm in this fantasy world.
(Psst! As of June 2025, Campfire Cooking in Another World Season 2 is set to come out in October 2025! More adventures to have and more monsters to dine on!)
Restaurant to Another World
Almost in the same vein as Campfire Cooking in Another World, Restaurant to Another World is a story where fantasy holds hands with modern elements. Like the name suggests, a fantasy world is connected to ours (or, in this case, their version of Earth) using a door that opens to a modern-day restaurant. The Western Restaurant Nekoya is a seemingly normal eatery in a small corner in the Tokyo Shopping District. Although it’s closed on holidays and weekends in Japan, Saturdays are actually meant for special kinds of customers. Monsters, monarchs, and mercenaries of all kinds are given the opportunity to enter the shop wherever the doorway may have been on their side of their world. The shop sells Japanese versions of Western cuisine, the patrons having their own favorite dishes they occasionally have brawls over to see which is far more superior than the other. Although some may say it focuses more on the characters rather than the food, the characters’ stories and motives are interwoven in the food that they eat while inside the restaurant.
Originally aired back in 2017, Restaurant to Another World is the perfect show if you want a mix of modern-day cooking, fantasy worlds, and a rambunctious cast of characters that will leave you wanting to have a seat of your own in The Western Restaurant Nekoya on a lovely Saturday.
Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi)
Well, this is a little bit different than the rest. While Campfire Cooking in Another World and Restaurant to Another World are shows that mix fantasy worlds with modern-day meals, Delicious in Dungeon (or Dungeon Meshi, a title that is more well-known) is an anime purely set in a fantasy world. It talks about a group of adventurers set to conquer an underground dungeon; however, during their first round down into its depths, their plans are thwarted by a large red dragon that swallows one of their party members. Although they are able to escape, they decide to go back to attempt to save their team member before they’re fully digested. That may be a lot to unpack, but this is the best part: to save costs and continuously go deeper into the dungeon so as not to waste time, the leader of the group—Laios—decides that they’ll be cooking and eating the numerous monsters they come across. Although the idea sounds sickening at first, a dwarf they meet in the dungeons is an expert in all things monstrously culinary.
Released on streaming sites in 2024, I have to say, it’s my first time hearing something so bizarre but also so original. It’s definitely something you don’t hear every day, but it’s what makes you come back and see more of the group of adventurers, their daily shenanigans as they dive deeper, and their very odd choices in homemade cuisine. Although the food they create isn’t like ours, there are still some similarities in its name and the ingredients they use (some of them are at least recognizable). Besides, who doesn’t want to hear about the weird monster food cooking process?
Conclusion
All in all, food and fantasy are a combo that, while not particularly having you in awe because of its deep storyline and engaging storytelling, is definitely a treat if you want to have a simple good time. If you need a show ready while you’re having lunch or winding down during dinner, these shows are perfect for you. With that being said, grab a snack, put on your favorite food and fantasy anime, and say it with me: Itadakimasu!
