'Restaurant to Another World' Spoilers: Fantastical Patrons from Other Dimensions
"Isekai Shokudou," which translates to "Restaurant to Another World," is the newest fantasy series to join this year's summer anime lineup.
Based on the Japanese light novel series of the same name, this series tells the story of a restaurant situated in a poor corner of a shopping district which offers special dishes on weekends.
The Western Restaurant Nekoya serves non-Japanese dishes to its weekday customers during usual business hours. It is, however, closed during holidays and weekends. Well, this is what the usual customers think.
On Saturdays, the Nekoya actually is open to a few special customers that come through the doorways they create that lead to another world. Fantastical customers like elves, dragons, and animal men come through these doors in order to try Nekoya's earthly offerings. Some of these creatures have even become regular patrons of the restaurant through the years.
Each week, the anime series features a story from the world on the other side of Nekoya's dimensional door. Aside from offering delicious food, the staff members of Nekoya are also able to provide comfort and support for these said characters while they face the conflicts in their world that arose before they accidentally found the door to Nekoya.
What new creature will the strange restaurant be serving next? What problems and issues will their delicious food help their otherworldly patrons overcome?
The series also features the voice talents of Junichi Suwabe, Sumire Uesaka, Saori Onishi, and Tomokazu Sugita, among others.
Its source material, which was written by Junpei Inuzuka and illustrated by Katsumi Enami, has been serialized in the user-generated novel publishing website "Shosetuska ni Narou (Let's Become Novelists)" since 2013. Shufunotomo has printed three volumes of the said novel since 2015 through their Hero Bunko imprint.
"Restaurant to Another World" episode 3 airs on Monday, July 17, at 1:35 a.m. JST on TV Tokyo.
Those who are interested in the anime series can watch the promotional video for the anime series below.