There’s something about cooking anime that makes us satisfied, and food has featured prominently in a number of anime programs. Get a taste of these amusing and engaging cooking anime shows if you’re wanting to satisfy your food and anime appetites all at once.
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What is so satisfying about watching cooking anime?
Anime is known for a variety of things, ranging from unique plots to diverse characters and vibrant styles. However, there is one aspect of anime that many shows excel at: food presentation.
True, it may not appear to be a significant point to make. However, it has been discovered that anime food almost always manages to appear both gorgeous and delicious. Also, keep in mind that these are only sketches.
There are a number of best cooking anime that are entertaining to watch. While food anime has a distinct perspective on food, it is nonetheless a fun genre to watch.
On the other hand, anime about cooking adds a new layer to food appreciation and presentation. When it comes to cooking anime shows, there is an added visual interest. It’s pretty uncommon for the two to get mixed up, which isn’t always a bad thing.
However, the focus of this list will be on anime that incorporates cooking. At the very least, the plot involves cooking in some form. Take a peek and let us know what you think.
15 best cooking anime shows – Our recommendations
1. Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars!)
The indisputable king of cooking anime is this. Shokugeki no Soma is known all around the world for its characters’ incredible cooking abilities, scrumptious food descriptions… and thrilling shounen-style cooking battles! Yukihira Soma, the protagonist, enrolls at the famous Totsuki Academy cookery school. Despite the fact that he is mocked for his background in conventional Japanese cookery, the other students quickly discover that Soma is anything but ordinary. You can even learn how to create some of the show’s delectable foods yourself thanks to the manga’s recipe section.
2. Yume-iro Pâtissière (Dream-Colored Pastry Chef)
Yumeiro Patissiere‘s primary character is Ichigo Amano. The fourteen-year-old girl adores sweets and fantasizes about owning a patisserie. Unfortunately, unlike the other cooking child prodigies on our list, she begins her culinary career with no prior experience. The anime follows her as she attends culinary school and learns (and demonstrates) how to make delectable pastries. You’ll definitely be desiring something sweet after watching this show!
3. Yakitate Japan (Freshly Baked!! Japan!)
Kazuma Azuma’s goal in this cooking anime show is to create a national bread for Japan: “Ja-pan” (Pan means bread in Japanese). He’s off to a strong start, and his “Hands of the Sun” hands are warmer than usual, allowing him to ferment bread dough more quickly than usual. Kazuma Azuma relocates to Tokyo to work at Pantasi, a world-renowned bread-making chain, where he meets rivals, learns new techniques, and bakes a lot of flawlessly browned bread.
4. Toriko
Toriko is what you’d get if Dragon Ball and a cookery program were combined. Gourmet Hunters seek to locate the most delicious unusual ingredients for cooks to produce the tastiest dishes in a world where even the terrain is built of food (think mac and cheese volcanoes). Follow Toriko, one of these pro-Gourmet Hunters, as he fights the Gourmet Corps, hordes of hazardous monsters, and even the meal he’s seeking for!
5. Ristorante Paradiso
Nicolletta, a girl fresh out of culinary school, begins working at the Casetta dell’Orso Restaurant in Ristorante Paradiso, a slice-of-life anime. Aside from Nicolette, the café is solely staffed by bespectacled older gentlemen with wise words and long histories. Nicoletta begins to unearth the secrets of her own mother’s past while she is there. But the show isn’t just about the characters’ relationships; it also includes a lot of Italian-style cooking.
6. Isekai Izakaya “Nobu”
Isekai Izakaya debuted as an ONA (original net anime) in Japan. This direct-to-video release is similar to Restaurant to Another World, except it has a more compelling overarching tale. Patrons from all over the world visit Nobu in Kyoto, Japan, to sample their Toriaezu Nama lager and the excellent cuisine on offer.
Isekai Izakaya is the superior cooking show to watch over Restaurant to Another Planet for viewers who want to learn more about the restaurant and how and why it may connect to another world, though both are worth viewing on their own merits.
7. Ben-To
Now this is a food fight that everyone can support. Ben-To doesn’t have much to do with cooking, but it does have epic fight sequences set against excellent meals at low costs. The contest for the tastiest, half-priced bento lunch selections at the grocery store is the focus of Ben-To.
Yo Sato, the main character, is involved in a grocery bento brawl and joins an underground food lover gang to prepare for these final showdowns. “It’s Fight Club with Lunchables,” wrote one MyAnimeList reviewer. It’s also, as any excellent anime should be, self-aware of its own ludicrousness.
8. Cooking Papa
Cooking Papa was never a great hit outside of Japan following its premiere in the 1990s, which is a tragedy. The manga that inspired the series is one of the most popular of all time, with 157 volumes demonstrating the series’ popularity. It’s not only wholesome but also rather amusing to watch Mr. Araiwa prepare excellent food for his wife and son.
9. Mister Ajikko (Born To Cook)
Born to Cook is the first major cooking anime to be released, and it is said to be the inspiration for the show Iron Chef. Born to Cook is one of the best anime series of the 1980s, following Ajiyoshi Yoichi’s journey from a young kid helping his mother manage a cooking school to a culinary competitor competing against some of the world’s best chefs. His creative approaches to each cuisine he is tasked with creating will undoubtedly inspire any cook watching to try new things in their own kitchens.
10. Chuuka Ichiban! (Cooking Master Boy)
“The Era of the Cooking Wars” may not have been a true period in Chinese history, but this anime set during the Qing Dynasty in the nineteenth century depicts some wonderful foods being prepared. Cooking Master Boy follows Mao Xing as he attempts to travel around China following his mother’s death in order to emulate her success as a famous chef.
While the original series aired with over 50 episodes in 1997, a surprise sequel, New Cooking Master Boy, was produced in 2019 and lasted two seasons. For a show this old to make a resurrection, Cooking Master Boy has to be exceptional.
11. Wakakozake
Wakakozake is unlike most cookery anime in that each episode is only two minutes long. Murasaki Wakako visits twelve different restaurants and tastes twelve different dishes with a variety of drinks throughout the series. Each meal is something that viewers may order in Japan, and the show is almost like having Murasaki as a tour guide around the world of Japanese cuisine.
12. Bartender
Eden Hall, a lone bar operated by Ryuu Sasakura, the prodigy bartender who is supposed to concoct the most wonderful cocktails anybody has ever tasted, is hidden in the backstreets of the Ginza district.
But not just anyone can locate Eden Hall; rather, Eden Hall must locate you.
Customers from many walks of life come into this pub, each with their own set of problems. Ryuu, on the other hand, always knows the perfect concoction to calm and assist each bewildered soul.
13. Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari (Poco’s Udon World)
Souta Tawara, a web designer in Tokyo, is the protagonist of this cooking anime on Netflix. He discovers a little child when he visits his family’s Udon restaurant in Kagawa Prefecture, where he grew up.
When confronted with the youngster, Souta discovers his secret and decides to leave his job to care for the boy, Poco.
Poco and Souta’s daily escapades steadily unfold as Poco joyfully navigates Kagawa, the “Udon Kingdom,” with Souta.
14. Amaama to Inazuma (Sweetness and Lightning)
This cooking anime follows Kouhei Inuzuka, a teacher who has been raising his little daughter alone since his wife died. Because he isn’t a good chef, he and his daughter Tsumugi have been eating convenience shop meals.
A chain of events led him to a restaurant owned by Kotori, the mother of one of his students. Even if her mother isn’t present, Kotori does her best to feed both of them.
Kotori has discovered that she is frequently alone because her parents are divorced and her mother is frequently absent. They begin to meet and create delicious food together.
15. Koufuku Graffiti (Gourmet Girl Graffiti)
Ryou, a middle school girl who lives alone, is the protagonist of this cooking anime. She has a natural talent for cooking and uses it to form friendships with strangers.
“Full of detailed cuisine imagery to stimulate the appetite and mildly sensual meal scenes,” according to the cookery manga. The word “koufuku” is a play on two Japanese homonyms, one of which signifies “happiness” and the other “appetite.”
What an awesome cooking anime list for all the foodies or chefs! Let’s get right to the list without wasting any time and you will find a variety of other anime cliches, such as participation at an exclusive (culinary) high school, thoughts of owning a restaurant or bakery, epic battles, and, of course, an abundance of mouth-watering food. If you need more recommendations on cooking movies or best food travel shows, just visit Thecookingmovie. We always try our best to present amazing movie lists to our fellow movie lovers!