Karhu

Isekai Izakaya is a series I wouldn't recommend to anyone. Not because it's so bad but because it is so different. The approach is original to a point that it doesn't even feel like an anime. The point of the series is to offer a trip to Japanese cuisines and food culture. The entire series centers around this certain Japanese restaurant and its customers who tend to change episodically. In generally, our customers have the role of foreigners who are absorbing and experiencing the Japanese kitchen for the very first time. This is executed in rather immersive self-insert manner. We end up seeing episodes where customersdescribe what type of a food they want (many of the characters seem to be real culinary pros) and our kitchen master prepares what they requested, but in the Japanese way. Our customers serve the idea and add to the viewing experience. They vary from rather manly men to small children. Even the adult men can occasionally almost lose their self-control over food because they are just that hyped to try it out. In generally, character reactions are powerful. They are living in the moment, not currently caring about anything else than the food that is being prepared and then eaten. When characters are finding the concept this fascinating, it's easy to share their interest. From it's setting, I'd compare this work to Thermae Romae, the award-winning series centering around Roman bath architect who travels in time to modern Japan to discover the future of bath houses. Isekai Izakaya is on parallel with Thermae's idea, and not only that, every episode we see ends with a live action segment where real Japanese master(s) shows us the recipe behind the current episodic dish and shows from scratch how it was made. The simple idea for the anime and the execution that relies on love for food create an atmosphere that is bound the make the viewer hungry for more. Isekai Izakaya is nothing less than an unique piece of anime and for that reason its target audience will be very limited. There are bound to be viewers who won't even see why such a series was made. I find it very hard to believe that any underage person would ever find this show appealing. This is an anime for adults. To me, this was nothing less than fresh air. I appreciate everything this anime did and accomplished. Those who are planning to move to Japan should also consider watching this.

AnOldOtaku

I don't normally write reviews, but after seeing so many people bashing this one and comparing it to Isekai Shokudou Restaurant to Another World I just had to. First I will say, I enjoyed both, however This one is the better anime for a few reasons. More thought and effort was put into this one then Shokudou. Shokudou doesn't bother to try and explain or have anything resembling a plot or story line. It is just new episode = new character and new dish. The previously introduced characters (except the waitresses) become nothing but background fodder to make the restaurant seem busy, making onlyoccasional cameos to support new characters. In my opinion, while enjoyable, the writing was lazy, focusing on a large amount of characters with no regard to story telling. The plot is nonexistent Izakaya explains why the 2 started the restaurant, why their door connects to another world, the characters are more the just one shots, and there is an actual story - restaurant endears itself to regular customers, corrupt noble tries to take restaurant, customers low-key save the day. In terms of actual story telling, this is the better of the 2.