Cooking Anime: 10 Best Shows To Watch While Munching!

Somehow, Japanese cooking anime makes food look just as appetizing as, if not more, than real food. You’ll love these 10 cooking anime series if you love delicious food. The only drawback? You’re sure to be hungry after watching it!

1. Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars!)

This is the undisputed king of cooking anime. Shokugeki no Soma is famous worldwide for its characters” excellent cooking skills,  delectable depictions of food… and exciting shounen-style cooking battles! The hero, Yukihira Soma, enters the prestigious Totsuki Academy cooking school.

Although he is looked down on for his background in ordinary Japanese cooking, the other students soon learn that Soma is far from ordinary. You can even learn to make some of the show’s delicious dishes, as the manga includes recipes.

2. Yume-iro Pâtissière (Dream-Colored Pastry Chef)

Ichigo Amano is the main character of Yumeiro Patissiere. The fourteen-year-old girl loves sweets and dreams of running her own patisserie. Unfortunately, unlike the cooking child prodigies on this list, she begins her journey with no cooking skills.

The anime follows her time at culinary school as she learns (and shows the audience) how to bake delicious pastries. After watching this show, you’ll definitely be craving something sweet!

3. Yakitate Japan (Freshly Baked!! Ja-pan!)

In this show, Kazuma Azuma wants to create a national bread for Japan: “”Ja-pan”” (Pan means bread in Japanese). He’s off to a good start, as the “”Hands of the Sun”” hands are warmer than usual, letting him ferment bread dough faster than average.

Kazuma Azuma heads to Tokyo to work at the world-famous bread-making chain Pantasi, where he encounters rivals, learns new techniques and makes lots of perfectly browned bread.

4. Toriko 

If Dragon Ball was crossed with a cooking show, you would get Toriko. In a world where even the landscape is made of food (think mac and cheese volcanoes), Gourmet Hunters search out the most delicious rare ingredients for chefs to prepare the best dishes.

Follow the adventures of Toriko, one such pro-Gourmet Hunter, as he battles the evil Gourmet Corps, hordes of dangerous beasts, and even the very food he is looking for!

5. Chuuka Ichiban! (Cooking Master Boy)

Mao wants to be a Legendary Chef like his mother. To do so, he must travel across China to learn about different cooking techniques. On his journey, he makes friends, finds rivals, and goes up against the Dark Cooking Society, which seeks to control China through cooking.

6. Ristorante Paradiso

Ristorante Paradiso is a slice-of-life anime about Nicolletta, a girl fresh out of culinary school, as she begins working at the Casetta dell Orso Restaurant. Besides Nicolette, the restaurant is staffed entirely by bespectacled older gentlemen with wise words and deep pasts.

While there, Nicoletta also begins uncovering the secrets of her mother’s past. But the show isn’t just about the relationships between the characters; it also features plenty of Italian-style cooking.

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7. Muteki Kanban Musume (Ramen Fighter Miki)

This comedy, also called Ramen Fighter Miki in North America, is about the mishaps and adventures of Miki Onimaru. Miki is the delivery girl for her mother’s Chinese ramen shop. Due to her rambunctious and impulsive personality, she often gets into trouble during her deliveries, leading to plenty of funny situations!

8. Isekai Izakaya “Nobu”

In this show, a typical Japanese “”izakaya,”” or pub, has been transported into a medieval fantasy world. The locals are amazed by the Japanese flavors the izakaya brings to them. The show is also educational. At the end of each episode, there is a segment that teaches you how to cook delicious izakaya foods or reviews the food featured in the show.

9. Mister Ajikko

This anime was created in 1987, making it the first cooking anime ever started! Ajiyoshi Youichi, also called Mister Ajikko, is a child prodigy who loves creating interesting new dishes and helps his mother run a restaurant. His life changes when he is discovered by the food critic Murata Genjirou and enters the world of cooking competitions.

10. Koufuku Graffiti (Gourmet Girl Graffiti)

This heartwarming anime follows Ryō Machiko, a middle-schooler who loves cooking and has been living alone since her grandmother died. Although Ryō is very talented, she feels that her dishes lack flavor. When her cousin Kirin Morino comes to stay with her on the weekends, she finally learns what her food lacks: friends and family to share it with.

Special Mention: Bartender

Although Bartender is not a cooking show, it deserves mention, as all good meals accompany an excellent drink. Eden Hall is a bar that strives to be a place of respite from the world’s troubles outside the bar. You can learn about mixology and enjoy watching lovely cocktails crafted as the bartender Ryu Sasakura mixes the perfect drink for each customer.