The Other World Dining Hall (WN) Chapter 76

TN: A double release! This is the continuation of the previous chapter as you can see from the t.i.tle.

Rice Burger Once Again

7.30 in the morning.

After the two elven friends that ate rice burger and bought grilled onigiri as takeaway left the restaurant, the owner was relieved.

(That happened.)

Rice had not been cooked yet for early morning customers. Moreover, they couldn't eat b.u.t.ter rolls.

The owner felt a secret satisfaction after he was able to satisfy such opponents somehow.

(Still, rice burgers?)

The owner complained a little bit after the customers left.

Well, it couldn't be helped that the elves were vegan.

It was not uncommon for people to be unable to eat specific foods due to allergy, religion, culture, and problems of likes and dislikes, but it's still unusual to be asked to make food for those customers.

(Kinpira Burger is also good at first, but rice burger should be with meat after all.)

Therefore, as per the owner's preferences, he thought that rice burger was best with meat dish.

Of course, the Kinpira Kakiage Burger made for those vegan customers was not tasteless.

For the owner who grew up eating his grandfather's cooking from early age and did not have food restrictions, he thought that it was a courtesy to make delicious food for customers.

At the same time however, as a middle-aged man that worked hard, it's still somewhat unsatisfactory.

(It's dangerous. When I thought so, I got the urge to eat it.)

He lightly got angry.

It was literally just a trivial matter, but his stomach became hungry.

(Should I make it? Even though it's morning.)

[Good morning master.]

[Ou, morning. Let's work hard today too. I'll make breakfast for the time being, so please wait a moment.]

'Chirinchirin', he greeted Aletta who came with the sound of bell and reconsidered.

(…Rice burger is for supper.)

The owner's rethought his reasoning seeing Aletta's smile.

Rice burger, which could be said as a lump of meat and rice, was a bit heavy for breakfast.

In addition, Aletta was in the bread faction… rather than that, rice was not usually available in the area where Aletta lived (according to the old samurai regular, rice seemed to be the staple of Western Continent).

Aletta did not complain on eating rice in the morning and ate it deliciously, but she preferred bread.

If so, rice burger for breakfast was a bit far-fetched.

(Yos.h.i.+, I'll leave it for free time preparation.)

Thinking that far, the owner proceeded preparing breakfast as usual.

And the day was finished. The customers who were interested in drinking alcohol had gone home and they only had to wait for the usual "last customer".

[Yos.h.i.+, I'll make dinner now.]

[Yes!]

Aletta who was secretly looking forward to it nodded vigorously to the owner's words.

The time zone for otherworld dining hall's "employee meals" changed according to the condition of the restaurant's crowdedness.

For customers that came just before noon, no matter their gender, age or even race, their purpose was the main menu.

Increasing from early afternoon were customers that were interested in desserts like the aristocrats that wore gorgeous clothing, grand priestess that had golden holy seal, and a magician that seemed to be a friend of the owner.

And the customer traffic increased a lot from sunset, customers like the strong warrior Dwarves came to eat dinner with otherworld alcohol (Aletta did not know much about alcohol, but according to regulars, otherworld alcohol was stronger and more delicious).

Depending on the circ.u.mstances, there was a huge difference between the time when Nekoya was busy and not busy.

Especially when multiple Halflings came, even when night had fallen, they would be so busy it made their eyes spin.

Because of such circ.u.mstances, the time for employee meals changed depending on free time.

Aletta who worked hard on customer service from morning to night basically had empty stomach every meal time, so she always savoured her food whenever it was.

[Please wait a moment. I'll make it now. It's a new product today.]

[Yes!]

Along with his voice, seeing the owner cooking something in the kitchen made Aletta's expectation to rise.

A new product, something that was unknown to Aletta, but she was not worried.

The food that the owner made was always delicious.

Then, she waited for a while.

[Yos.h.i.+, it's finished.]

The good-hearted owner carried two plates and placed them before Aletta.

[Waa… such a nice smell…]

While her mouth watered, Aletta said straightforwardly.

A warm and appetizing scent drifted from the food.

There were two brown objects on the white plate.

Something round, flat and dyed brown.

Meanwhile, two different types of meat and vegetable were sandwiched between the two brown boards making hamburgers and both of them smelled delicious.

(Looks like hamburgers but…)

In that way, Aletta remembered a certain dish.

A dish called hamburger in which baked finely minced meat was sandwiched between two breads.

A dish that was regularly ordered by the three boys that had not been seen recently and something that Aletta had eaten as lunch before.

It was a tasty dish, the meat juice fit well with the sour red sauce.

But the foods in front of her were different.

The scent drifting from the food was not the scent of that red vegetable sauce; it was the scent of shoyu.

Besides, the colour of the bread was different from hamburger.

[Ou, it's a special rice burger. It's good especially when it's hot.]

While telling her the name of the dish, the owner sat down across Aletta, put his hands together and said his prayer.

[Itadakimasu.]

As soon as he said that, he grasped the burger without using fork and knife and took a hearty bite.

[…Un, delicious.]

The owner nodded, satisfied with the taste.

At such times, the owner thought that it was convenient to be able to cook what he wanted to eat.

[Etto, G.o.d of Demons, thank you for giving me food!]

Seeing the owner eating the rice burger satisfactorily, Aletta said her prayers quicker than usual and ate the rice burger.

She learned from the owner and grabbed the rice burger after wiping her hands with a wet towel.

The scent of baked meat and burnt shoyu tickled her nose, making her stomach growl.

She could not wait any longer.

Aletta also took a hearty bite.

(Delicious!)

At the moment she bit the rice burger, an intense flavor hit her.

The fragrant skin with its savoury and spicy flavor and the meat sandwiched between the two layers.

The two mixed in her mouth and was intensely delicious.

The meat was strongly seasoned.

The fat meat was sweet and spicy and the fragrance of sesame seeds.

Furthermore, the bitterness of green peppers when she chewed.

The sweet Oranie that absorbed plenty of the meat's delicious taste and the fresh leafy vegetable.

The meat alone was too strong, so by wrapping it with fresh and cooked vegetables gave it a finished taste.

(This is… that's right, Karubidon!)

To that taste, Aletta followed her memories and noticed a similar taste.

From time to time, a royal princess (thought Aletta did not know n.o.ble etiquettes, her behavior was clearly different from commoners) occasionally visited the restaurant and ordered this meat dish.

(Then the skin portion is rice?)

The taste of baked rice with its savoury shoyu flavor was similar to the meat dish on top of white rice.

For Aletta who was not familiar with rice, this was easier to eat and more delicious.

(What about the other one…?)

Aletta who finished the Karubidon-style rice burger looked at the other one and pondered.

This was closer to the hamburger that Aletta knew.

Although there's no cheese, the baked round meat was definitely Hamburg steak.

And the skin was the same rice as before.

In this restaurant, the demon customer with lizard legs and her human companion ate Hamburg steak with rice.

Perhaps hamburgers would also match with rice.

(So probably this too…)

It should be delicious.

She saw it with such expectation.

(Eh!? This, it's hamburger and yet not hamburger!?)

But Aletta became confused with her expectation.

It's hamburger, but it's not hamburger.

Yes, that feeling.

She guessed that it's certainly hamburger.

The soft texture disentangling in her mouth was definitely that of a Hamburg steak and the skin was made with rice.

The hidden taste of rice burger was the raw slices of Oranie and its fresh bitterness complimented the sweet "teriyaki" sauce of the hamburger.

[Ou, I tried to mix in chicken cartilage. It's something I ate back when I was a child.]

The owner laughingly taught the curious Aletta.

Usually, the ground meat served in the restaurant was not chicken meat.

Cartilage added crunchy texture.

And using teriyaki sauce as seasoning was a reproduction of the owner's childhood memories.

[Maa, tell me if it's unappetizing… though it seems that I don't need to worry.]

As Aletta did not answer… he was satisfied with the meal to the end.

(Aa, I like to cook and eat after all.)

He confirmed the answer after a long time.

Yes, the owner liked to eat, but he also liked to cook.

[So, how was it?]

The owner asked with a smile after Aletta finished eating.

[Yes! It was very delicious!]

Aletta's face showed no lies.

It was her straightforward opinion, not a flattery.

[I see, do you think I can serve it to the customers?]

[Etto… yes. I think people would want to buy this.]

She considered the owner's next question a bit and nodded.

As a result, she thought that some customers would want to buy this.

[I see. Well then, I'll add this to the menu.]

To Aletta' words, the owner decided to ask other staffs' opinions when weekday came.

The addition of a new menu was common in Nekoya.

At the beginning, it would be served as daily set and if it had good reputation, then it would be added to regular menu.

It was a tradition of Nekoya.

Thus, it was decided that a new menu would be added in Nekoya.