The Other World Dining Hall Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Tanmen Noodles1

 

9 p.m. last night.

[Let’s see… I wonder…]

 

While leaving the dining room cleaning to Aletta, the owner was thinking what he should cook in front of the stove.

The business of otherworld dining hall ended successfully and he finished cleaning up the restaurant easily, but there was one important problem.

As they had not eaten yet, it’s a matter of their late dinner.

 

That day was a thriving day… it was too prosperous.

Barefoot dwarves who ate so much that you wondered how they could pack the food inside their bodies came in two digits, including families.

Aletta who was a genuine person of the otherworld said that they were member of a different race called “Halflings”, but the owner could not differentiate them from human children at first.

 

Only 10 people, but there were 10 people.

When 1 person came in a group with their family members, the restaurant became very busy every time.

Anyway, the opponents were Halflings who were hardcore gluttons.

In addition, when it comes to the otherworld dining hall where they could visit only once in few months, they did not have the words “planning” or “saving” in their minds, they used all of their money they had in their hands to order food.

Oh yes, they ate one dish after another.

Moreover, other ordinary customers’ appet.i.tes were stimulated seeing them eat and ordered more food than usual.

Thus the otherworld dining hall at that day became a battle field and the dinner time for the owner and Aletta s.h.i.+fted to that time, which could be regarded as a late night meal.

 

Well, that alone was still good. The problem was…

 

[I don’t even have any pasta left…]

Yes, it’s the lack of staple ingredients. This was also the works of those Halflings.

 

Halflings had no idea of savings.

For that reason, they used all of their money.

In the past, there was a Halfling with a face similar to a mouse who could not pay for his food once, but unexpectedly he travelled around the continent spreading the fact of otherworld dining hall to other Halflings and had never came alone ever since then.

 

Thus, there were unexpectedly a lot of Halflings whose pockets. .h.i.t the limit before they could fully fill their stomach and gave up ordering more while crying.

So, what the Halflings did after their final orders were to eat bread, rice and soup as much as possible.

 

In Nekoya, bread, rice and soup were complimentary. No matter how much they ate, the price wouldn’t change.

In order to satisfy their appet.i.tes, they ate those instead.

It was commonplace to eat rice with soup and bread without soup.

They’ll do everything they could to cover the whole pattern.

In addition, they used the seasonings on the tables properly; they applied those in various ways.

 

How they got the hint that b.u.t.ter was used for Tonjiru during meat day, they did not use any b.u.t.ter with bread, they ate the soup with the complimentary hot rice, and used the shoyu without anyone teaching them.

 

So, the rice, bread and soup were completely consumed.

The pasta and flour which were originally stockpiled were no longer enough even for 1 person.

Fortunately, there were meat and vegetables left, but as a j.a.panese, it was tough to eat a meal without staple food.

That was the situation.

[It will be too late if I cook the rice now… but I can’t not to eat anything…]

If it’s just him alone, he would

just sleep with an empty stomach, but during Sat.u.r.days there were another employee except for himself.

If he thought about it, he was very busy that day and had done quite well during the day.

And that’s why not having any dinner… it was too painful.

[Something like that happened… oh, that’s right.]

After a while, the owner remembered that existence.

[If I’m not wrong, I kept a bag of instant noodles on the third floor…]

Instant salt ramen that could be bought, sometimes you just wanted to eat it.

There were five packs and only one pack had been used two weeks ago.

[And when it comes to it… Tanmen noodles.]

The owner quickly took more vegetables after deciding the menu while rubbing his protruding belly.

Tanmen noodles with fresh meat and vegetables stir-fry.

Recently, when he wanted to instant noodles, that’s what he wanted.

[Saa. That’ll work…]

It was ten minutes until Aletta finished cleaning the dining room.

That would be enough until it’s finished.

 

And after 10 minutes.

[All right. I finished cleaning!]

Aletta carefully checked the dining room satisfactorily with a mop in her right hand and a table cloth in her left hand.

The black wooden tables were polished and there was no more trash on the floor.

[Well then, I’ll wash my hands first before reporting to the owner.]

As she muttered that, Aletta went to wash her hands after putting away the cleaning tools.

First of all, she wet her hands with the mysterious magical tool that spouted water and applied the green chemicals that could produce bubbles.

As she rubbed her hands together, she heeded the owner’s instructions to wash under her nails and between her fingers.

[…Un. It’s clean.]

Her hands were completely clean after was.h.i.+ng.

With this, all that’s left was to clean the kitchen after dinner and her work would be done.

[…I wonder what’s for dinner today.]

When she thought about it, her stomach grumbled loudly.

That day’s lunch was a sandwich that was made more than required when a Halfling ordered it for a take-away.

All three had different fillings, they were delicious as usual, but there were not much in terms of quant.i.ty.

Aletta was a young teenage girl that had not finished growing.

Although she did not eat as much as a Halfling, she still ate quite a lot.

That’s why Aletta whose stomach was completely empty immediately went to the kitchen.

[Owner! I finished cleaning the dining room!]

She called to the owner who was cooking at the kitchen.

[Ou. You must be tired. The food’s just finished.]

The owner looked at her and finished his cooking just as calculated.

 

Divide 2 portions of noodles that were just boiled evenly into deep bowls filled with white soup of clear, pale yellow colour.

Top the noodles with small shrimps and pork with vegetables stir-fry, and it’s complete.

[Alright. The specially-made Tanmen noodles are finished.]

Wafting in the air was the warm scent of soup with a little spice.

 

…Kiyururi

 

[Au…]

The owner laughed at the blus.h.i.+ng Aletta whose stomach grumbled loudly in response to the soup’s smell.

[Okay, our stomachs are empty, so let’s dig in.]

[Ye, yes!]

The two headed to the dining room and went to a suitable seat.

[Well then, itadakimasu.]

[Yes…Great G.o.d that protects the demons… thank you for bringing me food…]

As usual, the two prayed before their meal and started to eat as soon as possible.

 

The owner scooped the soup to his mouth with his spoon and nodded to the usual taste.

[Un. It’s the usual instant ramen.]

It was a taste that he had eaten since he was a kid.

His cooking skill had gone up a lot since then and he had eaten a lot of authentic ramen, but he thought that this was also delicious.

(I guess this could be called delicious? Ma, I used a lot of extravagant ingredients after all.)

While thinking such a thing, the owner continued to eat his ramen and started on his small shrimps and pork lard stir-fried vegetables.

Chinese-style stir-fried vegetables that he learned in the old days when he worked at a Chinese restaurant.

The owner still firmly remembered the basics of keeping the fire uniform and not forgetting that the oil was alive.

Then the ramen was finished in a blink of eye.

 

Aletta also enjoyed her Tanmen noodles.

First, she started eating the stir-fried vegetables on top.

(A, this… is delicious!)

Every time Aletta brought the vegetables to her mouth with a fork, she was surprised by the delicious taste.

Stir-fried vegetables with small shrimps containing the flavor of soup stock and rich pork lard, and spicy seeds sprinkled on top.

Something pale yellow and crunchy, something black and almost transparent.

She was familiar with the dark green and bitter vegetables, pale green leafy vegetables, and the thin, white, transparent vegetables.

There were also familiar vegetables like Caryute and Oranie.

All of the vegetables were properly cooked while having good moisture and texture.

Every time she chewed, the juice of the crispy vegetables mixed with the taste of pork lard and shrimps making a wonderful combination in her mouth.

Aletta fell in love with that taste in an instant.

(Also, this noodle!)

She couldn’t ignore the noodles and soup beneath the vegetables.

It was different from the “pasta” and “spaghetti” served in the restaurant, this noodles were thin and curly.

They were slippery when she twirled them with her fork, and because of the slipperiness, the spiced soup was well entwined.

And the soup.

It was also different from the soup served in the restaurant, but the balance between the taste and the spices used was solid and still delicious.

Ingredients, noodles and soup. These three combined together and became a dish named Tanmen noodles.

 

…If there was only one complaint,

 

(A, it’s gone…)

That amount of food was gone in an instant.

Honestly, she was unsatisfied even though she ate a full bowl.

Especially since she worked hard from morning to night, she was hungrier than usual.

[…Would you like a second helping?]

Feeling sorry about it, the owner asked Aletta who was staring forlornly at her empty bowl.

[E!? Is that okay?]

[Ou. I didn’t eat much today, so I’m still hungry. There are two packs of noodles left. I think I’ll finish them today… what do you think?]

[Of course I want it!]

Aletta nodded enthusiastically to the owner’s question.

Her stomach was far from full.

She was convinced as soon as another bowl of Tanmen noodles was offered.

[Okay. Next I’ll use eggs instead…]

The owner nodded to Aletta and got up to make a second serving of Tanmen noodles.

After the fierce battle during the day, they quietly indulged on Tanmen noodles at night.

Tan-men (タンメン) is ramen soup noodle with stir fried pork and vegetables, and it’s one of the quickest ramen you can make easily at home!  Inspired by the j.a.panese drama, Midnight Diner.