The Other World Dining Hall Chapter 45

Barbecue

Pierce with bamboo skewers.

Puncture it intently.

Pierce the meat and vegetables that were cut in large pieces with the right hand that was wearing vinyl gloves.

[A, ano master… what are you doing?]

A voice asked the owner

[N?… A, it’s for tomorrow’s sale.]

Apparently it was already the time Aletta arrived before he noticed it.

Noticing that, the owner turned towards Aletta.

[Tomorrow? Isn’t it your day off?]

[A, no, no. It’s not for the restaurant, it’s for a stall at the autumn festival.]

The owner answered the confused Aletta, waving his hand lightly.

Yes, tomorrow at Sunday there was an autumn festival held at the local shrine.

Everyone in the shopping district including shopkeepers was supposed to create a stall as part of their help.

Western restaurant Nekoya was one of the restaurants in the district.

Half of the stores in the district were restaurants, the remaining half were a butcher, a greengrocer, a fish shop and other foodstuffs that supplied the restaurants.

For the neighborhood offices, because there were hardly any companies that had employee cafeteria, over 1,000 guests gathered in this shopping district where delicious food were served for their lunch break.

As this had continued for a long time, this happened.

But it’s not easy.

After all, though they expected customers to some extent every day, based on the location pattern, the majority of the customers were regulars.

If one of the stores did not show up for the festival, there would be a loss for less than a year.

Because of that, for many years, restaurants which “survived” in this neighborhood had good reputations including Nekoya.

Although there were various kind of food served, it required skill to be called “the most delicious in the shopping district”.

For ordinary sales, all restaurants in the district were not “cannibalistic” since the types of food served were different, but there was one exception.

It was during the autumn festival that was held at the local shrine each year.

The shops at the shopping district were in charge of opening small festival at the local shrine each year.

…During the short period of 1 day, they competed on selling food face to face.

Moreover, the customers decided what to eat after seeing the sale of almost all the stalls.

Even if they won or lost, they obtained nothing, but it was human’s nature to think that it was extremely mortifying if they lost.

That’s why every store in the district strived to make a stand that could stand above other “rivals” every year.

If you restrained the price to the extent that it didn’t make a deficit, the only thing left was how to make a dish that could draw customers.

(Recently, thanks to many years of rivalry, customers are beginning to come in an extent that it’s unlikely to be called a modest festival of a local shrine.

Every year, the town magazine makes it a special feature.)

Even for Nekoya which was one of the best veterans in the shopping district, the owner must exert his skill to the utmost every year for the food stall.

And the dish selected by the owner this year was…

[I choose to sell Kus.h.i.+yaki1 for the food stall… well, it’s a barbecue.]

The owner said while showing the meat and vegetables pierced by bamboo skewers.

[Barbecue…?]

[Ou, yesterday

I had a trial run during working hours, but it had promising reputation. The sauce is also homemade.]

The owner answered.

Last year, the owner was one step behind the specialty meat dish of Chinese restaurant “Emi Ryuu” where he worked at back when he was in high school, but this year he was confident.

On one side there was steam rising from meat and vegetables grilled with charcoal, it was matched with the smell of seafood grilled using a different iron plate.

The owner had plenty motivation.

[Ma, I’ll also give it to you, so look forward to it. As expected, it’s too heavy for breakfast so wait until dinner.]

The owner said that, thinking that they should taste test the food.

[Yes! I look forward to it!]

If the owner said it, surely it’s delicious.

Feeling confident, Aletta nodded strongly.

During daytime, the restaurant was bustling with visiting customers.

The door leading to otherworld dining hall was usually located at remote places.

If they went out at sunset, surely they would return when the moon was out.

It was normal to head out at daytime, because beasts, monsters and undeads usually were more active during the night.

For customers of otherworld dining hall, usually they lived near the door, or in Halflings’ cases camped near the door.

At evening, it was a less busy time compared to noon.

The tables were occupied by two groups.

[Oo! Whiskey is the best alcohol after all!]

[Ou! It’s especially delicious with this fried sh.e.l.lfis.h.!.+]

Two dwarf craftsmen, Gard and Guilem, drank whiskey as if it was water.

[Hee~, I don’t understand. Shochu is the best alcohol in this restaurant.]

[That’s right. Even though they’re equally strong, this one is better. As expected.]

They were an ogre couple, Tatsuji and Otora, who joined the two dwarves.

[Is that so? I think wine is the best alcohol here.]

[I agree. Both this world’s red and white wines are delicious.]

The ones who drank wine were the pale-faced immortal vampires of darkness, Romero and Julietta.

[Ee? For me it’s brandy though. Well, I heard from the rumors that dwarves can make whiskey right?

Then make a brandy. If you can make the real thing, then Celestine-sama can drink it with confectionaries at the Light Temple.]

It was the red-haired priestess Carlotta who served the G.o.d of Light; she was enjoying her pound cake and brandy by herself after her boss and colleagues left before evening.

Yes, because of their circ.u.mstances, they were “drunkards” who had no problem even if they return at night.

…If they met at their world, this combination would kill each other, but they did not fight with each other in this restaurant.

That’s why after they finished eating their respective “favourite”, they moved their tables and drank alcohol with light snacks.

[Otto, it’s the waitress. Indeed, it’s time for dinner.]

[O, isn’t that Kus.h.i.+yaki? …Looks delicious.]

Tatsuji who saw Aletta eating a single skewer on an empty seat on the corner said that to Otora.

According to the owner who was a resident of another world, what was called “Makanai2” seemed to be a dish not on the menu and not served to customers.

Every time he saw the demon waitress eating deliciously, he often asked for it before, but the owner always refused saying “I’m sorry, it’s not a dish served to customers”.

[Still… it looks delicious today too…]

[It seems delicious paired with alcohol.]

The two dwarves were sensitive to “signs of delicacy” and swallowed their spit.

Especially when they couldn’t eat it.

[Fumu… seafood and vegetable, huh.]

[It seemed to fit well with wine.]

The two vampires seemed to remember the taste of seafood with white wine and licked their lips.

[U~mu, I don’t know whether it’s better than meat or not. Because I don’t really eat seafood, so I don’t know the taste well.]

Carlotta was a bit slow in her reaction.

Without being concerned of the gazes upon her, Aletta continued to eat.

(I have to finish it before it cools down…)

It was seafood and vegetable skewer that was planned to be sold at the stall.

First was the sh.e.l.lfish called scallop, next was the yellow grain called corn, squid, a mushroom called eringi3, and rounded shrimp.

Seafood and vegetables that were delicious during summer and autumn were alternatively stabbed with a skewer and grilled, with just shoyu as sauce.

For something to be sold, “meat” had a strong taste, this one though had simple taste.

[The G.o.d that bless demon race, I appreciate that I was given food to eat today.]

After she prayed, Aletta lifted the skewer.

When it neared her mouth, she could appreciate the strong scent of the skewer.

A unique scent of fresh seafood and burnt shoyu.

She breathed the scent deeply.

With just its fragrance, her mouth was overflowing with saliva.

She swallowed her saliva and stuffed her cheeks with the food.

(N! …Delicious!)

While the freshly grilled skewer was still hot, Aletta would enjoy its taste.

The first thing she ate was the taste of sh.e.l.lfish smeared with shoyu.

Usually it was coated and deep-fried, but it was also delicious when grilled with shoyu.

Every time she chewed, the sh.e.l.lfish broke and its juice that contained plenty of its taste spread inside her mouth.

The oversized sh.e.l.lfish was already a feast on its own.

But the skewer was not finished yet.

The sweet corn, the chewy squid, the mushroom smeared with shoyu, and at last was the shrimp.

Indeed, it was because of the simple seasoning of only shoyu that she was able to alternatively savour the true taste of seafood and vegetables.

Aletta finished the skewer with considerable volume in a blink of eye.

(It’s delicious, but… it’s not enough!)

Its taste stimulated her appet.i.te and Aletta felt it strongly.

She wanted to eat more.

It was such a moment.

[Hoi. I brought the meat one. It’s hot so be careful.]

As he said so, the owner placed another plate.

[Is that ok!?]

[Of course. Just one is not enough, and I intended to have you taste both of them from the start.]

The owner nodded with a laugh.

[Yes! Thank you very much!]

To answer it, Aletta reached for the skewer brought by the owner.

(A… this, the sauce is delicious!)

At that instant, Aletta could taste the sauce.

It’s sweet, hot and sour.

It contained three flavours at the same time… a sauce with strong flavor.

The taste spread inside her mouth.

The meat that absorbed the strong sauce… was beef.

It was so soft since the owner carefully prepared it, at the same time it still contained plenty of meat juice with strong meat flavor, not losing to the sauce.

Furthermore, the vegetables sandwiched between the meats were onions and potatoes.

With a crunchy sound, the pungent onion neutralizes the sauce’s taste, while the potatoes without its skin were boiled for a while before grilling and crumbled inside her mouth.

Both were eaten in between the meat… after that she ate the second and third meat deliciously.

Thanks to the strong flavor that she had just eaten, Aletta was satisfied.

She finished eating it in an instant. It was so delicious.

[So, how was it? Is it delicious?]

[Yes! It’s really tasty!]

Aletta nodded with a smile to the owner’s question.

She agreed from the bottom of her heart.

If it’s this delicious, she would gladly buy it.

[I see, I see… well then. If that’s the case then it’s definitely selling tomorrow.]

The owner felt a little relieved from those words.

…They didn’t notice. There was a group eavesdropping on their conversation.

[Ou! Owner, that, is it for sale!?]

[E!? A, maa, that’s right.]

When he was suddenly asked by the big male ogre, the owner nodded while feeling surprised.

He answered Tatsuji’s question without knowing why, but the eyes of all the members of that group gleamed.

(Are? Did I… make a mistake?)

Immediately he got a bad feeling.

[Ou, if that’s so then give me those skewers! 5 of the seafood skewers for me!]

[5 meat skewers for me! As soon as possible!]

[10 each for me! Also add a bottle of shochu!]

[This thing should match well with shochu!]

[Well then, 1 each for us too.]

[Without Galeo4 please.]

[A, meat for me please. For liquor, it seems that beer is more suitable than brandy, so that too please.]

He received orders from all of them.

[E!? A, that… I understand.]

The owner nodded, though he was troubled by the orders.

Originally, he made a lot since he was planning to sell it.

He couldn’t say that he couldn’t sell it to otherworld customers.

…After that the skewers that reached to three figures were flattened and it would take until midnight to remake the preliminary preparations, but that’s another story

TN: When I first saw that it was barbecue, it thought it’s the western one like the picture below. Turns out its kus.h.i.+yaki instead. Oh well, they’re both delicious.