Gourmet Manga Worth Reading
Manga
Just as the title says, manga about food and cooking that are worth your time.
Manga, ? vol, 2006
Me:-
Author:9
A compelling examination of human dramas that pass through the Midnight Diner. The food is drawn well and the art style is unique.
Manga, 37 vol, 2011
Me:-
Author:8
A chef is thrown back in time and uses his knowledge of modern Japanese cooking and history to assist Nobunaga in his quest for unification of Japan. There is food in almost every chapter, but also a fair amount of historical information.
Manga, 19 vol, 2016
Me:-
Author:9
This is an over the top soap opera set in a wagashi confectionary. Murder mysteries, secret babies, fires, revenge? This manga has it all, and also you can watch the artisans design wagashi.
Manga, 11 vol, 1995
Me:-
Author:9
A wagashi shop with hundreds of years of history and no male heir- this human drama follows the romances and growing pains of the three daughters of the shop, one of whom must carry on the business. The wagashi are well drawn but not the focus.
Manga, ? vol, 2016
Me:-
Author:8
Finally a heroine who is spirited away to marry an otherworldly being who is like, no thanks, I'll work off my debt by cooking. The food is well drawn and the drama is engaging.
Manga, ? vol, 2017
Me:-
Author:9
Sometimes the right person gets isekai'ed to the past and Shizuko is that person. An agriculture nerd, she's just the person to figure out how to jumpstart Nobunaga's rise to the top. Food is not always the focus in this one, but when it does appear it looks great.
Manga, ? vol, 2020
Me:-
Author:9
Everyone needs to eat- except how many times have you just eaten junk when you were living alone? This is a redemptive romance between a woman who has been transferred to Hokkaido for work and an employee at a dinner bento shop. Hokkaido meibutsu (specialties) are often drawn.
Manga, 111 vol, 1983
Me:-
Author:8
One of the big 3 OG gourmet manga, Oishinbo will take you through the fight between the Ultimate and Gourmet menus, always emphasizing fresh and local ingredients.
Manga, 24 vol, 2004
Me:-
Author:8
There is no reason a manga about competitive eating should be this fun, but it gleefully retreads every shounen sports manga cliche and you'll eat it up. The food is well drawn in an older style, but the real joy comes from hissing the villainous Osaka Food League and their way of eating without enjoying the food.
Manga, ? vol, 2016
Me:-
Author:8
A gentle slice of life look at girls' friendship and cooking - set inside the closed world of maiko and geisha in Kyoto. The food depicted is designed to maximize the feeling of home cooking and nostalgia.
Manga, 3 vol, 2016
Me:-
Author:8
In a weird post-apocolyptic world, a girl and giant spider live the slow life, cooking and eating together.
Manga, ? vol, 2017
Me:-
Author:8
In Western fairytales there is a type of story where the hero is not strong himself but gathers strong allies by his kindness (usually sharing his bread). This manga fits firmly inside that trope. An isekai'ed guy uses his unique skill to obtain ingredients and cook delicious food that win him powerful allies. The fun comes from watching him cook and everyone else over-react to his OP animal friends.
Manga, 14 vol, 2014
Me:-
Author:7
This manga is all about a character's obsession with eating monsters (everyone else thinks this is gross) and a overarching plot of defeating the dungeon and saving his sister. You will see some very silly recipes using monster parts and you will be drawn in to the dungeon drama.
Manga, 4 vol, 2017
Me:-
Author:8
The pure gentleness of the chef hired to provide food for a house spirit living in an abandoned house in the countryside will touch your heart. The food looks delicious and shows a Shinto sensibility toward caring for the spirits of objects.
Manga, ? vol, 2020
Me:-
Author:8
The grilled foods look delicious and you could definitely cook them at home after reading. The gentle romance between husband and wife is also a draw.
Manga, ? vol, 2016
Me:-
Author:8
The food presented is classic izakaya fare with a focus on soothing the customer's worries.
Manga, 4 vol, 2020
Me:-
Author:8
The gentle romance between a slightly older woman and younger man who were childhood neighbors and now eat dinner together when he returns from his long distance trucking jobs.
Manga, 6 vol, 2015
Me:-
Author:8
Another local diner story with delicious food served to customers with problems, this story is a child of the genre established by Midnight Diner.
Manga, ? vol, 2007
Me:-
Author:7
A loving depiction of two gay men's relationship ups and downs through their home life and the food they eat together.
Manga, ? vol, 1984
Me:-
Author:7
One of the 3 OG gourmet manga, this comedy revolves around the fact the macho salaryman father is an excellent cook for his family, but wants to hide that fact from his co-workers. Many touching scenes of him cooking with his son or for his friends. This was the first gourmet manga to include recipes so you can try the dishes as well. The focus is very much on achievable Japanese home cooking.
One-shot, ? vol, 2014
Me:-
Author:7
A touching story about nostalgia and moving on, centered around noodles.
Manga, 3 vol, 2014
Me:-
Author:7
A college romance centered on two neighbors cooking together. As the MCs skills improved and she becomes more independent, she is finally ready to enter the romance as an equal. There is a sequel that focuses on the characters living together after graduation and entering the world of work.
Manga, 10 vol, 2006
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Author:-
Every episode is a bottle episode set in prison on New Year's Eve as the prisoner's tell the story of a delicious meal. If they tell the most delicious story, as judged by their peers, they will be able to take an item from each other prisoner's osechi (New Year's bento). The food is drawn with maximum deliciousness and you can feel the emotional stakes. This is one of Tsuchiyama's best gourmet manga and his retro macho art style is well suited to the setting.
Manga, 2 vol, 1994
Me:-
Author:6
Part of the second wave of gourmet manga, Kodoku no Gourmet had an outsized impact on the genre for the small number of chapters and inconsistent publishing schedule. The wandering salaryman visiting real restaurants and enjoying their specialties has become an entire subgenre and it all comes back to this manga.
Manga, ? vol, 2006
Me:-
Author:6
If you didn't know Arakawa (of Fullmetal Alchemist and Silver Spoon fame) was the child of dairy farmers, you definitely will after reading this comical autobiography about her dairy farmer logic.
Manga, ? vol, 2011
Me:-
Author:6
Short and to the point, you get to see a stressed young working woman blow away her stress by pairing food and drink after work and eating them deliciously. It will make you crave a drink and otsumami.
Manga, 7 vol, 2015
Me:-
Author:8
A cute series of short manga about working women who share a house and like to drink and eat otsumami together.
Manga, 21 vol, 2004
Me:-
Author:7
Mostly about cocktails, the eponymous bartender solves his clients problems with judiciously selected drinks. Recipes included.
Manga, ? vol, 2017
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Author:-
The direct descendant of Bartender with a similar premise of cocktails solve problems, but with a completely different main character changes the feel.
Manga, ? vol, 2019
Me:-
Author:8
If you like the kind of fantasy world where a character who is insanely strong has an interest in a non-fighting hobby, this is for you. The gags are genuinely funny and the food looks tasty.
Manga, 12 vol, 1988
Me:-
Author:10
Another of the new generation of highly focused gourmet manga, Natsuko no Sake is about a young woman carrying on her deceased older brother's dream to create a lost sake with a special strain of rice. The true charm of this manga is the nostalgic style of the art and the moving relationships between people, especially women supporting each other's dreams.
Manga, 15 vol, 2006
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Author:-
If you love trains even a little bit, you know how exciting it can be to have a special meal as you travel. This manga is devoted to exploring Japan by train and eating local ekiben- train station bento!
Manga, 4 vol, 2015
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Author:9
You might ask, how delicious could a manga about soup look? I bet after a few chapters, you'll be craving some yourself.
Manga, ? vol, 2014
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Author:-
Dumped by her fiancee, this salarwoman finally lets loose her frustration by treating herself to delicious meals. Real restaurants are featured.
Manga, ? vol, 2015
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Author:-
This manga could have easily fallen into pandering with the "two unsupervised new stepsisters must live together" trope, but the tight focus on delicious food saves it.
Manga, ? vol, 2016
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Author:-
How can a manga about the Shinsengumi be this delicious looking? You'll accidentally find yourself learning history alongside the touching meals these doomed bishis share.
Manga, ? vol, 2019
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Author:8
Woman who has put aside her dreams to support a *bleep* of a husband gets dumped/cheated on is a genre in of itself (Promise Cinderella comes to mind). But this time instead of wandering the streets until she is picked up by the male lead, our heroine is isekai'ed and gets to cook delicious foods for aspiring adventurer kids. The premise that fail potions are tasty ingredients like soy sauce is fun, and you genuinely love to hate her ex.
Manga, 4 vol, 2020
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Author:-
This is a healing type manga centered around cooking on an irori, sunken hearth. Part of the return to the countryside genre of manga, read this if you have ever daydreamed about living in an old farmhouse and eating delicious food with childhood friends.
Manga, 5 vol, 2021
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Author:-
Maybe it's all the giant swords or the retro shounen tropes, but this manga feels like a throwback to the '90s or the 2000s at the latest. On the other hand, sometimes making your chef's knife super big and cooking a sky monster for the girl you like can be kind of cool too.
Manga, 3 vol, 2009
Me:-
Author:8
A typical rich girl wants to cook Italian food, undergoes hardships, and softens the heart of a harsh chef story, but it is short enough and light enough to be an amuse bouche.
Manga, 2 vol, 2015
Me:-
Author:9
Simple, slice of life stories with a recipe at the end. The title literally could mean "Rice's friend" which is a name for side dishes that go well with rice and can be a simple meal.
Manga, 41 vol, 2003
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Author:-
A seinen style story about an apprentice chef steadily improving his skills and working toward opening his own traditional Japanese restaurant. The pace is leisurely and there's always more to learn. Don't expect people's clothes to be blown off with the deliciousness of the cooking, but do expect deep friendships and manly respect between rivals' work ethic.
