Throughout the long history of the foodservice industry, there is a golden rule that every operator should strictly follow and that is - don’t make your customers wait for too long. On this week’s episode of “food wars! The Third Plate,” Yukihira Soma capitalized on the golden rule to bring down Tosuki’s Elite Ten, Kuga Terunori. Now that Soma has proven that he's got what it takes to take down one of the elite chefs of the academy, what will happen next in the Moon Festival?
Birth of a new lion
The episode kicked off with Kuga trash-talking Soma to give up the hopeless battle with his fiery Sichuan cuisines.
However, the unorthodox never-say-die chef still hasn’t given up and in fact, discovered a major flaw that would give the Kuga Restaurant a run for their money. With the help of Tomita of the Sumiredori Shopping District, Soma set up a pop-up open-air restaurant. Even so, turning a food cart stall into a proper restaurant would all be for naught if Soma didn't have a dish that could compete with Kuga’s explosive Mapo Tofu.
Fortunately, Soma had prepared a newly revised dish that combined everything that he learned from his past experiences and Shokugeki opponents. After multiple attempts to level up the traditional Yukihira Style Mapo Tofu, he came up with Time Fuse Mapo Curry Noodles. The base of the dish is the old Yukihira style Mapo Tofu but he added the Dan Zai Noodles.
The main twist is the huge chunk of meatball from the pepper bun filling that contains beef bone stock with curry spices and was solidified using gelatin. With all the elements served in a bowl, his dish hugely resembled a Taiwanese hot pot delicacy called Lion’s Head Stew.
Yukihira Soma’s second surprise
With more customers lining up for Soma’s booth, it was a matter of time before the two-man staff crumbled under the onslaught of orders.
However, Yukihira prepared for this scenario and recruited his former opponent Mimasaka Subaru to help them fill all the orders. With Mimasaka’s perfect profiling, he moved precisely like Soma and gave off a vibe of two Somas working simultaneously. With more and more customers arriving, an extra pair of hands was not enough to satisfy every customer.
It was a good thing Nikumi and the Aldini brothers came to help them push for a decisive victory against the Kuga Restaurant.
After the anime series premiered earlier this month, this was the first episode that gave off the real vibe of “Food Wars.” This episode made the slow buildup in the first three chapters worth it, especially because we witnessed how Yukihira feinted a defeat and bounced back stronger than ever. Too bad the art didn’t match the feel of the previous season’s vivid images of food, and the recurring CG Mapo Tofu cooking shot needed some trimming. Last but not the least was the foodgasm that felt unemotional and half-baked when compared to previous ones. The foodgasms of the series were its trademark and toning it down to reduce the sexuality for the price of humor and objectifying imagery is a bad move for the show makers.
For now, let’s just wait and see how things turn out for Soma now that he managed to beat one of the Elite 10. Tune in for more “Food Wars! The Third Plate” updates.
