Chapter 13: Sandwich
In the Other World Dining Hall, there are a fair number of customers called regulars.
They live in various places in the Other World and use the ‘doors’ that they have found and secured themselves, and once every seven days, they visit the Other World Dining Hall when it opens. And like that, customers can satisfy themselves with the Other World’s food as a part of their daily lives.
While having the characteristic of materializing in places that have a strong amount of magic, the Other World Dining Hall’s doors materialize without choosing the place they appear.
In the middle of the city or the street, they rarely appear in places that are easily accessible such as inside of a castle, and the doors are usually found standing alone in hard-to-reach places that are separated from habitation. Among them, there are doors that have not even been used once since they first appeared.
With such circ.u.mstances, many of the Other World Dining Hall’s customers, especially customers that are regulars, are strange people from all over the Other World. These strange group of regulars that were gathered from every nook and cranny of the world make sure that they rarely interfere with one another. Even if there were celebrities with names famous throughout the world or even if there were existences that were akin to natural enemies with how bad their relationships with one another were, it was common courtesy to pretend to not see each other.
At any rate, this is the Other World. The common sense of their world does not work here and enforcing it should not be what they should doing. Speaking of that, bad behavior will make you receive an ‘entrance ban’ from the owner which would put you in the miserable plight where you couldn’t enter the restaurant ever again. Because of that, regulars normally forgot their quarrels and respected one another, and if a customer came that couldn’t recognize that at first glance, they would be stopped from entering… however, just like in cooking, there are exceptions.
The customers that come one every seven days every time called regulars usually have at least one ‘favorite food’ which they can’t stop loving that becomes the source of their nickname.
And everyone firmly believes that their ‘favorite food’ is the most delicious thing in the restaurant… and whenever there’s a discussion about which one is tastier, it usually becomes a quarrel. This day just so happened to be one of those days.
“Hah!? What are you saying? Even though you don’t know what it tastes like when you leave it until morning so that the sauce get soaked into the bread and cutlet!”
“That’s my line, little girl! You’re the one who doesn’t know anything! The perfect combination of schripe and tartar sauce is something that can’t be beaten even if it’s cold!”
The ones quarreling were ‘Minced Cutlet,’ a young woman who was a lightly-dressed adventurer while having somewhat of a good upbringing to her, and ‘Fried Shrimp,’ a knight that was still young but had a well-trained body wearing a renowned sword and well-tailored clothes, two regulars who recently started to come to the restaurant compared to the others. The reason they began to quarrel was because they by chance sat in nearby seats.
“Hm? What are those two arguing about?”
‘Teriyaki’, the samurai who came after and didn’t understand the situation, asked his close friend at this restaurant ‘Roast Cutlet,’ a old regular who was as skinny as a dead tree.
“Oh. Apparently it’s about which one is tastier when you put it in a ‘sandwich.’”
Like always, Roast Cutlet was drinking the Other World’s ale, draft beer, from a transparent mug as he answered. It all started when the two of them were ordering ‘sandwiches’ filled with their favorite food for takeout.
—A type of food where various ingredients were put between white bread.
Delicious even when cold.
Easy to take it with you.
For the description of a sandwich in the menu written in the Eastern Continental language, these were the words that were written. These so-called various ingredients implied were a tricky subject and made it so that there were a vast variety of sandwiches, and if you asked the Owner, he could make just about anything besides the soups into a tasty sandwich.
Just so you know, the three normal kinds of sandwiches that the restaurant had was finely hashed eggs dressed with mayonnaise, smoked meat and cheese wrapped in leafy vegetables, and marinated fish dressed with mayonnaise, but most of the regulars would order a sandwich with their favorite food. In another sense, the sandwiches could be considered a hidden menu for the restaurant.
“Good grief. They’re arguing about that?”
At hearing that, Teriyaki let out a deep sigh. Absolutely pointless. To get that worked up over something like the different kinds of sandwiches.
“I hear you… At this rate, I won’t be able to eat until they stop.”
As they said that, these two friends stood up from their seats and approached the two bickering people.
“Like I said! Minced cutlet tastes the best! The minced cutlet here tastes good even when cold you know! The thinly-minced meat is filled with meaty juices, and when you bite and chew into it, all those the juices flow out. And combined with the breading that’s almost black with salty-sweet sauce and the tender, cut vegetables, it’s something amazing!”
Minced Cutlet would not budge a single step. The gift she received the first time she visited this restaurant were some minced cutlet sandwiches. The sandwiches which were completely cold because she left them alone for a while had the deliciousness of minced cutlet but also a hard-to-differentiate flavor to them. After that, every time she came to the restaurant, she would always order some for takeout.
“Hmph! This is exactly why children from the kingdom are so troublesome! Like I was telling you before, schripe and tartar sauce! This combination isn’t something that can be shaken up from just being cooled down! Every time you bite into the shrimp cutlet which is made of chewy schripe, the sweet flavor of schripe spreads all over your mouth! It then properly mixes with the sourness of the tartar sauce and becomes a wonderful flavor! And did you know? This restaurant’s shrimp cutlet sandwiches are sandwiched with red fruit vegetables and a green leafy vegetables! That’s why after you bite into it, the white meat of the schripe and the colorful green leafy vegetables and red fruits gives it an appetizing appearance! The flavor is, of course, something that can’t be compared to minced cutlet which is just brown on the outside and the inside!”
Fried Shrimp wouldn’t take a single step back either. The second time he came to this restaurant, he was taught about the hidden menu by the legendary master fencer he was with at the time. The most delicious schripe fried dish at this restaurant is sandwiched in bread and would show a different kind of allure when left over time. That allure was something that couldn’t be beaten by the many dishes at this restaurant, even minced cutlet which was delicious in its own way.
To the two of them of wouldn’t budge a single step, a cough was given to them.
“Hey, hey. You two, don’t argue so much.”
“This is a place to enjoy your meals. They say conversation is something like a spice to enjoy your meal with, but if you go too far, you’ll ruin the flavor of the food.”
At those words, the two of them looked over without thinking and became silent. On one hand, you had one of the great heroes of the past, the kingdom’s number one… in other words, the world’s number one great sage. On the other, you had the wandering master fencer from another country whose skill with a blade could roar throughout the world. Being admonished by the two people who were one of the most famous people at the restaurant, the two still young regulars instinctively became quiet.
“…Yeah. I guess I did say too much… I think shrimp cutlet is delicious in its own way.”
“No, it’s my fault as well. Let me apologize… People have their own preferences after all.”
The two of them apologized to one another even though it was clear that they still were reluctant when they said it. At those two, they remembered the times during the previous owner’s era where Teriyaki and Roast Cutlet would have arguments over food.
(How nostalgic. Thinking about it, we also had disputes about which food was delicious.)
(That guy Minced Cutlet also said minced cutlet was the most delicious and would always fight with that guy Croquette… It must be in the blood.)
And so the two, who were reminiscing about their past, fired words of admonishment towards the two who were young and easier to get riled up.
“That’s exactly right. Minced cutlet and shrimp cutlet are definitely delicious. But the most delicious thing sandwiched in bread has to be a roast cutlet sandwich.”
“It’s best to eat cutlet while it’s still hot. What goes best in a sandwich has to be teriyaki which tastes good even when cold.
…The two veterans reflexively looked at each other. With faces of astonishment.
“…You, weren’t you absolutely a part of the rice faction? To being with, if you put teriyaki in bread… how would it taste?”
Roast cutlet asked Teriyaki who standing next to him without thinking. Normally, when Teriyaki would order his favorite teriyaki chicken, it would be with rice, and he would only order bread on a whim when he was having a different dish. Thinking along those lines, a teriyaki chicken sandwich was out of his expectations… In the first place, he had to keep in mind whether the sweet and salty soy sauce flavor of teriyaki chicken would go well with bread.
“You too. Normally you don’t even look at bread and just eat nothing but beer and roast cutlet. Why are you talking about putting roast cutlet into bread?”
On the other side, Teriyaki also asked surprised. He knew that Roast Cutlet would always come earlier than he would and stay later than he would, but he only saw him eating roast cutlet and drinking draft beer during that time.
Sometimes he would eat a different dish, but in that case, he still would have beer and never anything sandwiched in bread. He knew bread and cutlet had a good affinity for one another, but Roast Cutlet ordering that was out of his expectations. The two of them, still in disbelief at each other’s choices, continued to speak out their respective answers.
“No, no. I get one roast cutlet sandwich for takeout every month, you know? Without any vegetables, only cutlet, sauce, and mustard. I eat those three things sandwiched in bread when they’re cold. Exactly because it’s cold, you can enjoy the meat covered in fat as much as you’d like. The juices coming from the meat mixes with the sauce and gets wrapped up in soft bread. And the spiciness of just a little bit of mustard tightens it all together into something amazing.”
Roast Cutlet explained his sometimes usual habit. Right when the restaurant is about to close, almost when it’s dark enough that a demon dragon would come, he would leave and sleep… and endure until noon the next day to eat his roast cutlet sandwich. Compared to regular bread, it was heavy. The roast cutlet which soaked in plenty of sauce was bulky and would be like a stone in his stomach, giving him a nice feeling of fullness. Roast cutlet was his long time ‘favorite’ midday treat ever since the previous owner’s era.
“No, no. Although I recently learned this… teriyaki goes well with bread. That sweet and salty tare sauce* covering the thin slices of teriyaki chicken and fresh cule**. And the fresh raw onions which are sandwiched in bread with b.u.t.ter and mustard mysteriously go well together. In the first place, I heard bread with teriyaki is very popular in this Other World.”
Teriyaki’s side wouldn’t lose as well. Previously, when he went with Fried Shrimp and taught him about sandwiches, the owner taught him about teriyaki sandwiches. It had a magnificent flavor that broke down his prejudice that bread and teriyaki did not complement one another, and he was enthralled with it in a single blow.
The both of them wouldn’t budge a single step… the two of them being stubborn scowled at each other and it did not take much time for them to argue.
Like this, arguments started to burn their way to the other customers in the restaurant.
From the longtime comers to the newcomers, possibly since it was the time when a large number of regulars would come, each of them told their own favorites to each other.
“…If you’re going to have a sandwich, I would absolutely have a napolitan dog using a hotdog bun. Did you know? The napolitan at this restaurant is made with a strong flavor when it’s going to be in a sandwich. That way, the sweet and sour ketchup flavor of napolitan doesn’t lose to the bread, and it becomes the means to the best flavor.”
The young son of a n.o.ble of the kingdom suggested the daring idea of combined a noodle dish with bread along with his a.s.sessment that it was a wonderful thing.
“…Well, well. That young person is ignorant, it seems. If you’re going to be talking about delicious noodles inside of a bun, it has to be yakisoba drifting with the strong smell of sauce. The finishing touches for yakisoba which only has meat, cabbage, and noodles are red pickled ginger and deep green herbs which paints picture for the eyes as well.”
“Although it pains to be to of same opinion with someone like you, I have to agree. Although it’s not a match for freshly-made okonomiyaki, the deliciousness of yakisoba sandwiched in bread is peerless with the flavor of the sweet and sour sauce, pig’s meat, cabbage, and the added flavor of red pickled ginger.”
The onmyouji and samurai from the continent to the west unanimously agreed as they talked about how cabbage and the flavor of sauce made yakisoba wonderful and superior.
“…Um, for me, if I was going to have a sandwich, I think a fruit sandwich with sweet fruits and whipped cream would be the best. Um, the sweetness of soft whipped cream and the sweetness of ripe fruit are completely different, so I think it would be very delicious if you were to combine them.”
The beautiful princess of the empire gave an example of a sweet sandwich with plenty of cream that she was addicted to after recently getting it for takeout.
“…If you’re going to have a fruit sandwich, I think custard would match better. That way its rich sweetness is stronger and is able to mix with the flavor of the fruit and bread without losing, and it’s harder to melt than whipped cream.”
The witch princess of the dukedom who loved this restaurant’s bewitching sweet known as custard pudding more than anything else pushed for the same fruit sandwich but filled with custard cream which was similar in taste to custard pudding.
Thus, the restaurant was wrapped in an hour long clamor.
Which sandwich was the most delicious?
All the customers who figured out a ‘hidden trick’ for the dishes that they had eaten before, and the seeds of dispute never ran out.
“…Senseless.”
Looking at all the hustle and bustle, an elf who visited this restaurant half a year ago, Faldania, looked on with cold eyes. While she, who had her pride wounded and set out on a journey, ate the same tofu steak that she encountered half a year ago in this restaurant, she looked with half-closed eye on the others who were having a heated argument with each other.
She was not a regular. This time she had, by chance, heard of a close-by door from a pa.s.sing halfling and just stopped by for a short visit… although it was a three day detour from the her destination which was the elven capital, to an elf with a long lifespan, that much was nothing.
“Fuu.”
After eating her tofu steak which tasted just as it did half a year ago, the elf put down her fork.
“Thank you. It was delicious.”
She honestly said her impressions to the human owner… If she didn’t recognize him out of stubbornness, that in itself would be a sense of defeat.
“I see. Thank you very much.”
The owner was used to the ways of their world, and towards elves, he said nothing unnecessary and lowered his head.
“…Now that I think about it, is there no way to get takeout rice at this restaurant?”
Casually, she asked about something that was bothering her. The bread at this restaurant had the faint smell of milk in it which made her not want to it eat it, but the rice was delicious. She asked that from that feeling. But.
“…Well, if you ask me if there is a way, there is.”
The owner pondered for a moment and then answered.
“…There is?”
It was out of her expectations, no, in a sense, it was an answer that she expected, and in response, Faldania asked the owner this surprised.
“No well, since we call ourselves a western-style restaurant, it’s not listed on the menu…”
As he said that, the owner gave the name of this menu.
“If I make it a grilled rice ball, then I think you could have it for takeout.”
As long as the Western Style Cathouse allowed unlimited serving of rice, he basically would cook enough rice so that there would some left over. It wouldn’t be good if he were to put out the leftover rice the next day, so it would be the employees’ meal or possibly it would be effectively used as supper after the restaurant closed. Perhaps it was popular at that time, but the owner himself would coat it in mirin*** soy sauce and cook it, making grilled rice b.a.l.l.s.
It was a simple dish where he would mold the left over rice into the a hard rice ball, coat them in mirin soy sauce and miso, and grill them, but the savory grilled outside and the smell of soy sauce and miso wafting off of it made it quite popular so that even when there was a lot of leftover rice, if he were to make it in to grilled rice b.a.l.l.s, a large plate’s worth of them would disappear into the empty stomachs of the employees in the blink of an eye.
Of course, when he would serve them to customers, it was necessary that they were a bit more luxurious than when he would make them for himself to eat or for those who were behaving themselves at work, but since they made luxuriously, it would be okay to take money for them.
“Then give me that. The food at human cities aren’t that tasty.”
Faldania ordered with a straight face… It was this restaurant she was talking about after all. She believed that they would bring out a dish that she couldn’t even imagine again.
“Understood. Please wait just a moment.”
Saying that, the owner headed back to the kitchen.
(What should I do for the seasonings? For now I’ll sprinkle kelp, soy sauce, and mirin over the grains for one, green onions miso for another… and for the last one, should I try mixing in some salted kelp?)
While thinking that, the owner started to do preparations for the grilled rice b.a.l.l.s and… the preparations for the bread. The owner who had managed this restaurant for over ten years was experienced. On a day like this where there were many arguments, he would have to cook more than usual.
“Oh enough! If you eat, you’ll understand! Owner! One minced cutlet sandwich for this blockhead please!”
“In that case, get me a shrimp cutlet sandwich! Give it to this little girl!”
“Hey owner! Give me what they call a teriyaki chicken sandwich! If you’re going to say that much, let’s test it out!”
“Give me a roast cutlet sandwich over here! It’s going to be better than a teriyaki sandwich anyway!”
“Owner, please give me what they call yakisoba bread. These sauce-flavored noodles sound interesting.”
“Then give me a napolitan dog! I want to try out the taste!”
“Well then, I will partake in the same. I leave it to you, owner.”
“…If you’re as far as to say that, we’ll just have to eat it here and compare. If we do that, the answer will become clear.”
“As you wish! Excuse me! One serving each of fruit sandwiches with whipped cream and custard please!”
Just as he thought, the orders had come. He bitterly laughed at just how everything came within expectations.
“Coming right up!”
Without even stopping his hands, the owner loosened his mouth, turned towards the customers, and answered in a loud voice.
Translator’s notes:
*Tare is a general term for dipping sauces that are used in grilling like teriyaki or used for sushi.
**Cule is possibly what Otherworlders call cuc.u.mber. I can’t seem to find it in the author’s encyclopedia but this is what I’m guessing from the other instances he uses it and how it similar to kyuuri, the j.a.panese name for cuc.u.mber.
***Mirin is a rice wine condiment similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content but with more sugar.