Brave knight Laios is leading a motley crew into a dungeon to rescue his sister, Falin, who is being slowly digested by a dragon. Not the usual set-up to a food-focused show, but Netflix’s latest foray into anime – Delicious in Dungeon (available now) – is undoubtedly that.
Laios is up against a lack of resources for his sibling-saving mission, so he’s eager to save by scavenging. He’s also found a dog-eared dungeon survival/recipe book and is keen to put it into practice.
As he explains to his team – magician Marcille and lockpicker Chilchuck – if monsters live in the dungeon, an entire ecosystem must exist there. “In other words, humans can eat in the dungeon too,” Laios tells them.
Soon after starting their quest they meet dwarf Senshi, who agrees to join them, given he’s “dreamt of cooking a red dragon for many years” and ponders whether he’ll “go for the traditional steak, or perhaps a burger”. He whips them up a meal of walking mushroom, a “huge scorpion” and slime (“it’s simple if you know its composition”).
The meal prep is covered in great detail. With scorpions you must “take out the internal organs, they’re bitter and have an awful taste”.
There is more monster fighting, but each win leads to another dish, like “man-eating plants fruit tart”.
While not exactly suitable for kids (“What’ll we do with that corpse?” asks Marcille as she escapes a carnivorous flower), it’s a warm and funny anime that will leave you hungry for more. And some dragon burger.
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