Note: TLDR at the very bottom.

Story - 70

Isekai Shoukudou is one of those guilty pleasure shows or a comfort show. I didn’t think this show is going to get a second season but I am glad it does.

The show is about a restaurant call Nekoya which is set in our real world. However, the restaurant has doors that appear at random places in the fantasy world. People of different statuses and races of the fantasy world stumble upon the door and come into the restaurant.

Isekai Shoukudo 2 may be about food but It is not like “Food War” where it has a strong story, competition, suspense or lewd. It is one of those easy-going, comfortable, laid back anime where people enjoy the food in their own way with a rough explanation of said food.

Despite the anime being episodic, every time a new character stumbles into the restaurant, the anime adds a bit of world-building of the fantasy world from the new character perspective.

I also love seeing that the restaurant also have an impact on the life of the people from the fantasy world. Some try to recreate the food, some high-status noble meet in the restaurant and fall in love, former enemies meet and become friends, etc...

There are also cute, wholesome and comedic moments sprinkled in between too. Cute moments such as Aletta and Kuro getting brain freeze from eating shaved ice.

All in all, the anime is probably not for everyone if you don’t like this type of anime but for me, it is my go-to dinner time and stress relieving anime. I am not crazy enough to watch this outside of dinner time because I am just going to get hungry.

Character - 55

There are no deep character developments in Isekai Shoukudou 2 and it is not what this anime aimed to be either but that doesn’t mean there is zero character development either.

Every episode, be it new characters or old characters, we got treated with a few minutes of their life in the fantasy world before coming to the restaurant. We also get to see what they go on to do after they leave the restaurant.

The characters come with their own personality and their favourite food. Sometimes they would discuss why their favourite food is the best and debate about it. It is also quite funny some of the characters remember the people in the restaurant by the food they order instead of their name.

There is also some progress on some characters from the first season. Namely Adelheid the princess of the Great Empire and Shareef the prince from Land of Sand. I’ll just leave it at that to avoid spoilers.

Art & Animation - 70

Typically in anime like this, I would expect the visual quality to be average at best but Isekai Shoukudou 2's visuals are nicely done.

A different studio is handling season 2 for this anime so there is some difference in art and animation. Noticeable ones are the handling of lightings and how foods look but the new studio kept the overall art style the same.

Backgrounds are fairly detailed. Be it in the restaurant which is appropriately decorated, town, forest or other fantasy world locations. From time to time there are shot that could be wallpaper worthy.

Character designs are fairly distinct too and there are a wide variety of them from different races, statuses and rank all having design appropriate design.

Finally, the visual quality of the foods is 10/10.Period. Looking at it will make anyone mouth water.

Sound - 80

Both opening and ending songs are relaxing and catchy. I will instantly be able to tell the opening and ending are from Isekai Shoukudou 2.

Background musics suit the overall theme of the anime. The background musics may not be high-end orchestra musics but quite a bit of the background musics are memorable and the tones are unique to this anime.

The sound effects on foods and when the customer eats them is handled perfectly. Be it cutting into the breading of the fried meat, customer biting of the bread or the sound of the cutlery. The sound effects combined with the visual of the food is bound to make anyone hungry.

The voice acting is solid and a lot of fairly experienced voice actors/actresses are used even for characters that are only going to show up for a couple of episodes. The voice actings are also appropriate depending on the age of the character, race, looks and personality.

TLDR:
A relaxing anime about a restaurant in our real world and how food affects the life of the people in the fantasy world. Mouthwatering visual on the foods.