I also suspect that it’s for the sake of preserving that feeling that we take a while before we get any real focus on the characters running Nobu. The first few chapters are focused almost exclusively on the customers and their responses to the food, and I think that was a wise choice, as that’s undeniably where the heart of the story is.
One of the standout things about this series, to me, is the way in which this world has been thought out. The author has a very clear idea of what the city and world are like. In this setting, it makes total sense that people would be hesitant to order fish and would be shocked by the use of paper as a disposable item. They’re minor details, but they give the story a little extra flavour, if you’ll excuse the pun. It makes the world feel very lived-in, and the way it’s all integrated and written into the dialogue feels very organic.
Truthfully, I’m a bit of a sucker for manga like this. I’m basically guaranteed to enjoy any story that celebrates food in as pure of a manner as this. That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find another manga that is as single-mindedly focused on celebrating the experience of eating as Isekai Izakaya “Nobu” is, and I think that’s kinda beautiful.
