When Saki’s parents were busy, Grandma Koyomi had taken care of her. She’d taught her great-granddaughter one thing in particular—when someone made you food, you had to eat it when it was most delicious.
Grandma Koyomi had never been a regular in the kitchen, but she’d always eaten whatever Saki cooked, even when the dish was a total failure. Grandma Koyomi loved eating as much as Saki loved cooking, even if the girl wasn’t great at it yet. It helped that Grandma Koyomi never disguised her opinions, since that helped Saki hone her skill.
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Saki started by stretching out her chopsticks and poking a bit of hamburg steak with no sauce. It was exciting to see her chopsticks push into the thick steak. “Wow! It’s so tender.” It wasn’t the sticky softness of overcooked ground meat but the tenderness that came from proper handling.
She cut a piece of hamburg steak with her chopsticks, watching as juice poured from the cut; the ground meat was perfectly cooked through. Satisfied with everything, Saki brought the piece of hamburg steak to her mouth.
Ah…this is delicious.
The tasty hamburg steak was likely made with the absolute basics—ground beef and pork, salt, and pepper. Saki could taste the meat and its juices, and its fall-apart texture lingered in her mouth. This hamburg steak wasn’t new or innovative, but her uncle had done a damn good job.
With the meat’s aftertaste still strong, Saki took a bite of rice and a sip of miso soup. They’re great, too! She was pleased. Most restaurants were cursed with slightly old rice, but this was the good stuff—super fresh. The grains were intact and not too sticky. The miso soup stock was clearly made of bonito and kombu, and none of the ingredients were overcooked.
Since entering college, Saki had spent part of her allowance trying foods from all over. Still, she found herself already fond of Western Cuisine Nekoya. It was the type of place that had food good enough that she’d be a regular—if the hamburg steak set was this tasty, everything else was probably delicious as well. She decided to make a point of coming back as a guest.
Next up… She cut a piece of hamburg steak with lots of sauce and ate it.
Each time she chewed, the moist shredded daikon gave a delicate crunch; it gave the whole dish a slight bitterness, complementing the sour ponzu and salty soy sauce. The sauce was unusually savory—she could tell her uncle had mixed in some stock. As Saki put another thick piece of hamburg steak in her mouth, the shiso’s flavor was also refreshing.
Yeah, this goes great with rice.
Breaking the steak with her chopsticks, eating rice, drinking miso soup, and following up with more steak—that cycle repeated over and over, turning Saki into a customer enjoying her meal. Soon she forgot all about working at the restaurant and about Nekoya’s odd guests.
“Excuse me. Are there refills on rice?”
“Yes, of course. Rice and bread are all-you-can-eat. Want me to refill your soup as well?”
“That’d be amazing.” Saki nodded, smiling at the waitress as she handed the girl her dishes.
As she enjoyed the rest of her steak with fresh rice and miso soup, Saki quietly decided that this was the place to improve her culinary skills. Yeah, I like this restaurant, she thought. Not just because it’s Uncle’s, either. If I’m going to work somewhere, I want it to be here.
Shortly thereafter, she saw the guests who visited Nekoya specifically for omelet rice and quickly learned what sort of restaurant it really was.