Review: Thaumaturgic Tapas by Tao Wong

Thaumaturgic Tapas (Hidden Dishes #3)
by Tao Wong
narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: no romance

Blurb:
With Magic Comes Mayhem

For the Nameless Restaurant, once a discreet hole-in-the-wall meant for a cast of supernatural regulars, the increasing levels of background magic has brought with it that most dreadful of locusts—new customers.

The staff of the Nameless Restaurant are finding the influx of new customers—both mortal and magical—to be a challenge. They’re reaching a breaking point, and something has to give.

The only question is, will it be Mo Meng’s rules on magic or the restaurant itself?

Thaumaturgic Tapas is the third standalone novella in the cozy cooking fantasy series Hidden Dishes.

The Hidden Dishes series is a cozy cooking fantasy perfect for fans of Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes and Junpei Inuzuka’s Restaurant to Another World. Written by bestselling author Tao Wong, his other series include the System Apocalypse, A Thousand Li, Climbing the Ranks, Hidden Wishes and Adventures on Brad series.

My Review

I was in the mood for familiar cozy reads, so I decided that was the perfect time to listen to this third book in the Hidden Dishes series. This series follows the happenings in the Hidden Restaurant as well as the dishes made there. I’ve been really enjoying this series, it has cozy vibes and there are a lot of food descriptions. This one certainly made me hungry, especially the spring rolls and I want to try and make those again sometime soon.

If you like reading about food, how it’s prepared as well as people eating those dishes I can definitely recommend this series. The cozy atmosphere and focus on food create a nice vibe that I enjoy. There are also some magical plot lines that progress throughout the series. There are recurring patrons in the restaurant as well as new characters. I have to admit that I felt like I missed some of the plot things that got hinted about and discussed in this one as I wasn’t at my sharpest, but I really enjoyed this book nonetheless.

I liked reading more about Kelly as well as chef Mo Meng. There is a new help in the restaurant in this book and it was interesting seeing a new character get added to the staff at the restaurant and how that influenced things. The restaurant has been getting more popular and they have to deal with the results of that success. This book features multiple small dishes Mo Meng makes from leftovers, which was an interesting twist compared to previous books.

I enjoyed listening to this one again and think the narrator is a good fit for this one and does the different voices well.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this one. It’s a fun cozy fantasy book with a focus on food. I really enjoy hearing all the descriptions of the dishes, how chef Mo Meng makes them and descriptions of those that eat the dishes. There are some magical beings that visit the restaurant and plot lines related to them. I did feel some of those plot lines went a bit over my head in this one, but I still really enjoyed this one. I liked hearing more of Kelly, chef Mo Meng and the restaurant, there are familiar patrons as well as new ones and even a new character that helps staff the restaurant. This book felt familiar and cozy with both familiar elements and new ones, like the new characters and different dishes the chef makes. All in all I can definitely recommend this one to fans of cozy fantasy who like books with a heavy food focus.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.