As much as it pains me to say so, this work is mediocre – enjoyable while you are reading it, but not gripping enough. The characters are nice, the art is the reason I don’t have the heart to give this manga a 5, I liked the mangaka’s other works, but during all my time with this series I was unsure, whether I want to read on or prefer to drop it for good.

The problem is that the core idea is weak. I don’t see comedic potential in the concept of heroes eating monsters. So what? Most of us have done so in video games, DnD sessions or in fantasy fiction. And Dungeon Meshi for the most part is just that – a stroll through the dungeon, which is not that big of a problem for the party, and a parody of a cooking show. Or maybe a cooking show, I am not sure how much of this manga can be translated to real-life cooking (personally, I don’t think that it’s worth it anyway, since they cook from what they have and on the move). Reading more of the same mangaka made me understand better the type of crazy-turned-straight punchline she enjoys, but while I see a point in the normalizing subversion, it doesn’t make me excited as a reader. The characters as well initially are too schematic: each is defined by a quirk, usually an obsession with one topic.

Why have I read the available chapters? Mostly for the art (I’ll come back to it) and because somehow, each time I became critically disheartened, manga offered the bare minimum of material to hold me. The plot has its brighter moments – when it revisits some of the previously established rules, so that you’re as “on”, as the characters, when it allows the characters to lose face, putting them in more surreal situations, or when danger spices things up. Danger tends to be engaging by itself, but what’s more important “cooking in a very dangerous dungeon” or “adventurer party being so strong that it turns things that kill others in a picnic” have that spark.

Currently the story is at its turning point – they’ve reached a conclusion for the first arc. It’s unclear what will happen next, but there’re hints on a broader overarching plot forming. It looks like it involves fantasy politics, namely another iteration of scheming elves, and personally I am not sure I look forward to it.

My opinion on worldbuilding is mixed. The world of Dungeon Meshi is not as MMO as those in many fantasy mangas nowadays – there’re no damage numbers or stats – but there’re regen spells and dungeon levels. Also I don’t think that I can call a fantasy world consistent, when characters sleep in an armor you can hardly sleep in or use modern-term terms and theories, like ecosystem or nutrition. A lot of effort was put into explaining food, monsters and food out of monsters, making it look plausible and similar to our own, though I don’t know why. Sure, there’s educational value, but making their views or their dishes more alien is a good opportunity missed.

The things I can praise are:
The art. It’s stellar. It’s not exactly showy, as in you won’t find two-page panels with a character striking a pose. The art is narrative, and excels in its own way – the panels with characters’ expressions shown in just the right way in just the right moment are what really makes it tick. The monsters are detailed and vivid. The food is drawn amazingly – the author can pull off things like drawing it a bit more like a still-life or like a photo from a lifestyle magazine.
The character designs are lovable. The cast here is in their twenties (or the fantasy analog of them), and they look and behave their age. They are dressed sensibly, they display a big variety of facial expressions. The designs support the backgrounds and personalities with subtlety. I can’t help but swoon over the design of the main character, Laius, he’s a knight drawn right

Maybe the cast itself. On one hand, as I’ve mentioned, they are defined by a few exaggerated features and there’s the immersion-breaking detail that they enjoy their great culinary adventure while on timer to save their friend. On the other, albeit very slow, the barebone concepts grow meat along the way. In any case they end up being much fresher than what you’d see in most fantasy series. The best example would be the female members of the main cast – they’re strikingly different from each other, and it is achieved without making bust size, love interests or hair color a factor. (By the way, this manga zero sexual pandering).

The third, the hardest to define, yet maybe the most important positive point of Dungeon Meshi, is that some rules in their world just work, you can’t change them with wishful thinking. The characters don’t feel like Sues and are not allowed to warp reality. Monsters are monsters, you need to cook meat thoroughly to make it safe to eat and people, even ones you know well, move on. This manga has nor sexy loli dragons, nor nakama power, and it cannot and won’t ever have them.

So who should read this? The thing that makes me pause at the question is that I am not sure, maybe the lukewarm appeal I've experienced is universal, even if weak, that would mean I should recommend it to the majority of readers. But I can't count on things I can't predict with any sense of certainty. Let’s say it this way: I have confidence in recommending the author’s shorter works (do check them out), but as for Dungeon Meshi – I believe that ultimately it’s up to your willful decision or circumstances (topics you look for, how much you can forgive for pretty art at the moment, your backlog) – reading this manga is ok, skipping is also fine.