Our Dining Table

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5606257122

What a lovely story! If I ever find someone I can be in a kitchen with without one of us spontaneously combusting, I'll know I've found the one.

I found Yutaka's semi-phobia of eating with others kind of relatable. I was born with a significant birth defect that took many surgeries to repair (the most recent only a year ago, and I'm nearly 30...). I've never loved eating around other people. At the same time, I've always recognized cooking for someone as a show of great and deep love. I remember years ago waking up at 4 am to make homemade cornbread for my coworkers, and everyone loved it, but I definitely didn't eat any in the clinic!

I also relate to the feeling of missing my show more great-grandparent's cooking and the serious crisis that happens when you realize you can no longer remember the taste. Even with the same recipe, it just isn't the same. I always spent Christmas with them, and since their passing a long time ago, Christmas has always had a heavy tinge over it, so a lot hit home in this story.

I am not the best cook in the world, but of the few things I can cook well, I hope someday I can cook them for someone with the love akin to that in this story. show less

Despite being an amazing cook, Yutaka has struggled to eat with other people because of the way he was treated as an adopted child. This has caused him to be a social outcast with his peers. While eating alone in a park he runs into a little boy, Tane, who asks him to share his onigiri. Tane’s brother Minoru apologizes for the rudeness and it turns out Minoru can’t cook. Their mother passed away and the family has been living on poor cooking ever since then.
Yutaka agrees to show them the secret of his onigiri and discovers a little family that wholeheartedly accepts him and somehow he just fits.
This is a sweet friendship to lovers story about learning that you are worthy of love. The dynamic between all the characters is really show more cute. I liked the little thread of romance through a family focused story. And it is BEYOND adorable how Tane calls him Yukata instead of Yutaka XD. show less

Easy, cozy, and chaste romance between Yutaka and Minoru, a couple of guys first drawn together by the voracious appetite of Minoru's cute little brother, Tane. They all have a little sadness in their life's baggage, but nothing too melodramatic or insurmountable. Maybe a little too predictable, but too gentle and sweet to really nitpick.

Our Dining Table by Mita Ori is a heartwarming boy love manga published by Seven Seas Entertainment. Yutaka, a 23-year-old salary man, has always had struggles eating around people since he was a child. Losing his parents at an early age, he was bullied about his gangly appearance and lack of upper-class manners by his adopted siblings especially at meal times. However, Yutaka loves to cook. A chance encounter with an adorable preschooler brings Yutaka into the life of a Minoru. Minoru is also 23 years old with a challenge of having loving family meals. When Yutaka teaches Minoru how to make tasty onigiri for his younger brother, a friendship blooms into something more and a family is born.

This single volume manga brings us two young show more protagonists who search for love with the preternatural knowledge that those we love can leave us in a blink of an eye. Once they realize that it is better to love and risk loss than to keep closed off forever, does the story become a joyful journey towards their happily ever after. Our Dining Table brings us a sweet LGBTQ love story without the trials of homophobia or family rejection. The recipes sprinkled throughout make this manga the perfect treat for every reader. show less

Ok, all the feels. I got misty eyes more than once, and it isn't a very long book for all that emotion! The artwork is lovely, the characters adorable, and while the story is a bit shallow, it doesn't matter much.

Just as warm and lovely as expected. Just, not enough. A trilogy would have been more satisfying, so we could get to know other people in their lives and watch their love develop less hastily and see more details of Japanese life... and see more recipes! Wholesome & comforting, as promised.

I’m not crying you’re crying!

But seriously I’m not actually crying because of my anti-depressants. Anyways I love this story and I hope I can make sure to read this on Christmas every year from now on.