This novella moved pretty slow with little exposition for me. I just found myself not enjoying it. I think others would.

Short stories can be delightful when done well. However, this felt like a novella in the middle of a series. And as far as I can tell, this doesn't have any connecting series.

The descriptions of the food are mouth-watering. However, it's a shame the love for the food isn't given to the characters. They feel as if I'm in the middle of their series, making it hard to connect with them.

The end has a long conversation about why COVID can't be fixed magically. This ages the book horribly.

Emily Woo Zeller, as always, is a great narrator.

A wonderful book filled with magic and comfort, and a gem for anyone reading for a cozy read with a delicious twist.

Through a cast of unique characters, rich descriptions and salivating worthy dishes, Tao wong has created a beautiful warm tale that is an absolute must read during winter or autumn season, where you can curl up in a blanket, drink tea and transport into the magic nameless restaurant.

This was different then I expected after reading the blurb, but I enjoyed it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This short audiobook is a real treat for fans of Cozy Fantasy! The entire story is set in a hidden restaurant. Most patrons are magical beings, and as the story progresses, we find out more about them.

I was completely enchanted by this audiobook. Chapters begin with a description of the dish the owner cooks for his guests, which was truly mouthwatering.

But I was also amazed at how captivated I was by the guests and their stories.

The audiobook is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller, who perfectly brings out the atmosphere of this magical place!

Wong’s world-building and setting are quite magical. He creates a wonderful world where food appears magically and tastes beyond the world. I loved the various dishes served over the evening and plan to prepare a few of them too!
Having said that, the story failed to impress. It read less like a novel, and more like watching a cookery program. There is too much emphasis on ingredients and dishes and unfortunately, it took away from the main story.
There are way too many characters for the limited length. And despite the various characters, I could not connect with any. The descriptions and character arc are majorly lacking.
The story lacks the typical narration structure, and I was just waiting for the main story to begin.
Even though I did not enjoy the story much, the audiobook narrated by Emily Woo Zeller acted as the saving grace.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape for the arc of this book. My review is honest and voluntary.

I loved the setting and world-building in this one. The restaurant itself is really intriguing and such a fun concept. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get drawn into this one. The characters weren't holding my interest and I love food but there were some descriptions of dishes that were way too thorough. I hope this finds readers who will love it though! Just wasn't for me.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* A bit short for my taste, especially being that cozies are already normally short. I did like reading it but would have preferred to read more than one at a time!

Let's start off with the positive: Emily Woo Zeller. She's a phenomenal narrator and continues to shine in this novella. However, even my love for her performance couldn't get me to really enjoy The Nameless Restaurant.

This was more of a long-form recipe than a fantasy book, or maybe a homage to Chinese cooking written as a fantasy recipe. My mind zoned out when it went into great detail about each step in creating a dish. Very little fantasy actually happened and you hardly get to know the characters - which sounded like they (and the world) could be so interesting.

I will say that it was sort of an interesting take to place COVID in a fantasy world. I still don't like reading about COVID in any form, but it's an interesting take.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I requested this book because I was looking for a cozy style fantasy in the vein of legends and lattes. I found myself slightly disappointed in this book, it was bad but I feel like the character could have been a bit more developed to improve my enjoyment of the story. I’m willing to read more set in the world though.

This is a really wonderful cozy gastronomic fantasy.

If you're very lucky you may come upon a restaurant in Toronto, where the food is is amazing and you may even experience a little magic.

This is a book where nothing really happens, people talk and they eat. It is is a wonderful peek into a magical world where Djinns, mages and trolls are trying to solve the worlds problems. The guests and staff have long discussions about the ethics and philosophy of magic.

The narrator Emily Woo Zeller is an absolute pro and does a great job making the characters come to life. I think my favorite parts of the books were the depictions of the food.

All in all this was a delightful book and I look forward to any sequels.

3.75 *
a very cute magical book. It gives you just enough to want to know more. its the best type of novella. it wets your whistle to give you enough to want to look up the rest of the series. the characters are already flushed out so you just sink into the world.

A cozy urban fantasy with a unique emphasis on Malaysian food.

This story is perfect for anybody who wants a quick dose of fantasy with a side of "please make me as hungry as possible" effect. As many others have said, there really isn't much of a plot, but there is a thick and intriguing layer of worldbuilding that is hiding underneath the cozy storytelling. I would say this story read a lot more like a snippet of a cooler, much bigger story, but I do not think this can stand as a "story" by itself.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and I would recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy and food and want to kill time for 2h.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Nameless Restaurant is the story of a little magical place in Toronto. You won't find a particular menu, but the food is delicious even though the chef is not a very pleasant person.

I found out about this book via Kickstarter so I was happy to see it come to NetGalley. This story is totally atmospheric, immersing you in the cooking and the dishes. I found my mouth watering especially for anything coconut. The story, however, left much to be desired. I know this is a novella and the beginning to a series, so I hope that the stories that follow are better. But I probably won't rush to read them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Emily Woo Zeller can do no wrong and no complaints here either. I enjoyed her narration.

Cozy novella with food, magic, and discussion? Yes please!

The Nameless Restaurant feels like one of many short stories in a collection. Readers are dropped into a story unfolding during one of many regular nights in a small restaurant. Supernatural patrons mix with mundane humans, all sharing the goal of a delicious meal. And the food does not disappoint! This novella focuses on several Malaysian dishes, describing the preparation and flavors in great detail.

Accompanying the divine food offerings are discussions of great importance. Characters explore the ramifications of magic that can do anything, of power and the consequences of its use, of intentions -benevolent or otherwise- and their repercussions.

In the end, there are lingering questions about characters or circumstances, unanswered because they aren't the focus of this story. Those questions feel like they could spawn further stories in the same universe, should the author wish to write more.

The prologue set confusing expectations for me. The restaurant is not some huge secret that must be hidden from the internet, but a simple business that the owner prefers not to advertise. The service is not atrocious, it's actually pretty good. The other patrons are hardly silent and brooding - they strike up conversations with each other.

Emily Woo Zeller does a fine job with the audiobook - I know many people love her, but she's just not my preferred style of narrator. Her attempts at masculine voices by dropping her voice to a pitch she can't actually reach bother me. Otherwise it's a pleasant listen!

The Nameless Restaurant
By Tao Wong
Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller
Audiobook
Rating: 4 stars

The description 'cozy, cooking fantasy,' properly sums up this short read!

A nondescript and unassuming door in Toronto leads to a small dated restaurant where the service is terrible but the food is delectable and serves primarily the supernatural community as well as a few human patrons that sometimes happen upon it.

This novella takes place over the course of a single night during dinner service. The first half is very cozy fantasy and focuses heavily on preparing the restaurant for service by the chef/owner and his employee. The descriptions of preparing Malaysian dishes had my mouth watering it all sounded so good!

The second half of the book follows the restaurants' patrons and includes a discussion around a magical cure for a pandemic that is affecting not only the supernatural members of society but also humans which is very reminiscent of COVID times. The second half is not so cozy fantasy and feels a little out of sorts in places. The topic of 'Karens' is mentioned at a stage that I would not have thought would be mentioned in a cozy fantasy story. This novella read more like a prequel for me and I feel like the worldbuilding could be explored more if the book was longer but if going forward the next book continues in novella format and the setting is limited to the restaurant I think it will work well.

Overall I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to those who enjoyed Legends and Lattes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media.

This book was a surprise, it was much more in the side of being almost a cookbook than a tale about a lost restaurant, and you know what, it was really good, the only low side to it, was that you cant really taste the food haha but we have really nice descriptions of how the food is made, someone experimented in the kitchen can easily do the dishes told about in the audiobook, the ratio of the ingredients like uncle roger says, just use feeling.

While the owner is said to be a grouch, he can easily read his costumers and give them what they secretly want and many of the characters are mystique, this is a very different and amusing read, I really recommend it to people that like to cook and enjoy stories that bring food to another reality, this was a really different and nice read, and I did really enjoy Emily Woo Zeller reading skills, she was able to bring to life all the different characters, it is a bit short but it was fun, like I said before, my only regret is not tasting the dishes.

Thank you NetGalley and Livingston Press at the University of West Alabama Dreamscape Media, Dreamscape Lore for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

The Nameless Restaurant is the first book in a in the Hidden Dishes series currently focused around a restaurant in Toronto that is so hidden by magic you basically have to stumble into, unless you are magical and just happen to know where it is. This reads half like a food blog and half like a urban fantasy.

A new customer has just shown up to the restaurant she has been searching for for months. There is a magical person running the joint who might just be the best chef of Asian cuisine but almost no one knows because there are so many wards on the restaurant it is probably one of the hardest places in the world to find, unless you know what you are looking for or you are a powerful Djinn just released from imprisonment.

I think for someone to really enjoy this short story you have to like cooking to some extent. There is a lot of time spent on how dishes are prepared and what the food looks like. If you are not into cooking, how to cook or preparation it will get boring. I’m very into food and cooking but think some of that should be reduced in future books if the author wants to capture a larger audience.

Overall this seems like a good prequel or set up story to a series of a larger scope. There is enough about the customers, the magical community and the mystery of the man behind the wok that I’d be interested in knowing more.

Just remember this is set up kind of like Cheers (which dates me but I think people still know about) all the characters go to a location that is the center of the story, so no real action happening but dialogue and good times.

Narration:
Emily Woo Zeller is an accomplished narrator and I always enjoy her performance in a story. She gets it right every time, capturing the characters and setting with words. There is no exception in this book, she brings a stellar performance yet again. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.

This made me so hungry.

The atmosphere was great; who wouldn't want to eat the world's best food in a cozy, hole-in-the-wall restaurant during a rainstorm, talking about magic? The food also sounds amazing and I desperately want to try all of it. Plus, bonus points from me for being set in Toronto - though, hilariously, the audiobook narrator pronounces "Toronto" the way I do, with clear enunciation on all of the "t"s, which as any Torontonian can tell you, is completely incorrect.

The reason this novella only gets 3* from me is that it feels more like a worldbuilding exercise than a book. It's just one protracted scene with no actual story, in either character or plot. I would definitely be interested in seeing where the characters and world go, but unfortunately in this installment, they go nowhere. I imagine this will be better to binge read in a series when more Hidden Dishes novellas are available. However, there just really isn't enough of it to warrant more than 3* in my opinion.