Drama summary from here.
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S01 E01
Red wieners and tamagoyaki
An unlikely friendship blooms between Ryu, the kind-hearted yet mysterious yakuza who enjoy red wieners and Kosuzu, a cheeky okama slash owner of a gay bar nearby who loves sweet tamagoyaki.
When Ryu got stabbed by a rival gang and had to stay at the hospital, Kosuzu visits him to bring Master's three-layered bento. They agree that both red wieners and tamagoyaki are the two big stars of any homemade bento.
Ryu-chan's red wieners. It is cut so to resemble octopus legs.
Kosuzu-san's extra sweet tamagoyaki.
Also featured in this episode is Marylin-chan's recent favorite food medium-rare grilled tarako (salted cod roe); the favorite food of her casino dealer boyfriend. Later in the episode, she told Master they had broken up.
Featured regulars: Marylin-chan, Kosuzu-san, Ryu-chan and Gen-chan, and the mysterious Joe Odagiri
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S01 E02
Neko manma
An aspiring enka singer, Chidori Miyuki, always comes to the diner nearing its closing time; ordering a bowl of rice with katsuobushi (dried fish scraping) on top and sprinkled with soy sauce. This dish is known as neko manma, or cat's food.
One month before she passed, Miyuki visited the diner and ordered neko manma for the last time.
Featured regulars: the bald old man, the regular salaryman, the ochazuke sisters
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S01 E03
Ochazuke
Jun-chan, a transgender and the owner of a gay bar called "Murasaki no Ue" shares her love for natto with her new lover.
Miki (the one with glasses), Rumi (the one with ponytail), and Kana (the one with short hair) are three 30s office workers in search of their almost-too-fairytale ideal men. The three are often called "ochazuke sisters" by other patrons, as their regular to-go foods are ume ochazuke (for Miki), tarako ochazuke (for Rumi), and salmon ochazuke (for Kana). They like to gossip, and always end each statement with "Ne?!" (Right?!).
Ochazuke, or chazuke, is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea, dashi, or hot water over cooked rice. Common toppings include Japanese pickles, umeboshi, nori, furikake, sesame seeds, tarako, mentaiko, salted salmon, shiokara, scallions, and wasabi (from Wikipedia).
When Rumi had to go home to Kyushu to take care of her sick mother, both Miki and Kana suspected that Rumi had given up on finding true love and attended an omiai (wedding arrangement) in Kyushu. One thing led to another, Miki found out that Kana is going out with her ex-boyfriend and they caused quite a scene on Jun-chan's bar.
The sisters being down to only Miki, she regretted the suspicion she had for her friends and cried while finishing her ochazuke. The sisters then reconciled and ought to find true love together.
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S01 E04
Potato salad
A legendary porn star, Erect Ohki, occasionally comes to the diner and ordered two servings of potato salad. His young fan, Tanaka Yuichi is eager to be his apprentice.
Tohki-san's Potato salad.
Some advice from Tohki-san includes: First, the potatoes should be boiled prior to peeling their skin so the unique taste will remain. Second, if you add the onions while the potatoes are still hot, they'll become soft and tasty. Third, add mayonnaise when the potatoes have cooled down.
Two months later, Tanaka finally got to debut as a porn actor. The night before his shooting day, Tanaka got a call informing him that his mom is sick. Ignoring his mother at first, Ohki then taught Tanaka the most important lesson one could learn—be good to your mother.
Ohki, who was disowned by his own family twenty years ago for being a porn actor, finally visited his mother and found out she had suffered from dementia. Forgetting that he's her son at first, his mother told Ohki that she misses her son and wishes for him to visit her. The episode ends with Ohki, Tanaka, and all patrons crying together after hearing the melancholic story.
Featured regulars: the glasses salaryman
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S01 E05
Butter rice
One night, a diner regular invites Toyama Masao, a snob food critic to enjoy some food and beer. While the critic made everyone in the room uncomfortable by his snob remarks, a happy-go-lucky street singer, Goro-san, came in and asked for a bowl of butter rice.
Atsuage, a thicker variety of aburaarge—deep-fried tofu, is a dish Goro-san first ordered when he visited the diner.
Butter rice. How Goro-san enjoys it is by waiting for thirty seconds for the butter for melt and adding soy sauce afterward.
Turned out, Goro-san was Masao's sister's boyfriend who also taught him to play guitar. When Masao's parents arranged a husband for his sister, broken-hearted Goro-san left Hakodate. Masao told Goro-san that his sister still remains unmarried, probably wistfully wishing for Goro-san to come back.
Featured regulars: the ochazuke sisters, the cameraman
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S01 E06
Katsudon
A lightweight boxer who celebrates his victory by ordering a bowl of katsudon, Kawada Katsutoshi, met a pair of a mother and her fish-enthusiast daughter. Akemi, the mother's name is, works at a snack bar nearby and is a single mother. As the final matching day draws near, they realize that Kawada will either go big or go home.
Katsudon is a popular Japanese bowl dish that consists of tonkatsu (breaded deep-fried pork cutlet) and eggs cooked in a sweet and salty broth and placed over rice. Katsu, or "cutlet" in Japanese, refers to meat that’s been pounded thin before being cooked. (Full recipe here)
Kawada lost the match, but he got what he probably never thought he'd received: a family. Master served them each a bowl of oyakodon—"oyako" means parents and children, as it represents both chicken and egg on top of rice.
Oyakodon—another popular dish. It consists of chicken, egg, sliced scallion (or sometimes regular onions) are all simmered together in a kind of soup which is made with soy sauce and stock, and then served on top of a bowl of rice.
Featured regulars: the bald old man, the cameraman, the regular salaryman
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S01 E07
Tamago sandwich
A hopeful talent who works part-time at her family's supermarket ordered tonjiru set in the breaking of dawn. At the same time, a poor college student who supports himself by delivering newspaper (and bread, in his summer break) came to deliver Master's morning goods. Tamago sando—egg sandwich, a menu he shared with her on the first time they met, became a witness of their young romance.
Tonjiru shokudo—the only dish available on Master's menu board.
Tamago sando, or eggs sandwich. To make the filling, first, you need to finely chop the boiled egg before adding mayonnaise onto the mixture. Use just enough mayonnaise so to make it sticky, because it will overpower the egg if you add too much mayo. Then, add the desired amount of salt and pepper.
As she rises onto stardom, both of them started to realize that their romance is doomed, to begin with. The moment he finally realized he wanted to fight for her, she already accepted a wedding proposal from a successful IT director.
Featured regulars: the bald old man, the regular salaryman, the glasses salaryman, the ochazuke sisters, the mysterious Joe Odagiri
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S01 E08
Sauced yakisoba
Kazami Rinko, an ex-idol with peculiar vocal cords always comes for a plate of sauced yakisoba with a fried egg on top every time it's windy. The same pair of office workers who are fans of Erect Tohki (S01 E04) are also fans of Rinko.
Sauced yakisoba with a fried egg on top, Rinko-san's favorite. She said the dish reminds her of her childhood.
After tasting the Shimanto River green laver in her yakisoba, Rinko found contentment in acting and won several awards for the movie.
Her father, whose job is collecting stamps and also volunteering to cut homeless people's hair on the weekend, was seen cutting newspaper clippings about her while crying.
Featured regulars: the bald old man, the ochazuke sisters, Kosuzu-san, Jun-chan and her lover
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S01 E09
Grilled aji
A diner regular who works as a stripper, Marylin, is demotivated after an unsuccessful performance. She felt like all of her watchers are just there to see her take off her clothes, not to see her dance.
Meanwhile, a dandy old woman from Kumamoto is having a one-week vacation in Tokyo. She held a great secret: she is Rose Michiyo, one of the most iconic stripper forty years ago who suddenly disappeared without a trace.
In Japanese, grilled horse mackerel is called "aji no (the horse mackerel's) hiraki (opening)". It also serves a pun to how stripper always spreads her legs at the end of her routine.
Featured regulars: the bald old man, the cameraman, Kosuzu-san, the mysterious Joe Odagiri
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S01 E10
Ramen
The episode begins with the mysterious Joe Odagiri having his palm read by a palmist, where she informed him that he had done many killings in his past live ten thousand years ago. Gen-chan also asked for his palm to be read, and she told him that he's heading into a dark abyss in which only he can save himself.
Master noted that it was the first time Gen-chan went to his diner also, ordering a bowl of instant ramen. That night, Gen-chan stabbed a young boss from a rival yakuza gang and went into hiding.
A bowl of ramen that Gen-chan ordered. The noodles are instant, but Master put fresh ingredients for the topping, like a slice of chashu (braised pork belly), naruto, boiled egg, menma (bamboo shots), and scallions.
Two weeks later, a young boy claiming to be Master's son came to the diner bringing a 'proof'. Meanwhile, Kosuzu-san asked Master to deliver a bowl of ramen to her bar; accidentally exposing that Gen-chan is hiding in Kosuzu-san's bar. Master helped Gen-chan to finally find disclosure about his purpose in life. A heartwarming reunion then happened between the boy and Gen-chan—who turned out is his father, as they both slurped their respective bowl of ramen happily. The 'proof' the boy was talking about is a return address of the letter Gen-chan sent him—Gen-chan is using the diner's address.
On Christmas Eve, Gen-chan brought a big box of crabs for all diner patrons to enjoy.
Crab legs, freshly grilled.
Crab miso, also grilled.
The ‘miso‘ in crab miso is actually a reference to the brain of the crab, rather than miso paste/soup. In reality, the brain only makes up a fraction of the crab miso.
The mysterious Joe Odagiri cryptically apologized for the wound on Master's left eye before saying goodbye.
Master's regulars, enjoying a new year's eve feast together.
Seating orders, from left to right: the ochazuke sisters (Kana, Rumi, Miki), the regular salaryman, Marylin, the bald old man, Ryu-san, Kosuzu-san, the cameraman, plus Gen-chan and the glasses salaryman standing in behind.
