one of my favorite series for the last few years. the balance of dungeons and dragons, environmental storytelling, and character building makes it a gem in the fantasy genre. the author has an expert sense for making the world feel lived in. by the end of the series, seeing all the forces of the world congregate but still working in their own interests makes it more believable than other stories where the world blankly supports one character in an ultimate conflict. taking off .3 points since I feel the character of Kabru hadn't been optimally used despite being introduced later in the series and expectations already being high.

I like how the plot elevates over time and the characters are well written especially laios and izutsumi.

When I started reading this, I just love to read about the everyday kind of life in the dungeon. Eventhough I am not a fan of cooking manga, the twist on the bestiary of the fantastical beasts and how to cook them just make everything so fun.

As it goes on, the plot get more and more exciting, until it culminate into a most satisfying ending. There are no wasted characters, no wasted setting, no wasted plot, no wasted action. Everything is useful to bring everything together in the conclusion.

I believe this is a must read for all!

Easily 10/10
good story that doesn't get milked for cash
Good ending

Yes it was only a dungeon and not the whole world
But in that dungeon the whole worldbuilding is so detail.
Also the chemistry of the character is top notch

First, let's talk about the one good thing about this manga, and really there is only one good thing: attention to detail. The author has clearly put a lot of effort into making the world-setting coherent, and making the characters and politics feel realistic. I agree with the other reviewers that the characters in this manga feel realistic.

Now, let's talk about the bad. Initially, the story was the MC and his team fighting monsters, sometimes using clever and non-conventional tactics based on the rules of the setting. That was fun and exciting and it made sense in the context of the setting. But as the manga dragged on, the plot just veered off in nonsensical direction, with the protagonists fighting the dungeon master who was practically a god, using tactics and logic that felt like they shouldn't work but somehow they do? I have to say that the story felt more and more unrealistic and nonsensical as it went on. The MC is a goofy type, who is only obsessed with researching monsters and cooking them, and not really interested in politics (at least that's the way it comes across in the manga). If events had proceeded more logically, then most likely the ending would not have been a happy one for the MC. But, a series of happy coincidences resulted in a happy ending for the MC. I didn't like that.

Another thing I didn't like about this manga was that there was too much cooking. Pages upon pages filled with nothing but dialogue about the cooking and eating of fantasy monsters. In the beginning it was okay, I thought maybe this was just some comedy joke thing, but as the manga went on, it got worse and worse. As the series neared its end, there were more and more pages in each chapter that was purely just cooking and eating monsters. Pages upon pages of characters just talking about eating fantasy creatures. It became increasingly tedious and boring for me but I powered through it and got to the end at last. Now, don't get me wrong, I like eating food as much as anyone. But I cannot stand a manga that was literally just about eating food.

Regardless of topic, genre, demographic, or any other measurement: Dungeon Meshi is among the best manga I've ever read, an easy (and well-deserved) 10/10.

It carries my highest recommendation, and I'll say no more because it speaks so brilliantly for itself.

Lyos and his party are wiped out, and his sister is eaten by a dragon, so they need to go back to the dungeon ASAP and rescue her before she is digested, but their funds are quite low, and they're not sure how supplies will last on the endeavour, but well, they meet a dwarf, and he introduces them to dungeon cuisine, aka eating monsters.

Characters are fairly dynamic and interesting, the start is kinda slow and episodic, in more of a "dish of the day" format but there is a story buried underneath that starts to show up later on.

I started out with this series early on thinking it was just another fantasy food manga, which I like. I’m currently up to chapter 74. The plot ends up being multi-layered after the first 20 or 30 chapters, though, while still keeping the food theme as part of it. The party has multiple goals so it is slow, but well-paced. It doesn’t feel like things are dragging out pointlessly. In addition, the art is amazing and varied; I admire the mangaka’s skill conveying characterization.

While the protagonist is a happy-go-lucky simple guy, he doesn’t get annoying because all the different characters balance well without feeling overwhelming or repetitive. A must-read!

Give it a shot: it's true that the pace is slow and is kinda uninteresting for a bit of chapters, but around chapter 20-30 it changes pace and the plot finally unravels, we could say "beginning" the real story and even the worldbuilding itself.
So while you're "bearing with" the initial chapters, treat them like cute little fantasy slice of life standalone chapters, while knowing that this IS going somewhere. It will be easier on the reader, and you won't skip on the still nice details.