Chaotic Apéritifs by Tao Wong is the second audiobook in the Hidden Dishes Novella fantasy series featuring mage Mo Meng and his Nameless Restaurant. The restaurant is warded, but magic wielders are discovering it. Come see why I love this cozy urban fantasy.
by Tao Wong
Series: Hidden Dishes #2
Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller
Length: 3 hours and 28 minutes
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.5x
The Only Constant with Magic is Change.
Mo Meng is reminded of that fact once again as the Nameless Restaurant faces a new challenge. Magic and its old wielders are returning to the world. For the restaurant, wards of anonymity and camouflage are fading, leading to the arrival of new customers. And some older friends.
What started as a way to pass the decades and feed a few customers has become actual work.
The world is changing, and to face it, the Nameless Restaurant, along with its proprietor and patrons, will need to embrace the change with a good meal and new friends.
Chaotic Aperitifs is book two in the Hidden Dishes series, a cozy cooking fantasy perfect for fans of Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes and Junpei Inuzuka's Restaurant to Another World. Written by bestselling author Tao Wong, his other series include the System Apocalypse, A Thousand Li, Hidden Wishes and Adventures on Brad series.
I loved returning to the Nameless Resturant as Mo Meng decides what to prepare and guest chat around the tables. The story, like the first novella, takes place in one evening and I devoured it. Meng uses magical wards to hide the restaurant in Toronto from government officials and humans, but more and more people are discovering this cozy magical restaurant.
Meng serves a limited menu as conversations give way to intrigue and we discover that something from the first story had unexpected consequences.
I enjoy the characters from the hostess/waitress to the unusual guests. Meng’s menu will make your mouth water as you settle in for the evening meal. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
Emily Woo Zeller does a lovely job of narrating and pulled me into the story. These are under four hours and the perfect listen for a commute or evening at home.
About Tao Wong
Tao Wong is a Canadian author based in Toronto who is best known for his System Apocalypse post-apocalyptic LitRPG series and A Thousand Li, a Chinese xianxia fantasy series. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover and ebook formats and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller award in 2021 for his work, A Thousand Li: the Second Sect. When he’s not writing and working, he’s practicing martial arts, reading and dreaming up new worlds.
About Emily Woo Zeller
Emily Woo Zeller began her voice-over career by voicing animation in Asia. She returned to the United States in 2009 and found a natural fit as an audiobook narrator. Described by AudioFile magazine as doing "an extraordinary job of varying the voices in the dialogue without losing the intimacy of the story," Emily's multilingual, multicultural framework brings a particularly unique, clear-eyed, and intimate perspective into Asian American narratives. While she specializes in Asian American narratives, Emily's work spans a broad spectrum, including young adult fiction and such titles as The Whites of Their Eyes by Jill Lepore and The Sex Diaries Project by Arianne Cohen. She also narrated Gulp by Mary Roach, for which she won an AudioFile Earphones Award.
Stay Caffeinated!
Never miss a post by adding Caffeinated to your Inbox
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature)
This series does sound fun from the reviews I’ve read. Also with a shorter audiobook time, I might have to give them a try too. Great review!
Anne- Books of My Heart
I really need to read these – love the foodie aspects and Emily Woo Zeller. Robin reviewed the first one.
Nadene
This sure sounds fun.
Ethan
This sounds like such a cozy and enchanting read! I love the idea of a magical restaurant hidden away in Toronto, especially with the intrigue and unexpected consequences unfolding throughout the evening.
aimee can read
I’m not a foodie in any capacity, but I LOVE the sound of this magical restaurant. This sounds like the perfect setup to meet all sorts of unique characters. 🙂
ER LeVar
I haven’t heard of this series before, but it sounds so cute! I’ve been on the lookout for cozy fantasy for an upcoming trip, so might have to snag these up!