Young middle schooler, Youichi Ajiyoshi lives alone with his mother, working hard to keep their humble restaurant "Hinode" running after the father passed away. The regulars call him, "Ajikko" due to the excellent food he makes. One day he meets Genjiro Murata, "The King of Cuisine" who established Japan's largest culinary organisation, "Ajioh (Emperor of Taste) Culinary Association" that all chefs around the country look up to. Despite the run down state and the unruly look of their customers, The King does not discriminate and chooses to taste food at the establishment. Not many chefs manage to impress him with their culinary skills, let alone a child who never learned how to cook the proper way. However, after being impressed by his prodigy cooking skills, Ajikko is invited to the Ajioh organisation. Ajikko turns down the offer as he wishes to continue protecting his late father's business and cook as a free chef.

However, Youichi tends to always help others in need and never backs down from a challenge, letting him contiually be challenged by chefs who do not believe in his talent. He soon finds himself caught up in the feud between the Ajioh Cook Association and the Aji Shogun Group, discovering his father too was once caught up too.

This is one of those shows I grew up watching but never got to see the whole series so, it was great when I learned this show got an HD remaster like many classics and, has a great mix of comedy and trivia about cooking. I'm certain it'll be more enjoyable than Food Wars: Shokugeki no Souma for those of you who don't like excessive male oriented fan service. They're extremely rare; probably around 3 - 5 scenes out of the entire series and even they're very mild.

Interestingly enough for the Hong Kong, Cantonese dub I watched some screens full of Japanese text were edited out. Usually they just edit out the male oriented fan service.

It's not a short show at 99 episodes but you'll enjoy every episode as you watch Youichi grow, helping friends while being supported by them. It's not completely focused on cooking with plenty of character development. It has some cheesy lines but it's a got a good balance of comedy, moving stories and trivia. It's probably one of the rare shows that just keeps the same OP and ED for the entire series too... Well, the ending's photos change depending on the story. Episode 53 - 59 features Hong Kong, some using photos as backgrounds instead of renders.

Interestingly enough this is also the same studio that produces the Gundam series as well as other classics including City Hunter.

The siblings that help Youichi out, Mitsuko and Shigeru Yamaoka are both original characters to the show too while in the original Manga, Youichi just faces his battles alone. I guess if they kept it as it was in the Manga it would be a bit lonesome and they actually kind of become the comic relief of the show. The show also only covers the first season of the Manga and not the second when Youichi has a son.