AllMovie

Seiji Izumi spins this two-fisted tale about cooking. Like Sumo stables and yakuza syndicates and other long-established subcultures in Japan, the world of the gourmet cook of traditional cuisine is a rigidly hierarchical one based on obligation. Master chefs command the utter loyalty of their apprentices. In this film, the master of one popular restaurant is ailing from poor health and as a result the quality of the food is slipping. Realizing that the end is near, he asks former apprentice Ryuji Rindo (Hiroki Matsukata), who now owns a small eatery in Okayama, for help. By the time Rindo arrives in Tokyo, his master is dead and replaced by the owner of the restaurant and famed Kyoto chef Akihiko Hokota (Kiyoshi Nakajo). Just as Rindo is about to return to Okayama, he is approached by Kinu Inamura (Ayumi Ishida) -- his master's former agent -- and Inamura's daughter, Hanae (Miki Sakai). Knowing his repudiation, they ask him to substitute for the night at another restaurant, just to check him out. He wows them and the restaurant's patrons. Later, at Inamura's behest, Rindo challenges the haughty Hokota to a cooking duel. If Rindo wins, then he gets command of his master's restaurant. If Hokota wins, then Inamura becomes his concubine.