Daily Debate: What Kind of Food Would be in a Zelda Café?
Posted on January 29 2024 by Alexis S. Anderson
Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild introduced a ton of food to the Zelda franchise, on top of what the prior games already brought to the table. Amateurs to professional chefs have cooked up many a Zelda recipe since, but what would realistically be featured in a Zelda Café? In addition to bites from the games, a video game cafe isn’t complete without some cute little treats depicting characters or icons from the games. Based on the fare at the Kirby Cafe and Toadstool Cafe, we’ll be looking at a mix of straight-from-the-game specialties and themed staple foods.
For the speciality foods/beverages, we might see a steak on the menu playing off of the Meat from The Legend of Zelda and Yeto’s soup from Twilight Princess featuring pumpkin and goat cheese, of course. Additionally, the red and blue potions might appear as mocktails, the red being a strawberry spritz type deal and the other being blue-raspberry flavored– both with fruit chunks in them. I could also see a fizzy pink drink served in a Fairy Tonic shaped glass.
Then of course there would likely be other Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom favorites on the menu: Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin, Monster Cake, Meaty Rice Balls (Onigiri), Honeyed Fruits, Melty Cheesy Bread, Vegetable Curry, Creamy Heart Soup, and so on. And last but not least, I think some dubious food might sneak its way onto our plates! Perhaps as a misshapen purple pastry covered in oozy purple icing with a white-chocolate bone sticking out of it, or as some kind of meat with green and purple sauces (like lamb with mint sauce and a purple jam glaze).
For the staple foods/beverages, likely: burgers, cupcakes, sandwiches, coffee, salads, and ice cream zhuzh-ed up to fit the Zelda theme. The burgers might be inspired by the Guardians with a toothpick topper that looks like their heads or their image toasted onto the bun with breaded onions sticking out of the stack to look like their legs. The cupcakes could be themed after any character; for Link, the frosting would be green and probably mimic the shape of his hat, then sugar-shape garnishes of the Master Sword and Hylian Shield might be added. I have a hard time picturing a Zelda-themed sandwich, but there could definitely be a 
traditional club sandwich cut in a Triforce shape on potato bread to give it that golden glow.
The espressos at the Kirby Cafe are ADORABLE with Kirby characters depicted in the foam, so the same could be done here with toon Link, Zelda, Tingle, and maybe a Bokoblin, Korok, or pig from The Wind Waker. A lettuce or kale salad could just include ingredients found in Tears of the Kingdom like Hylian Tomatoes, Stamblubs (represented by leeks or some other root vegetable), multiple types of mushrooms, Hateno Cheese, and not-so raw “bird thigh.” Finally, ice cream has the same breadth of possibilities as cupcakes but there could be a Twilight Princess inspired gray ice cream with bright blue syrup and a little plastic Midna topper or sugar-shape.
Which of these proposed menu items sounds the most appetizing to you? Do you have any other ideas for what might pop up on the plates at a Zelda Cafe? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Alexis S. Anderson is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon who joined the writing team in November, 2014. She has a JD from the UCLA School of Law and is pursuing a career in Entertainment and Intellectual Property Law. She grew up in the New Jersey suburbs with her parents, twin brother, and family shih-tzu.
