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Hidden Dishes
Sorcerous Plates
Even magical chefs have to eat...
For once, Mo Meng isn’t the one behind the counter. After years of serving dishes at the Nameless Restaurant, he’s taking a rare day off. His destination? The soft launch of a new restaurant, where he’s been invited to sample their debut menu.
At least, that was the plan. But while he might have left his restaurant behind, its patrons and their problems are a little harder to lose.
Sorcerous Plates is the fourth standalone novella in the cozy cooking fantasy series Hidden Dishes.Read this if you
🍲 Cozy, lighthearted fantasy
🥢 A hidden restaurant in the heart of the city
🍲 A reclusive chef with a secret touch
🥢 Magical realism & gentle enchantments
🍲 Heartwarming stories of friendship and hope
🥢 Malaysian flavours, rich atmosphere, unforgettable meals
🍲 Perfect for fans of warm, slice-of-life fantasy
From the bestselling author of The System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li comes Sorcerous Plates, a cozy cooking fantasy novella perfect for fans of Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes and Junpei Inuzuka's Restaurant to Another World.
For once, Mo Meng isn’t the one behind the counter. After years of serving dishes at the Nameless Restaurant, he’s taking a rare day off. His destination? The soft launch of a new restaurant, where he’s been invited to sample their debut menu.
At least, that was the plan. But while he might have left his restaurant behind, its patrons and their problems are a little harder to lose.
Sorcerous Plates is the fourth standalone novella in the cozy cooking fantasy series Hidden Dishes.Read this if you
🍲 Cozy, lighthearted fantasy
🥢 A hidden restaurant in the heart of the city
🍲 A reclusive chef with a secret touch
🥢 Magical realism & gentle enchantments
🍲 Heartwarming stories of friendship and hope
🥢 Malaysian flavours, rich atmosphere, unforgettable meals
🍲 Perfect for fans of warm, slice-of-life fantasy
From the bestselling author of The System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li comes Sorcerous Plates, a cozy cooking fantasy novella perfect for fans of Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes and Junpei Inuzuka's Restaurant to Another World.
- GenresFantasy
174 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2026
About the author
Tao Wong
151 books1,031 followersTao Wong is the author of the A Thousand Li progression fantasy series and the System Apocalypse LitRPG series, among others. His work has been released in audio, paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats, and translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and several other languages. He was shortlisted for the UK Kindle Storyteller Award in 2021 for A Thousand Li: The Second Sect. In 2026, the first three books in the A Thousand Li series will be republished in hardcover by Ace Books.
When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
When he’s not writing or working, he enjoys practicing martial arts, reading, and dreaming up new worlds. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 18, 2026
I like this series and was eager to continue it. I picked up this fourth book in audio again as I enjoy listening to this series. Sorcerous Plates changes things up a bit, this time it's not set at the Nameless Restaurant with Mo Meng as the chef, but Mo Meng is attending the soft launch of a new restaurant run by a former apprentice of his.
While I liked the idea of seeing Mo Meng eat somewhere instead of cooking in his own restaurant, the set-up just didn't work out as well for me. I missed the familiarity of the Nameless Restaurant setting and the various dishes and patrons. Instead we get a group of 4 characters including Mo Meng trying out the multiple courses at this new fancy restaurant. I missed getting the insight in how or why these dishes were created. And this restaurant just leaned more into the fancy fine dining experience and I like the cozy vibes of the Nameless Restaurant more.
Kelly, the waitress, joins Mo Meng at this restaurant as well as a vampire who is a frequent patron of the Nameless Restaurant. And then later they get joined by henry, another patron, who also has his own series. This way there was a variety of characters and dishes they ordered and we get to see their thoughts on it. The food was probably my favorite part of this as it's fun reading about these dishes, although again the fancy fine dining restaurant type dishes aren't my preference.
A lot of the book also deals with the conversations they're having. I somehow struggled to keep up with all the threads and the more subtle hinting, something I noticed in previous books too, but felt more prominent here. I just felt a bit lost and there was so much about their histories and the world changing instead of focus on what's going on now. Although there also was some talk about border patrols and helping supernaturals through that. And then there are the dishes they eat as well.
There are multiple hints about Henry his story, which is told in the Hidden Wishes series, and it just felt a bit too much. I haven't read that series yet and it felt like this book constantly reminded me of that, which both felt a bit heavy handed instead of subtle and it just made me feel like I was missing background info, which is not a feeling I like.
I also had expected there to be a bit more about the fact that this new restaurant was run by a former apprentice of Mo Meng and it just felt like that didn't really go anywhere except that Mo Meng disappears at the end to talk to him, but I would've liked to actually see that scene.
The narrator was great as always and feels like a good fit for this series. The characters all have their own voice and sound different.
To summarize: I really like this series, but this book was less enjoyable to me than the first 3. The change in scenery with this book taking place as Mo Meng visits another restaurant seemed like a fun change of place, but instead it left me missing the usual Nameless Restaurant setting and the cooking focus. It was fun to see the characters try the dishes at this restaurant, but the fine dining fancy restaurant setting and food wasn't as fun to read about as the cozy Nameless Restaurant. I also struggled to keep up with the plot lines and talks of the characters. And the multiple mentions to Henry's past and his series felt a bit overdone and made me feel like I was missing something as I haven't read that series. The narration was great as always and I like how the narrator does the different voices. I hope the next book is better again when they're back at the Nameless Restaurant.
While I liked the idea of seeing Mo Meng eat somewhere instead of cooking in his own restaurant, the set-up just didn't work out as well for me. I missed the familiarity of the Nameless Restaurant setting and the various dishes and patrons. Instead we get a group of 4 characters including Mo Meng trying out the multiple courses at this new fancy restaurant. I missed getting the insight in how or why these dishes were created. And this restaurant just leaned more into the fancy fine dining experience and I like the cozy vibes of the Nameless Restaurant more.
Kelly, the waitress, joins Mo Meng at this restaurant as well as a vampire who is a frequent patron of the Nameless Restaurant. And then later they get joined by henry, another patron, who also has his own series. This way there was a variety of characters and dishes they ordered and we get to see their thoughts on it. The food was probably my favorite part of this as it's fun reading about these dishes, although again the fancy fine dining restaurant type dishes aren't my preference.
A lot of the book also deals with the conversations they're having. I somehow struggled to keep up with all the threads and the more subtle hinting, something I noticed in previous books too, but felt more prominent here. I just felt a bit lost and there was so much about their histories and the world changing instead of focus on what's going on now. Although there also was some talk about border patrols and helping supernaturals through that. And then there are the dishes they eat as well.
There are multiple hints about Henry his story, which is told in the Hidden Wishes series, and it just felt a bit too much. I haven't read that series yet and it felt like this book constantly reminded me of that, which both felt a bit heavy handed instead of subtle and it just made me feel like I was missing background info, which is not a feeling I like.
I also had expected there to be a bit more about the fact that this new restaurant was run by a former apprentice of Mo Meng and it just felt like that didn't really go anywhere except that Mo Meng disappears at the end to talk to him, but I would've liked to actually see that scene.
The narrator was great as always and feels like a good fit for this series. The characters all have their own voice and sound different.
To summarize: I really like this series, but this book was less enjoyable to me than the first 3. The change in scenery with this book taking place as Mo Meng visits another restaurant seemed like a fun change of place, but instead it left me missing the usual Nameless Restaurant setting and the cooking focus. It was fun to see the characters try the dishes at this restaurant, but the fine dining fancy restaurant setting and food wasn't as fun to read about as the cozy Nameless Restaurant. I also struggled to keep up with the plot lines and talks of the characters. And the multiple mentions to Henry's past and his series felt a bit overdone and made me feel like I was missing something as I haven't read that series. The narration was great as always and I like how the narrator does the different voices. I hope the next book is better again when they're back at the Nameless Restaurant.
September 9, 2026
More like 3 & 1/2 stars, but still good
Short story / Magical realism / Urban Fantasy / Foodie
This one changes setting to a different restaurant for one night and it's a nice touch.
Which characters are present seems to change through to book, but maybe I just read it wrong.
Thought this was going to be a 4 book series, but there is an ad at the end for the next one. Which is nice.
Short story / Magical realism / Urban Fantasy / Foodie
This one changes setting to a different restaurant for one night and it's a nice touch.
Which characters are present seems to change through to book, but maybe I just read it wrong.
Thought this was going to be a 4 book series, but there is an ad at the end for the next one. Which is nice.
February 27, 2026
3.5
This needed some editing/proofreading - apart from some weird dashes, there were a couple of places where a scene didn't seem to me to follow another scene directly, that sort of thing - but I did enjoy this rather low-key novella in the series.
This needed some editing/proofreading - apart from some weird dashes, there were a couple of places where a scene didn't seem to me to follow another scene directly, that sort of thing - but I did enjoy this rather low-key novella in the series.
January 10, 2026
The “sorcerous plates” in this fourth entry in the delicious Hidden Dishes series do not, for once, come from the kitchen of Mo Meng, the seemingly immortal mage who owns both the restaurant and chef’s hat at his hole-in-the-wall Toronto restaurant. A restaurant that is called “The Nameless Restaurant” because he never bothered, and can’t BE bothered, to name it.
He intended the restaurant as his “retirement” – or at least this particular phase of it, but his culinary bolt hole has turned into a foodie’s paradise, at least for every foodie in the Toronto area who can manage to find it.
The ordinary human customers tend not to return – the food may be divine but the ambiance is atrocious while the service is run off its feet. But for his intended clientele, the magic users and outright magical beings who live in the area, it’s a place where they can BE a bit more like themselves even if they can’t exactly show themselves, and where they can talk in safety about the issues that concern their hidden community.
Like the fact that magic is on the upswing and that their hidden community causes a bit more mayhem and is a bit less hidden every day.
The increase in business has been GREAT for the restaurant’s entirely human front-end manager, Kelly, even as the chef himself grumbles that it’s too crowded, that it’s too much trouble to train an assistant in the kitchen and that using too much magic to prepare the food is absolutely NOT the point of having the restaurant in the first place.
Because the hidden world is becoming more exposed, and magic seems to be returning with potentially chaotic consequences, this story takes place, not at the Nameless Restaurant, but at an invitation-only private event marking the pre-opening of a brand new Michelin Star restaurant in Toronto. Mo Meng has received an invitation because the chef running the much-anticipated new eatery is a former protégé of Mo Meng himself.
This story begins with an immortal mage, an old vampire, a chaotic jinn’s mage-assistant and the Nameless Restaurant’s entirely human front-of-house manager walking, not into a bar – because that would be a terrible joke – but into what food critics are claiming will be the latest Michelin Star restaurant in the city. As soon as all the critics and influencers post their experience on social media.
Under the cover of plates quietly clattering, silverware discreetly clanking, and glassware carefully clinking, Chef Mo Meng, Marilyn the vampire, Henry the jinn’s assistant and Kelly the wait staff have a quiet but far ranging conversation about the rise of upheaval in the hidden world, as well as their collective worries about the direction the situation will take from there.
That each chapter, and each intriguing bite of that conversation is conducted to the accompaniment by and description of each bite of each and every delicious course in an excellent meal turns this story into multiple levels of temptation.
Readers will wish they had their own seat at that table, to listen in on a fascinating explanation and exploration of the hidden world – and especially to have the opportunity to get their own fork into every dish!
Escape Rating A-: I love this series, and it’s especially good in audio, but I honestly didn’t have the patience to wait this time around. This was the book I wanted to read, and I wanted to read it as soon as it downloaded on New Year’s Day. This book, with its delicious descriptions and its delightful anticipation of the chaos and delights yet to come for the hidden world, felt like a perfect metaphor and was just simply a great story to start the year.
What’s surprising about this story is that it is told almost entirely in conversation. Not that the thoughts of the individual diners, particularly Mo Meng and Kelly, aren’t included, especially Kelly’s thoughts about how delicious everything is to a degree that’s more than enough to make the reader’s mouth water while sharing her anticipation and satisfaction. But that’s all part of the tease.
The movement of the story – ironic in a way because they are all sitting down most of the time – is in what they say to each other – and what they don’t say. We learn a lot about the hidden world (not enough, ever, but more) in the conversation between Mo Meng, Marilyn, and Henry, and we’re just as fascinated as Kelly.
There’s also an opportunity for Kelly to display some typically human perspectives and prejudices, and it’s thought-provoking to listen in as her short-term viewpoint is pitted against that of two people who have experienced centuries – and one who has paid the price to do the same in the future. Oceans rise, empires fall, circumstances and technology change but human behavior doesn’t.
The only thing keeping this an A- instead of an A is that it teases more than it tells – but then that’s true for the series as a whole. As always, I wish I had a bit more about the hidden world – then again, so does Kelly, so maybe both of our wishes will be granted at a later point.
The next book in the Hidden Dishes series will be titled Magical Mains according to the author’s note at the end of this book. In that same note, the author said that he is planning on two more books after that to bring the series to what I’m sure will be a delightfully and deliciously prepared conclusion. But this reader is glad that THAT day is not yet, because I love this series and will be sorry to see it end.
Originally published at Reading Reality
He intended the restaurant as his “retirement” – or at least this particular phase of it, but his culinary bolt hole has turned into a foodie’s paradise, at least for every foodie in the Toronto area who can manage to find it.
The ordinary human customers tend not to return – the food may be divine but the ambiance is atrocious while the service is run off its feet. But for his intended clientele, the magic users and outright magical beings who live in the area, it’s a place where they can BE a bit more like themselves even if they can’t exactly show themselves, and where they can talk in safety about the issues that concern their hidden community.
Like the fact that magic is on the upswing and that their hidden community causes a bit more mayhem and is a bit less hidden every day.
The increase in business has been GREAT for the restaurant’s entirely human front-end manager, Kelly, even as the chef himself grumbles that it’s too crowded, that it’s too much trouble to train an assistant in the kitchen and that using too much magic to prepare the food is absolutely NOT the point of having the restaurant in the first place.
Because the hidden world is becoming more exposed, and magic seems to be returning with potentially chaotic consequences, this story takes place, not at the Nameless Restaurant, but at an invitation-only private event marking the pre-opening of a brand new Michelin Star restaurant in Toronto. Mo Meng has received an invitation because the chef running the much-anticipated new eatery is a former protégé of Mo Meng himself.
This story begins with an immortal mage, an old vampire, a chaotic jinn’s mage-assistant and the Nameless Restaurant’s entirely human front-of-house manager walking, not into a bar – because that would be a terrible joke – but into what food critics are claiming will be the latest Michelin Star restaurant in the city. As soon as all the critics and influencers post their experience on social media.
Under the cover of plates quietly clattering, silverware discreetly clanking, and glassware carefully clinking, Chef Mo Meng, Marilyn the vampire, Henry the jinn’s assistant and Kelly the wait staff have a quiet but far ranging conversation about the rise of upheaval in the hidden world, as well as their collective worries about the direction the situation will take from there.
That each chapter, and each intriguing bite of that conversation is conducted to the accompaniment by and description of each bite of each and every delicious course in an excellent meal turns this story into multiple levels of temptation.
Readers will wish they had their own seat at that table, to listen in on a fascinating explanation and exploration of the hidden world – and especially to have the opportunity to get their own fork into every dish!
Escape Rating A-: I love this series, and it’s especially good in audio, but I honestly didn’t have the patience to wait this time around. This was the book I wanted to read, and I wanted to read it as soon as it downloaded on New Year’s Day. This book, with its delicious descriptions and its delightful anticipation of the chaos and delights yet to come for the hidden world, felt like a perfect metaphor and was just simply a great story to start the year.
What’s surprising about this story is that it is told almost entirely in conversation. Not that the thoughts of the individual diners, particularly Mo Meng and Kelly, aren’t included, especially Kelly’s thoughts about how delicious everything is to a degree that’s more than enough to make the reader’s mouth water while sharing her anticipation and satisfaction. But that’s all part of the tease.
The movement of the story – ironic in a way because they are all sitting down most of the time – is in what they say to each other – and what they don’t say. We learn a lot about the hidden world (not enough, ever, but more) in the conversation between Mo Meng, Marilyn, and Henry, and we’re just as fascinated as Kelly.
There’s also an opportunity for Kelly to display some typically human perspectives and prejudices, and it’s thought-provoking to listen in as her short-term viewpoint is pitted against that of two people who have experienced centuries – and one who has paid the price to do the same in the future. Oceans rise, empires fall, circumstances and technology change but human behavior doesn’t.
The only thing keeping this an A- instead of an A is that it teases more than it tells – but then that’s true for the series as a whole. As always, I wish I had a bit more about the hidden world – then again, so does Kelly, so maybe both of our wishes will be granted at a later point.
The next book in the Hidden Dishes series will be titled Magical Mains according to the author’s note at the end of this book. In that same note, the author said that he is planning on two more books after that to bring the series to what I’m sure will be a delightfully and deliciously prepared conclusion. But this reader is glad that THAT day is not yet, because I love this series and will be sorry to see it end.
Originally published at Reading Reality
January 22, 2026
As much as I like haute cuisine, I have to say that I like the Nameless Restaurant better than this new Michelin aspirant. The food may be good - and I will take Mo Meng's appraisal - but the atmosphere and the way the servers behave (and are expected to be telepathic) bugs me. Give me the cozy hole-in-the-wall any day!
February 27, 2026
I am always left feeling hungry after reading a book from this series. I like that the cooking was done by an ex apprentice for this story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews