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The Foodie’s Guide to Neopia Central


by stargirl346

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Whether your neopets are card holders in the Gourmet Club or more casual Neopain foodies, everyone loves a good meal. No one wants to eat Smelly Jelly or a Rotten Berry if they can avoid it. So for your neopets' sakes we dined at all of the restaurants and food shops in Neopia Central, unfortunately eating many strange and bizarre foods along the way, in order to compile a detailed record of the best restaurants and food shops.

The Foodies Guide to Neopia Central highlights and ranks food stops by the following three paw system:

One paw: all around good food and above average atmosphere, but not terribly exciting.

Two paws: excellent food and amazing ambiance, worth going out of your way to visit this spot.

Three paws: the “crème de la crème” of restaurants; the most gourmet food and exceptional dining experiences can be found here.

(Note: Restaurants not awarded paws are not necessarily bad, they are just not as exceptional as other food shops in Neopia Central.)

Let’s start sinking our teeth into the many delicious foods in Neopia Central!

Smoothie Store *

The Smoothie Store is located in the Neopian Bazaar, and is located right next to Hubert’s Hot Dogs making this the prime spot for grabbing tasty drinks after chowing down on hot dogs. The Smoothie Store is run by an optimistic and happy-go-lucky red Tuskaninny. He decided to create the Smoothie Store to help achieve his passion of creating healthy and delicious drinks for Neopians. His dream is reflected in the store’s motto: “Delicious, nutritious smoothies for your Neopet.”

The atmosphere of the store is incredibly modern and chic. Most of the furniture comes from thrift stores, paintings from local artists adorn the walls, all of the utensils are made from recycled materials, and the smoothie cups are biodegradable. Most of the smoothies are created with the casual foodie’s tastes in mind, and some of the more popular drinks worth keeping an eye out for are: Large Banana Split Smoothie, Candy Floss Smoothie, Large Cucumber Breezes Smoothie, Mega Neopian Berry Smoothie, and Power Smoothie.

The biggest problem the Smoothie Store faces is that it has the smallest selection of Gourmet items in all of Neopia central, with only 11 products qualified. Unfortunately smoothies usually are more of a side-dish rather than a decadent meal. However, if your neopet manages to get his or her paws on one of these sensational gourmet smoothies, they will be in for a treat. Some of our favorite gourmet smoothies include: Mega Honeyplume Smoothie, Kiwi-Mango Smoothie, Mega Salmon Sherbert Smoothie, and Pumpkin Smoothie. Just try to avoid the Large Sand Smoothie—trust us.

Overall this up-and-coming shop has lots of delicious options and a plethora of potential, and is well deserving of it’s one paw rating.

The Bakery **

The bakery is run by a blue Kacheek that goes by the name Breadmaster. This shop lives up to the head chefs name by producing many masterfully crafted pastries. The Bakery is one of the top stores to find gourmet items at with well over one hundred gourmet foods stocked here. Artistically decorated food is baked here by the finest chefs in Neopia, and most of the items are masterpieces of flavor and decadence. Some of the most extravagant gourmet foods can be found here: Borovan Layered Cake, Dargil Meat Mince Pie, Double Cream Vanilla Sponge, Chocolate Chip Eyrie Cookie,and Kacheek Fruit Saland Sandwich.

Although the Bakery sells a wide variety of gourmet pastries, there are cheaper and less refined items that are sold here for the more casual foodie: Acara Peanut Butter and Jelly Panini, Raspberry Macarons, Twirly Fruit Ixi Hoofprint Cookie, Zeenana Krawk Tart, and Blue Doughnut. Despite accommodating less refined diners, the Bakery’s atmosphere is one of traditional fine dining. Everything is arranged perfectly, and only the finest utensils and decorations are utilized here.

Although the food at the Bakery is incredible and in past years was well deserving of three paws, lately this store has been resting on its laurels and as a consequence has fallen to two paws. After becoming one of the most desirable places to dine for Gourmet Club card holders a few years ago, Breadmaster had to hire many chefs to work under him to keep up with the demand. Rather than spending his time thinking of delicious new creations, the Kacheek had to spend his time teaching others to replicate his famous recipes. As a result, the Bakery has not produced many new gourmet foods in the past years and instead keeps pumping out the same recipes day after day. If the Bakery keeps with this stagnant trend it is doubtful that many new gourmet foods will be produced here in the upcoming years and their paw rank will continue to slip.

Soup Kitchen **

The Soup Kitchen is a staple in the Neopian Marketplace and is run by the gentle and kind hearted Soup Faerie. The Soup Faerie looks after all the local neopets, and every day she makes a plentiful supply of free soup for neopets who are too poor to provide food for themselves. The Soup Faerie makes some incredibly magical meals, and often times rich neopets will try to pass themselves off as needy just to get a bowl of her soup. However, only the truly poor Neopians who have under 3,000 NP can get handouts at the Soup Kitchen. All of her recipes are completely secret. The canisters and boxes of ingredients on her shelves have no labels, and she will not tell a soul what goes into her soup. She does not let anyone else stir her pot, and she refuses to use anything but her one trusty wooden spoon.

From a business standpoint, the Soup Kitchen does not make any profit—how could it when all the soup is free? Rather it is kept running by generous donations from the Money Tree. As such, all of the donations go solely to buying supplies to make the soup. The atmosphere inside the soup kitchen is very bare but in a pleasant and simplistic way, and everyone is given a clean bowl and wooden spoon which is all that is needed to eat her soup.

Although the atmosphere is simple, no truly gourmet soup is served, and meals are limited to only the truly poor neopians. Overall, however, the soup kitchen is perhaps one of the most wonderful places in Neopia and serves truly magical dishes and is well deserving of its two paws.

Hubert’s Hot Dogs ***

The most popular hot dog stand in all of Neopia is run by a friendly, helpful, and charismatic Mynci named Hubert. At first glance, many neopets write off Hubert’s as “just a hot dog stand.” While Hubert does sell hot dogs at his stand you would be wrong to assume these are just ordinary store bought hot dogs. Hubert’s passion for his product is incredibly obvious when biting into any one of his dogs. In fact, he has perfected so many hot dogs that over 47 of his products are classified as certified gourmet. If you are in the mood for a positively perfect gourmet dog, we recommend: Diamond Hot Dog, Mini Baby Hot Dogs, Huberts Special Hot Dog, Caviar Hot Dog, and Hot Dog with Everything.

However, Hubert does not just cater to the “Gourmet Club Crowd.” In fact, the majority of the hot dogs he sells are for the casual neopian foodie and are delicious without breaking the bank. Some of his must try casual dogs include: Ketchup Relish Dog, Triple Hot Dog, Ultra Cheesy Hot Dog, and Tasty Corn Dog.

Although just a stand and not an official restaurant, Hubert has purposefully styled his stand to leave his patrons feeling warm and nostalgic, like you are at your NeoHome. Hubert goes out of his way to make sure each customer feels like part of the family, and his personality and stand decor positively enhance the dining experience here.

Overall, Hubert’s Hot Dogs are a must try and are well deserving of their three paw ranking.

We hope you have enjoyed The Foodie’s Guide to Neopia Central, and that you and your neopets are hungry to take a trip to some of the finest food establishments in Neopia Central.

 
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