With occasional live commentaries, the Cooking Showdown between Ein-san and the Phantom Maid proceeded, and both completed their dishes in plenty of time.
Both weren't serving a course meal, but rather a set meal. Ein-san's menu was centered on elegant meat dishes, and my impression was that it was a Western-style plate that you would see at a family restaurant.
Alice, or rather, the Phantom Maid has organized exactly what you would find in a Set Meal restaurant... The meat was deep-fried, so I guess this would be a Tonkatsu Set Meal? It could also be a Gyuukatsu Set Meal though... In any case, both of their dishes look delicious.
"With both competitors having finished cooking their dishes, we will now enter the judging process. From what I have seen, both sides seemed to have opted to keep their dishes simple."
As the Live Commentator said, both sides could certainly choose to keep their dishes simple... This is just my hunch, but I think they're being conscious that I will be judging their dishes.
I'm not good with high-class cuisine like those served in French restaurants, which seems to be difficult to eat, and I prefer home-style cooking. Naturally, both Alice and Ein-san know this, so they have made the food easy to eat.
At any rate, let's start with Ein-san's Western dish... Delicious! The overall balance is wonderful, and the other ingredients are centered on meat, with the taste of the other ingredients complementing and harmonizing with it. Because of the wonderful balance of the whole dish, I couldn't stop eating and before I knew it, I finished it all up.
It was so delicious... It was so delicious that my vocabulary died. It's like, the only words that come to mind after eating it is that it was extremely delicious.
I don't know if I should say it's to be expected of Ein-san, but her dish truly is on a different dimension.
Next up would be Alice's Japanese food. It was also delicious to the point of being dangerous. The rice, miso soup, and cutlet were all exactly to my liking, and I can only describe them as the best I've ever tasted.
If I had to describe it, it was as if this dish had been adjusted to the utmost limit for me, and it was so delicious that I thought that there was nothing better than this. Even though I had just eaten Ein-san's dish, I finished eating Alice's dish in no time.
Well, both of them are really great. Their cooking skills are of a different dimension... Unnn... And as the Judge... I need to judge who is better between them but...
... I- I don't know. It's too difficult to say which one is better! If this was a competition between two competitors serving the same cuisine, I might have been able to judge that a bit better, but this was a confrontation between Japanese and Western cuisine, and both of them were delicious. It's too difficult to judge which is better than the other.
"It seems that all of our Judges have finished eating, so we will now move on to giving out the scores. Please bring forward the dish that you think was more delicious to you."
Eh? Wait, I haven't decided yet. In my mind, both are 100-pointers, and there's no factor between them that determines which one is better. In the first place, I don't have a very sharp sense of taste, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.
"Oh my, it seems that Judge Emily has brought forward the Phantom Maid's dish."
[I was impressed by her ability to prepare a rice dish, which isn't common in this world, so beautifully. Eating this dish allowed me to see new possibilities.]
"I see, following her, Judge Alexandra brought forward President Ein's dish."
[Both of them are among the best in the world, and it's very difficult to decide which is better than the other. I don't have any choice but to pick according to my preference. For me, the appearance of the whole dish was reflected more beautifully by President Ein...]
While I'm worried about this, the judging progressed, making me really flustered... but seriously, both dishes were scoring a perfect tie for me, and even if I add in preferences to the calculation, there was not even the slightest difference between them. This is troubling... What should I do?
"Afterward, Judge Beatrice put forward President Ein's dish."
[Judging between these two dishes is extremely difficult. I'm still wavering at the moment, but for my personal taste... I recognize that President Ein's dish was slightly better.]
"And then, Judge Camellia has put forward the Phantom Maid's dish."
[This is also a matter of taste, but since I slightly preferred the vegetables in Phantom Maid-san's dish, I will give my vote to Phantom Maid-san's dish.]
"The votes so far are completely even, 2 for each competitor. This being the case, the decision will be decided by the Maid Advisor, Judge Kaito!!!"
Eeehhhhh!? Wait, stop for a moment! The one I choose will win? That's too much responsibility you're placing on me here! I mean, when you consider the viewpoint of those residing in the Maid World, this could be the moment when the curtain comes down on the legend of Ein-san's unbeaten streak! W- What should I do?
The only way to end this nicely is with Ein-san's victory. We could settle this as the result being to be expected from the Pinnacle of the Maid World. On the other hand, if Alice wins, this could become a major event that changes history.
No, even if that's so, making Ein-san win for that reason, I could just feel bad for Alice. What should I do? What could I do... No, seriously... Someone help me!!!