The next morning, as everyone headed downstairs for breakfast, they were met by Soma sitting on the dining table waiting for Isshiki, looking like he had been up for quite some time, and immediately challenged him to a food battle for his seat on the council. As everyone else just brushed it off, Daniel thought to himself, 'Oh, come on, Soma. It's way to early for this nonsense!' Isshiki meanwhile, chuckled and apologized for not adequately explaining how things worked the night before.
As they all sat down to breakfast, Isshiki began to explain how such challenges, or food wars, worked. First, there needed to be certain formal conditions that had to be met for a challenge to proceed. First, both parties had to actually agree to the battle. Second, each side had to agree on something of relatively equal value to put up for the challenge. Third, there had to be an odd number of judges available and ready to oversee the battle. As for what had to be put up for these challenges, Isshiki explained that the stakes were usually high, with someone's expulsion being on the line in many cases. "Yeesh – that's rough," Daniel commented. "Yes, but it makes things more interesting, don't you think?" Isshiki asked. "Besides, that's the way things work around here. Cooking means everything, which means you must put everything on the line for your cooking." He then explained to Soma that because not even his expulsion was worth a seat on the Ten at this point, and because he didn't want to see Soma get kicked out anyway, the challenge wouldn't happen. As Soma groaned in frustration, Daniel began to think that getting through Totsuki would be like navigating a minefield.
A few days later, Daniel was trying to get some extra sleep on a day off from classes, but Isshiki had other ideas, as he once again popped his head through Daniel's ceiling to wake him up and get him to join the others out in the dorm's vegetable garden. Still groggy, he got himself out of bed and headed out with Soma and Yuki, who explained the various "projects" going on at Polar Star, including Ryoko's rice fermentation experiments in a special outhouse, Shun's smoking research, her own attempts to breed a new high-end chicken, and of course, the vegetable garden, which Isshiki tended to.
When they arrived at the garden, they found Isshiki tilling the fields with a hoe, wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a pair of sneakers. Daniel sighed as he thought, 'I really didn't need to see that.' They then went to work tending to the fields – weeding, planting, fertilizing, and the like, until it was about breakfast time, and Megumi served a trio variety of rice balls – all of which were absolutely delicious and just what everyone needed after a hard morning of labor. Soma then asked why Megumi wasn't able to do this well during class, which visibly panged her. At seeing this, Daniel stated, "Tact, man! What have I told you about using tact!?" Megumi then explained that it was because of severe stage fright that she had so much trouble in class, which caused everyone else to try to reassure her that she should be more confident in her abilities.
Later on, Daniel was walking with Soma and Megumi when the subject of research societies came up, which Megumi explained were like school clubs at a regular school. "I'm a member of the Regional Cuisine Research Society," she said proudly. They then passed by a large bulletin board with advertisements from many of the societies on campus, and decided to check it out. Soma was especially fascinated by the multitude of different clubs. When he came across an advertisement for the Bowl Research Society, he was so intrigued and excited by it that he immediately dragged Daniel and Megumi with him to check it out.
When they arrived, they found the club room empty except for one guy who was sporting a leather jacket, a pompadour hairstyle, and a very depressed face. He even said that they were only there to witness the end of Bowl Club. Soma, Megumi, and Daniel then saw the floor littered with recipe books that had been created by the bowl club – many of which looked quite good. When Soma commented to that extent and asked why the club was in trouble, the guy got excited that someone saw the value of the club.
He then introduced himself as Kanichi Konishi, and explained that the Council of Ten, and specifically Erina Nakiri, had been targeting them for disbandment by cutting their funding to the point where they could barely afford to operate. "Once that happens, the only option left is a food war!" he cried. Soma then asked if he knew who the club would have to face for the food war. Before Kanichi could answer, a bunch of muscled contractors walked into the room along with a busty, short-haired blonde girl.
As they were looking around, making plans to tear down everything and rebuild it as though they already had ownership of the place, Kanichi began to protest, though he cowered when the girl responded to his protest by calling the bowl club a waste of space and second-rate cuisine. He then called her something – "meat-meat" Daniel thought he heard, which caused the girl to take a cleaver and chop Kanichi's pompadour in half in a fit of rage. Megumi then began to explain about the girl, whose name was Ikumi Mito. She was considered one of the top students in the first-year class, the best meat-based chef by far, and one of those in Erina's inner circle. Daniel wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but Soma beat him to the punch.
Soma got started about how only worrying about the price of ingredients was an insult to good chefs. Ikumi then turned to see who was addressing her and instantly recognized Soma from his opening ceremony speech, saying that she had been wanting to put him in his place. Daniel groaned internally, knowing that Soma's words weren't helping his cause. Soma then challenged Ikumi on behalf of Bowl Club to a food war. If Soma won, Bowl Club's funding would be restored and then some, and Ikumi would join Bowl Club as penance. If Ikumi won, not only would Bowl Club be dissolved, but Soma would be expelled from the academy. The battle would be in three days, with the theme being a bowl dish and meat being the theme ingredient. Ikumi then indicated for the contractors to leave the room, and she followed shortly behind, absolutely confident that she would emerge victorious and get the room for her own use.
After Ikumi left, Kanichi turned to Soma and asked if he was sure he wanted to do this. Soma immediately said that yes, he was certain. "We can't just let people like her insult chefs like us. We've got to show them that what we have to offer is important to the culinary world!" As Kanichi looked at Soma like he was a savior, Megumi was still a little unsure about what Soma was getting himself into. Meanwhile, Daniel had a serious look on his face as he said, "Whatever you need on this, I've got your back, man." Soma turned to Daniel, grateful but a bit surprised and asked, "You're not going to scold me?" Daniel shook his head and said, "Not this time. It's both right and necessary to stand up for Bowl Club here. Besides, I know you can win this!"
As Soma was grinning, Megumi then asked whether Soma had a plan for going about this. When Soma hesitated and finally said that he would think of something, everyone else groaned in frustration. Daniel even facepalmed himself and thought, 'I should have seen that coming.' However, there was nothing they could do about it now except get to work on some practice dishes and figure out what Soma would do for the battle. As usual, Soma decided to go at this head on and decided to use beef as the meat component, as Ikumi was likely to do.
Over the next couple of days, the four of them went through just about every Bowl Club recipe that included beef, with Soma even making several tweaks to a bunch of them. However, none of them seemed like enough to Kanichi, who still remembered having eaten some A5 wagyu beef that Ikumi had served at a school event once.
As they were taking a break at one point, Daniel suggested, "Maybe we should try approaching this from a different angle for a bit. I've watched enough cooking competitions to know that even if someone cooks with a fantastic ingredient and gets it right, they can end up in trouble if they don't pay attention to the rest of the dish. Like Kanichi said, a good bowl dish should be an entire meal all rolled into one." When asked to elaborate further, Daniel added, "If Ikumi is going to use that A5 beef like Kanichi thinks, then there could be a big opening if she doesn't pay attention to the rice portion. It could end up being delicious, but too rich for the judges."
When Daniel said this, Soma's face lit up with an idea. "Daniel, my friend, you're a genius!" Daniel then replied in a slightly teasing tone, "Thanks, Soma. But we've established that fact for quite some time." Soma just rolled his eyes at the response as he chuckled and asked for a few specific ingredients from Kanichi, as it seemed he had honed in on the perfect idea for the upcoming food battle. By the end of the night, he felt like he was ready, though he spent most of the night making a few tweaks just in case.
The next day was the day of the food war, and the campus arena was filled with student onlookers. Some of them there to see Ikumi Mito in action, others to see what they thought would inevitably be the end for Soma, the cocky transfer student (and a few for a combination of both). Urara was, of course, serving as the emcee for this food war and introduced each of the competitors. First, she introduced Ikumi, who came out wearing jean shorts and a bikini top with a flame design, and most of the crowd was cheering.
Next, Urara introduced Soma, who came out with Kanichi, Megumi, and Daniel walking right behind him, and just about everyone was booing. In fact, they wouldn't let up even as Soma approached the arena's main stage. It got to the point where Daniel got so annoyed, he shouted to the crowd, "Oh, boo yourselves!" though to no avail. When Kanichi asked Soma about the hostility, Soma replied sincerely that he had no clue about why they were hating on him so hard - with absolutely no hint of irony in his voice.
As they were set to begin, Megumi and Daniel noticed that Erina and Hisako were in attendance as well, sitting in one of the arena's VIP boxes. Though they knew that Ikumi was in Erina's circle, they wondered why they would come out for a seemingly minor skirmish as one involving Bowl Club. Urara then shouted for the battle to begin, and the two competitors got to work. Soma started by dicing a lot of onions, while Ikumi brought out an entire side of A5 wagyu beef to butcher, which she did so very deftly with a meat cleaver.
As Ikumi prepared to put the piece of beef she had carved out into the oven cook, Soma finally went to the cooler to take out his meat. What he revealed was a piece of steak he had gotten from the grocery store at half price, which shocked everyone. However, this made the audience even more enraged – so much so that they began to throw things at the stage. Daniel, already annoyed at how the audience was acting toward his friend, was tempted to retaliate, but was stopped by a look from Megumi that basically asked him not to.
Throughout the cook, Ikumi constantly tried to taunt Soma and get him off his game, but all Soma would say was that he would let his cooking do all the talking. Before they all knew it, the cooking time had expired, and the competitors presented their dishes. First up was Ikumi, who presented what she called a Beef Roti Bowl, consisting of garlic rice cooked in beef fat topped with slices of the A5 wagyu beef arranged to look like a rose. The three judges were delighted by the flavors of the dish, marveling at how perfectly the beef was cooked and how tender and flavorful it was. On top of that, the rice was also a big hit, with one of the judges commenting that he could eat three bowls of the rice alone.
Next was Soma's turn, as he revealed his dish – a Chaliapin Steak Bowl covered with pan-fried onions and sauce on top of rice. At first, the judges were skeptical, thinking that there was no way that this dish could compare with Ikumi's. However, when they took in the aroma, they decided to give it a try. As soon as they took their first bites, they began to devour their bowls heartily, much to the surprise of Ikumi, Urara, and the rest of the audience. They couldn't stop eating it, and didn't stop until they had finished the bowl.
Covering the steak with the diced onions at the outset had made the steak nice and tender, and Soma was able to utilize the diced onions after that to make a nice sauce to top the bowl. But the secret to the dish was in the rice – he had put in picked plum paste to provide some acidity to both complement the flavors of the beef and onions, and to cut through the richness of those ingredients, making the eater want more and more in a constant cycle. Daniel smiled, as not only had Soma figured out what he was saying the night before, but his prediction on Ikumi's dish turned out to be right, as there was still unfinished rice in the bowls she had made for the judges.
While the judges said that Ikumi's dish was delicious, it was Soma's dish that they wanted to keep eating. At this, Ikumi was incensed in disbelief. "How could Soma's dish of cheap ingredients possibly beat my A5 beef!?" she demanded out loud. Soma then explained that it was because her dish wasn't really a bowl dish, as it wasn't cohesive. When Ikumi growled in protest, Soma offered her a bowl with his dish to prove it. As soon as she took one bite, she too began to devour it like crazy. As she finished, a tear could be seen falling from her eye as she fell to her knees, knowing she had truly been defeated. That was confirmed a moment later as the judges gave Soma a 3-0 decision, much to the shock and anger of many members of the audience.
Soma then tried to help Ikumi up from the floor of the stage – even saying something to her that Daniel couldn't make out. Whatever it was, it caused Ikumi's face to turn bright red, and she seemed to get angry while running away as she was shouting something incoherently. Soon after, Daniel, Megumi, and Kanichi came up to Soma to congratulate him on the victory, with Daniel giving him a signature fist bump for a job well done. Meanwhile, Kanichi thanked him profusely for saving Bowl Club, and welcomed him to the ranks of the club members, saying that he would be the perfect person to lead the club into the future.
However, Soma's response surprised all three of them as he turned down Kanichi's offer. He had just wanted to check out the club to see if he could learn something from it, but he didn't actually want to commit to being a member. At this, Daniel again facepalmed as he stated, "Soma, there are times when I really wonder what goes on in that head of yours." Several days later, Daniel had heard that Ikumi was…not too pleased when she learned that Soma wouldn't be joining her as a member of Bowl Club, and that she would have to deal with Kanichi on her own.