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Cooking Diary® Restaurant Game

Chef, time to cook tasty food!

Ratings

Age

13+

Category

Strategy

Languages

English

Cooking Diary is a fast-paced time-management game where you become the master of your own kitchen. Open dozens of unique restaurants, from pizzerias to bakeries, and serve hungry customers. Beyond the kitchen, enjoy a deep storyline, customize your character's appearance, and compete in culinary battles. Join a guild and play with friends in the ultimate cooking adventure!

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

94/100

Cooking Diary is essentially the 'Gold Standard' of the time-management cooking genre. While many games in this category feel like reskins of each other, Cooking Diary succeeds by wrapping its frantic gameplay in a genuinely engaging narrative. You aren't just a faceless chef; you're the heir to a culinary empire in the city of Tasty Hills, and the story beats between levels keep you motivated to see what happens next.

The customization options are unparalleled. You can decorate your restaurants to your heart's content and dress up your avatar in hundreds of different outfits. More importantly, the gameplay curve is perfectly tuned. It starts off easy but eventually requires surgical precision to manage orders, drinks, and side dishes simultaneously. The social aspects, like joining a 'Guild' and participating in 'Chef's Tournaments,' make it feel like a living, breathing community. It is polished, addictive, and deeply satisfying.

Dinsun reviewed on: Wed Feb 25 2026

Features

1

Dozens of unique restaurants with different cuisines

2

Deep character and restaurant customization

3

Engaging storyline with interesting characters

4

Guild system and competitive global events

Upcoming Events

International Women's Day!
International Women's Day!
A new season of grit and inspiration in the guild!
Wed Feb 25 2026 - Tue Mar 24 2026
Time to Take the Stage!
Time to Take the Stage!
Dive into a world of rhythm and energy!
Fri Mar 20 2026 - Sun Mar 22 2026
Spring Chef's Pass!
Spring Chef's Pass!
A gracious Maine Coon is welcoming March!
Wed Feb 25 2026 - Tue Mar 24 2026

Tips & Walkthrough

Gameplays

Screenshot

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Q&A

Rubies can be earned by completing achievements, participating in guild quests, or through daily rewards.

Ratings & Reviews

one recommendation, overall very great game
Fri Mar 04 2022 Irllyhatemyselfhahhahaha

LOVE the game! I honestly find a lot of enjoyment within it, and it is nice for passing time. It has a good combination of levels that are challenging, and levels that aren’t too bad. I enjoy the mini games that come every so often, between food truck games and creightons challenges, and it is very nice that completing these mini games come with rewards. Also, I enjoy the guild challenges because it gives you and a group of people to work together to earn rewards as well as bond. I know my guild by whatever their usernames are, and we all are very fond of one another. We work together nicely, and have each other’s back. It is a very cool concept that is kid friendly because it lacks the ability to expose any personal information but still gives room for team like relationships. The only suggestion I would have within this game is to lower the price of items (which in this game costs gems) at times, it feels my only way to progress is via spending money on gems which gets expensive, unfortunately quick. Also, once I began purchasing items within the game, the ability to watch ads to speed up updates disappeared and I am very bummed by that. At times, it has made me frustrated enough to want to remove the app, and when I try to find a way to correct this it is unavailable to me. However, while these recommendations are simply just of inconvenience, everything else overall about this game is great and I’d highly recommend installing it on your own.

Wow, Insane...
Tue Sep 08 2020 THEWOLFGURL

I’ve been playing for over a year now and let me just say, this was a lucky find. From the very beginning I knew this was going to be my favorite game. So let’s get straight to it. There is a diamond balance, but honestly, the daily gems and quests you can complete make it nearly impossible to NOT have any gems. I wouldn’t see any reason why people would complain about not getting enough, when really there is a good amount you can gain. I tested it and gained 40 diamonds within 3-4 days. You could probably get more in that period of time. Also the amount of money that you need to play this game is absolutely none. I have gone through almost 11 restaurants without paying a cent. It just takes patience and hard work to save up diamonds to upgrade. Also you can buy certain rare clothing items but that’s entirely your choice. The harder the levels, the more diamonds you’ll need to improve your kitchen, which is what is necessary to complete the game. So be sure to spend them wisely! Overall I would say this is a FANTASTIC creation! The makers of this are geniuses, and they really do deserve shout outs for this incredible mobile game. I can play this all day if I wanted, but be careful with spending diamonds for clothing items (you’ll regret using them for that). Thank you for reading this review! Hopefully this review will help you decide whether or not to get this game. :) Enjoy your day!

AMAZING game
Sun Sep 13 2020 Irelyn_Tiscareno

First off, great game. It’s very fun and very time consuming. But I still love it.😊 I also love the avatar editor. The outfits are really cute and fun! Although I do have a few complaints, just for the record, I still love this game. My first complaint is the clothing. I know what your thinking, “You where just raving about how good the outfits where.” Well yes the outfits are still AMAZING but the actual tab for it is locked till after some time. I wish the tab could open sooner. Also once you get the tab to open, you have to WAIT for some sections to be able to use such as the pet section and the shop. Another thing I want to add it the gems. The gems take A LONG time to earn. I wish that you could get gems more often even though they can be earned on daily login streak and wheel of fortune. Still... I just want to get more gems. The last thing I wanna add is something that isn’t necessarily about a glitch or a ad problem (which BTW there are like zero ads) or something like that. It’s actually something the players have been doing quite recently. On the guilds people have been putting “Dating guilds”. I don’t like that because there could be little kids coming across that and PRETEND DATING. That’s only something you would do as an adult. That’s pretty much it but please maybe fix these problems. Thank you 👍

Gems too difficult to come by
Thu May 21 2020 ShainaME

The game play is quick paced and really fun! ... at first. After about 3 or 4 restaurants in you start getting stuck because in a set time you have to serve x customers or make x amount of money. But to do that you need faster machines and more expensive ingredients... and how do you get those? With gems! But how do you get gems? Well, you can get 1 on day 4 of constant gameplay and 2 on day 5. You can watch an add twice a day and get 1 gen per add. You can spin a wheel for free once a day (I’ve gotten 2 gems this way maybe once a week, it’s hit or miss) and occasionally there’s special events where you can earn gems (1-3 gems every 5-10 levels complete). You also get a few gems when you get through episodes but you can only do that by whining levels. So when you’re stuck there’s 2 options. 1: wait. Every day you get a few gems. Save up to get that 16 gem tray or 12 gem oven upgrade. Might take you a few weeks of not playing and just clicking. Or 2: pay up. For a dollar you can get 100 gems.. sometimes. It’s one of those special offers that keep popping up. Or for $4.99 you can get a golden ticket and earn better prizes (gems and outfits) when you play events in the food truck. Gems should be a part of level prizes same as coins. Maybe to a less extent because I get it... ads aren’t enough, the game maker wants us to pay up. But it literally halts game play for me and that’s not ok. Do better Food Diary!

Changing my review
Tue Oct 12 2021 Lights L.

Edit: Thank you for updating the insane levels and making it a bit easier to play without having to use boosters. On the side note I really wish the path of glory wasn’t 1,200 tokens. It used to be 1,000 which was much easier to complete but I can only get to the the 30 node if I’m playing casually otherwise I’d have to play way more to finish it. It would also be nice if you could make it possible to complete daily quests in other restaurants/food truck. I really don’t like the fact all daily quests are “in your current restaurant.” It would be easier if it was “complete combos” in general, instead of ONLY your current restaurant. Otherwise I still really enjoy this game and continue to play. I kept seeing ads for this game and I thought it was the same old make food and deliver it to the customer sort of deal and if u gave the wrong item you lose a life, but it’s nothing like that!!! I got addicted right away. I love restaurant games and this kind of gives off a diner dash feel, but with story. My husband was mocking me how much I was playing, until he downloaded it and now he can’t stop playing it either!! I do wish there was a way to get more diamonds. I understand it’s free to play. I happened to spend money on a deal for a few diamonds, but when upgrading your stove/items is 20 diamonds each, you either have to choose between maxing out older restaurants or try to continue the story in hopes of more diamonds. Other than that, you can definitely play without spending a dime. It’s a great game!

BEWARE: Super Addictive!!
Tue Oct 13 2020 MuzicBabie

I absolutely love this game. I’m not the type to get addicted to games but since I’ve started this one, I have been completely engrossed. Now the only downfall is the rubies, and the time it takes to be able to request assistance especially when you have a guild quest that you need assistance to complete. I have spent so much money on buying rubies at some point during the game I think it would suffice to be able to trade old coins from old towns to rubies for new towns, as many rubies as it takes to upgrade items they will run out quick and you’ll need to still buy more so it’s not completely unreasonable. The old levels are not really played and the money won’t be needed because the items are all upgraded so it’s coins for no reason that I can’t use on any other level across the map. Think about it. Plus it would keep people playing more because they won’t lose levels for not having rubies to be able to upgrade which means they will be more apt to purchasing small amounts of rubies more often to be able to upgrade items. But besides that the game is absolutely amazing and you guys did an awesome job!! UPDATE: A year later and I still feel the same way!!! This game is a must. I put it down for about two months and picked it back up...and I’m once again all the way addicted!! You’ll love it!

Rubies
Fri Jul 05 2019 blackberrysyrup

This game is very enjoyable and I got addicted fast. Like many other games you have a usual coin currency and then a special ruby currency. You need rubies to upgrade ingredients and appliances which isn’t a problem at first because they are relatively easy to come by when you first start. Now it’s still possible to get rubies but it takes a lot of time (unless you’re willing to throw some money at the game) and the amount of rubies rewarded doesn’t feel worth the task given for the amount of time and levels you’d have to play to get them (like serving 1150 plates of one dish for 5 rubies). Also I don’t understand why the coin currency changed when you make it to the next map. Now I’m not using the original coins for anything but still collecting revenue from those restaurants. I suggest an option to be able to exchange coins for rubies, that way the coins don’t go to waste as I’m not using the ones from the first map and I’ve already gotten more than enough in the second one. The only thing I’m falling short on in this game is rubies which is frustrating when you need them for all of the upgrades, especially when the next restaurant requires more coins and rubies for upgrades. The amount of coins you earn increases but the rubies adversely become harder to obtain. At the least I would like if the ruby rewards were higher and/or the ruby requirements for upgrades were lowered.

i never write reviews, but…
Wed Aug 16 2023 Clara283

I have played this game on and off from when it first came out five years ago, and it’s one i always come back to. this is the first cooking game that i’ve found that you don’t HAVE to spend money after a certain point as long as you’re alright with waiting for upgrades (15 minutes, 4 hours, or 8 hours depending on the tier.) the only thing i’ve ever spent money on is the $5 monthly pass to get instant deliveries bc i’m impatient, but it’s totally doable without. it stays fresh because many of the restaurants are very different, the little story lines are cute, there’s constantly a lot of events going on to keep things interesting, there are lots of opportunities to earn the premium currency required for upgrades (events, achievements, daily quests, guild quests, story completions, leaderboard tiers) so if you stay in each restaurant long enough to earn the diamonds there, you will never have to buy currency. and if you find yourself short on the premium currency, you can go back to other restaurants and complete achievements, or if worst comes to worst, wait til tomorrow to do your daily quest and/or any new events to earn more. it’s a solid game, very fun, and it stays interesting. (and no, i’m not a bot and this isn’t a paid endorsement. this really is the best cooking game out there, and trust me, i’ve tried them all.)

Some Youtube Videos found!

News found!

Top 5 Cooking Games on Android in Latvia: Q2 2023 PerformanceTop 5 Cooking Games on Android in Latvia: Q2 2023 Performance

Discover the performance trends of the top 5 cooking games on Android in Latvia during Q2 2023, including weekly downloads and revenue patterns.

Sensor Tower Sat Nov 16 2024

PGC Digital: MyTona's Cooking Diary serves up more than 10 million downloadsPGC Digital: MyTona's Cooking Diary serves up more than 10 million downloads

Russian developer MyTona has revealed that its free-to-play title Cooking Diary: Restaurant Game has amassed more than 10 million downloads.

PocketGamer.biz Sun Aug 16 2020

Top 5 Cooking Games on Android in Malta Q4 2022Top 5 Cooking Games on Android in Malta Q4 2022

In Q4 2022, the top cooking games on Android in Malta showed varied performance, with some apps experiencing steady growth in revenue and downloads.

Sensor Tower Sat Nov 16 2024

Stranger Things is Coming to Cooking Diary. #StrangerThings #CookingDiary #NetflixStranger Things is Coming to Cooking Diary. #StrangerThings #CookingDiary #Netflix

A special Halloween update is coming to MYTONA's free-to-play mobile game, Cooking Diary, which will feature a collaboration with Netflix's hit original series...

techbuzzireland.com Wed Dec 16 2020

MyTona teams with Netflix to bring Stranger Things to Cooking DiariesMyTona teams with Netflix to bring Stranger Things to Cooking Diaries

Russian developer MyTona has partnered with Netflix to bring Stranger Things to its culinary management game Cooking Diary.

PocketGamer.biz Wed Dec 16 2020

Q4 2020 U.S. Android Market: Top Cooking Games PerformanceQ4 2020 U.S. Android Market: Top Cooking Games Performance

A glance at the top 5 cooking games for Android in the United States during Q4 2020, showcasing download and user engagement trends.

Sensor Tower Thu May 16 2024

Top 5 Cooking Games on Android in Nicaragua for Q3 2023Top 5 Cooking Games on Android in Nicaragua for Q3 2023

Discover the performance of the top 5 cooking games on Android in Nicaragua during Q3 2023, including trends in weekly downloads and revenue.

Sensor Tower Sat Nov 16 2024

Q4 2020 Roundup: Top Cooking Games on Android in BrazilQ4 2020 Roundup: Top Cooking Games on Android in Brazil

Sensor Tower's analysis reveals the performance of the leading Cooking Games on Android in Brazil for Q4 2020. Downloads and active users trends indicate...

Sensor Tower Thu May 16 2024

Top 5 Cooking Games Apps in Russia Q4 2023Top 5 Cooking Games Apps in Russia Q4 2023

Discover the performance trends of the top 5 cooking games apps in Russia for Q4 2023, including downloads, revenue, and weekly active users,...

Sensor Tower Mon Sep 16 2024

Cooking Diary gets new content update for EasterCooking Diary gets new content update for Easter

Mytona's Diner Dash-like Cooking Diary is getting a new event for Easter, but no bunnies are in sight.

Pocket Gamer Mon Jun 16 2025

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