Oishinbo - Vol. 9 Ch. 78 - His Pasta After 5 Years

[MangaDex]

 

[brndndss]

feels weird the guy who cheated original bet still won in the end, hopefully still has heart to heart with wife about everything

 

[Mugiwara325]

feels weird the guy who cheated original bet still won in the end, hopefully still has heart to heart with wife about everything

Yeah, I find this resolution to be unsatisfying, but I can see what Kariya is going for here.
This story is meant to be a tragic one. Kisaki had better technical skill, but the surprise pasta dish proved to him skill wasn't everything, shattering his belief that he knew what was right. Nobu wasn't happy with the outcome either, but he can't undo what he's done. He gets his 'happy ending', but at heavy cost to his personal moral fiber.

That last part at least is my interpretation to make the ending more palatable. The chapter itself doesn't really suggest that Nobu met any comeuppance.

 

[deenzfan12]

This Nobu guy is kinda scum and his final dish here just didn't sound very good. But generally speaking, if I'm being honest... I really like Asian renditions of Italian food better than actual Italian food!! I don't think it's insane for me to say that, though, since those renditions have modifications for the Asian palate in mind to begin with.