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Food plays a huge part in Final Fantasy XV.
Ignis is the chef. And whenever the team makes camp, he can cook up a bunch of dishes that he can learn in a variety of ways.
Each meal provides different boosts and buffs, with there being over 50 different recipes in all.
Which are the best, though?
And which are worth always having the ingredients on hand for?
Let’s take a look and get to cooking.
10. Kenny’s Secret Recipe
Kenny’s Secret Recipe is a dish that boosts strength by 400, and magic and vitality by 300.
A very simple but effective buff that’s sure to give you an edge.
This recipe can be learned fairly early in the game, too. Just as soon as you can access Lestallum proper.
And it only has two ingredients, with one of which being an easily-caught fish.
While not out of this world or as statistically spectacular as other entries on this list, Kenny’s Secret Recipe is super reliable – and a great dish that’s easy to make.
Keeping the ingredients on hand is a snap. And the buffs are well worth it, especially when just out and about exploring.
How to Obtain: Visit the Crow’s Nest at Old Lestallum and sample Kenny’s ‘Special’ Recipe. Ignis will adapt it as his own.
9. Feast of the Divine
The Zu is a tremendous bird that’s as big as a battleship, and has a recurring role in the Final Fantasy series.
In XV, the party confronts the beastly bird as a hunt on the Rock of Ravatogh.
Defeating it gives you a cut of its meat.
And with that meat, some fish, and some peas, you can create the Feast of the Divine.
This is a meal that lives up to the name.
It boosts max HP by 3000, provides 100% resistance to ice attacks, and gives complete immunity to almost every status effect.
Sure, getting the Zu Tender required for it might be a bit of a trick.
But the end result is well worth it.
This meal is the perfect treat for tired adventurers looking to get pumped for the next day’s travels.
How to Obtain: Originally exclusive to the Comrades multiplayer, this recipe is now part of Ignis’ default set.
8. Darkshells Marinières
What’s better than a big bowl of shellfish that has been cooked in a delicious broth?
Probably a lot of things, but these baked mollusks provide more than just a yummy way to pass the time.
They also give a big buff to techniques, which is something that not a lot of things, especially foods, do in the game.
The Darkshells give a meager +100 to strength, but also double the rate in which Noctis’ technique bar fills.
If you like firing off techs, this is for you.
The dish also doubles the rate at which teammates master their techniques, as well as making them all deal critical damage for as long as the food is active.
How to Obtain: Catch a Cleigne Darkshell from one of the fishing spots on the Caem coast and Ignis’ will invent the dish.
7. Longwythe’s Peak
Sometimes you just need a lot of strength.
I’m talking enough power to make even a giant mountain-sized tortoise tremble in fear.
A situation like this calls for a meal of Longwythe’s Peak.
Strange name? You bet!
Delicious? You. Bet.
The Peak is made from Adamantoise Meat, which can be obtained through defeating the beast of the same name.
Add some ginger and Ignis will cook up a plate of protein that boosts strength by a whopping 600, as well as gives an extra 4000 HP and 300% more HP recovery speed.
If you too want to become an immovable force, this is the meal for you.
How to Obtain: Find and read Oric’s Culinary Chronicle in the post-game, just west of the Three Valleys rest stop.
6. Golden Tail Soup
The simplicity of a dish can be quite deceiving.
The Golden Tail Soup may not look like much more than an appetizing bowl of broth, but it provides one of the best buffs in the game.
Sure, it also gives a moderately decent boost to HP recovery (+150%).
But the real star of the show is the other boost it provides.
Clairvoyance is a buff that makes every attack a critical hit, full stop.
This means you’ll be just about doubling your damage output.
Combine this with fast weapons like daggers or abilities like Prompto’s Trigger Happy, and you’ll be seeing beautiful strings of golden numbers. It’s quite pleasing.
How to Obtain: Ignis learns this recipe once he reaches level 10 cooking.
5. Grilled Mighty Barramundi
These grilled fish don’t provide any boosts to your stats…
Wait, don’t go!
What they lack in terms of pure numbers, they make up for with sheer utility.
This dish has two ingredients: a Mighty Barramundi (which is a fish you can easily catch), and a bit of ginger.
It’s another meal that’s easy to always have at the ready and with what it offers, you’ll be glad of it.
The Grilled Mighty Barramundi makes the consumer immune to not only to fire, ice, and lighting elemental damage, but also to every negative status effect (except instant death, but let’s not ask too much).
If you’re on the hunt for a Marlboro or diving through a dungeon, this dish is the perfect choice to eat before you go.
How to Obtain: Catch a Mighty Barramundi at the Vesperpool fishing spot.
4. Mother & Child Rice Bowl
You see, the ‘mother’ refers to the chicken in the dish and the ‘child’ refers to the egg that it’s cooked in.
Then it’s served over rice in a bowl.
Sounds good right? Maybe a bit cruel, but don’t think about that!
Instead, think about how perfect this dish is for just about every occasion.
The Mother & Child Rice Bowl gives a 1000 HP boost as well as a respectable +30% boost to experience gains, and a +50% boost to item drop rates.
Even better, you can buy all the ingredients for dirt cheap in Lestallum. So this dish should always be ready to make.
You’ll be amazed at the difference in both your experience and item stock after just one day of travels with this in your belly.
How to Obtain: Go to the Lookout in Lestallum and watch a woman eat this dish and Ignis will learn it.
3. Royal Banquet Canapé
A canapé is usually an appetizer served at parties.
While it’s odd to see such a small thing passed off as a full meal, once you see the benefits, I don’t think you’ll mind.
These little bits of bread and caviar provide one of the strongest stat buffs in the game (though also the most expensive).
The RBC gives a tremendous +75% boost to both strength and magic, as well as a +50% to experience gain.
That 75% buff is enough to eclipse most other buffs – and can make your team true daemons themselves.
Is it worth the high price? Of course!
How to Obtain: Learn the recipe by eating the Fine Caviar Canapé at Maagho in Altissia.
2. Lasagna al Forno
This stack of pasta, meat, sauce, and veggies is not only super appetizing, but also a great stacks of buffs to help you and the party along.
This dish is well-known for being one of the best to use to tackle the deepest depths of the post-game Menace dungeons, which are among the hardest.
The lasagna gives a huge 4000 max HP boost, as well as provides perfect immunity to all elements (fire, ice and lighting).
It also doubles experience gain!
The hit points and elemental buffs together make the party very hard to take down.
Putting the dish together isn’t hard, either. So this is a great plate of pasta for all your needs.
How to Obtain: Ignis learns it naturally at cooking level 9.
1. Scientia-Style Sushi
Do you like sushi?
It’s a dish that typically only consists of one or two ingredients. And in FFXV it’s no different.
Getting the correct fish to make it can be an arduous task, but it is well worth it.
Especially if you’re going after the endgame superbosses like Omega.
The Scientia-Style Sushi gives the same crazy high +75% boost to strength and magic, as the aforementioned Canape does, as well as the experience boost.
But it also gives Clairvoyance – which makes all attacks critical hits and infinite stamina, so you can run as much as you want.
This dish is just as legendary as the fish that makes it.
How to Obtain: Take the quest ‘A Second Sea God’ in Altissia and go land yourself a Bluefin Tuna. Ignis will create the recipe from it.
Brian knows more about RPGs than he does world history. Combine with his love of writing and you get somebody who can, and will, go on forever about every nuance of every game he's played.
