The restaurant half of DAVE THE DIVER: In the Jungle works nothing like Bancho Sushi. Instead of sliding left and right behind a counter, you are running across an isometric floor, juggling skewer timers, drink orders, and the occasional monkey stealing your plates. Bancho Grill is more chaotic and more rewarding, but only if you understand how the unlock chain works and what to prioritize once the doors open.
How do you unlock Bancho Grill?
Bancho Grill does not open through a menu or a purchase. It unlocks at the end of a Chapter 1 food chain that proves freshwater fish from Utara Lake can actually taste good.
The sequence runs like this: catch Tilapia from the lake, bring it back to Bancho, then collect Calamansi and Lemongrass to fix the muddy freshwater taste. Once Bancho serves that dish to the village chief and it lands, the restaurant system opens. Skip any step in that chain and the grill stays locked.
Bancho Grill unlocks in Chapter 1
How to build the Skewer Grill (Modest Grill)
Once Bancho Grill is open, the next big unlock is the Modest Grill, which lets customers order skewers. The route looks simple on paper but has two real blockers that catch players off guard.
After Bancho mentions that Utara ingredients suit skewers better, head to Peneb the carpenter. He needs 3 stones, but Dave cannot mine rocks yet because he has no pickaxe. That sends you to Perak the blacksmith, who needs 3 bamboo chunks before he can get his furnace going. Bring the bamboo, get the pickaxe, mine 3 stones around the village, return to Peneb, and craft the Modest Grill. Place it at Bancho Grill and skewer orders become available.
Modest Grill crafted for Bancho Grill
How do skewer orders work?
Skewers are the most hands-on part of Bancho Grill service. When a customer wants one, a yellow skewer bubble appears above their head. Move Dave to the Modest Grill, pick an available skewer ingredient, cook it until the green marker appears, then deliver it before it burns.
The ingredient you pick matters. Different ingredients sell for different Doni amounts, so once you have the timing down, start using better ingredients to push your nightly income. Early on, stick to common ingredients while you learn the rhythm.
Skewers should take priority over drink orders once they are already cooking. A burning skewer is a failed order. A slightly delayed drink is not.
What makes Bancho Grill different from Bancho Sushi?
The service floor is the biggest change. Bancho Sushi keeps Dave moving mostly left and right along a counter. Bancho Grill opens that up into a wider isometric space where you run between tables in multiple directions.
That extra movement creates new pressure points. Drink orders, skewer timers, monkey disruptions, and long walking routes all compete for your attention at the same time. Weak staff coverage hurts more here because a single slow path across the floor can cascade into missed orders.
Bancho Grill's open service floor
Managing monkeys, drinks, and service priority
Bancho Grill throws three competing problems at you during busy nights: skewers that can burn, drink orders that need quick handoffs, and monkeys that steal or disturb plates.
The safest priority order is: an active skewer near burning first, then stop any monkey disruption, then handle a drink handoff, then return to normal food delivery. Treating every order as equal priority is how nights fall apart.
Drinks are fast to complete and rarely cause direct failure on their own. Monkeys create a mess that slows everything downstream. A burning skewer is immediate lost income.
Doni, Artisan's Flame, and the results screen
At the end of each service, the results screen shows Doni income, Affinity progress with villagers, your restaurant rating trend, which dish performed best, and your Artisan's Flame total.
Doni is the currency that drives the jungle economy. Artisan's Flame is a separate resource used for recipe research and restaurant progression. Treat every service as a chance to earn both, and use the results screen to decide what to fix before the next night: stronger menu, more ingredients, a rating push, or staff training.
Unsold food on the results screen is a signal that your menu is too broad or that you are preparing dishes you cannot reliably supply.
How do you raise Bancho Grill Rating?
Rating has a visible checklist. One early rank screen shows Current Rank: Mouse-Deer with goals of Popularity 15/15 and Potential Customers 7/7. Complete both and the Rank Up button becomes available.
Ranking up is worth doing consistently because it unlocks new recipes. After one Mouse-Deer rank up, the recipe rewards include Sweet and Sour Gourami (46 Doni, quality 23), Stir-fried Spicy King Oyster Mushrooms (40 Doni, quality 20), Grilled Mud Carp with Herbs (46 Doni, quality 23), and Walking Catfish Tom Yum (45 Doni, quality 22). Those are meaningful menu upgrades that pay for themselves quickly.
For the full list of what unlocks at each stage, the Dave the Diver Into the Jungle recipe list covers every new dish including Artisan's Flame unlocks and VIP specials.
Who are the Bancho Grill staff members?
Bancho Grill has its own DLC staff pool with nine recruitable employees: Yasuto, Martin Tweed, Rover, Om Nom, Charlie Bonnet III, William Longbottom, Mita, Udo, and Sato. Each one unlocks through a specific sub mission or VIP mission rather than a simple hire screen.
Yasuto is the first staff member most players encounter. He joins after his UFO and mystery club side route, which is a good early example of how DLC staff work: finish a village story, and the character becomes available for the restaurant.
Udo is a photographer NPC tied to a village side route. Follow his questline if you are building out your staff roster. Sato is connected to the Marinca Bloom story thread.
When a side route ends with someone joining Bancho Grill, check their employee screen before assigning them. Stats and skills matter more than how they were unlocked.
To plan staff around villager relationships, the villager favorite gifts guide covers every character's preferred dish and the fastest ways to build Affinity.
The fan upgrade and how to use it
The fan upgrade speeds up cooking at the Modest Grill. It comes from a village route rather than a normal restaurant purchase, so you will not find it in a shop menu.
Once skewer orders start stacking up and slowing your nights, the fan becomes one of the better quality-of-life improvements available. Pair it with staff support in the kitchen and busy nights become noticeably more manageable.
Bonita's VIP route: The Taste of Fish
Bonita's VIP route is the first time Bancho Grill forces a specific ingredient plan on you. After service, Bonita complains about the fishy smell, and Bancho promises a dish from an aquatic creature that is not fish. The route points toward Black Caiman Crocodile Tail, Thai Chili, and Palm Sugar.
Black Caiman is not a casual catch. Before diving for the tail, check your Jungle Gun upgrades, oxygen, healing items, and ammo. Going in underprepared wastes the two-day window Bancho promises Bonita.
Thai Chili and Palm Sugar can be bought or obtained through the village ingredient route, so sort those out before the dive rather than after.
Bancho Grill troubleshooting
For a deeper look at every fish you can pull from Utara Lake to feed the grill, the complete In the Jungle fish guide covers all Utara Lake and Lakebed Sea species by depth zone. The full Dave the Diver guides collection has everything else you need for the DLC.