The Cosmic Chronicle

The Orbital Colossiumparel Tertia, usually lauded for its frenzied Hyperball Games and collective amnesia, has-since stardate 4422.268-housed an eatery for those made ravenous by protracted sport commentary. 'The Glazed Mycelium' promises intergalactic cuisine inspired by the culinary traditions of eighteen worlds, though most are made of gas or stone and nothing grows but the most persistent fungi.

Upon entry, guests are greeted by the scent of sweaty silicon and fried spore. The seating consists of floating pore modules, never quite in sync, making it impossible to put down roots. The menu is extensive, translated into thirty-eight idioms, though most dishes are just variations on a moist, slightly crackling blend of spores and gels-occasionally disrupted by a rogue tentacle or a too-vivid garnish.

The fermented drinks offer a rare highlight: the tap array holds shockingly inventive spirits, including a local mushroom ale that, while it might induce visions in some terrestrial types, left me only with a faint, wistful melancholy. Service-handled by a swarm of semi-autonomous microdrones-varies: dishes arrive in random order, and the kitchen’s experiments occasionally go a step too far. The overall atmosphere: mild awe tinged with gentle disappointment, much like the Hyperball finals where victory is always forgotten.