# Penguin Diner vs Cooking Dash™

Penguin Diner and Cooking Dash™ both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 72% of Penguin Diner's written reviews are positive against 33% of Cooking Dash™'s. Cooking Dash™'s advantage is ratings volume (112K vs 2.1K) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Penguin Diner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Cooking Dash™ sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Penguin Diner against 4.7 for Cooking Dash™. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cooking Dash™ has 112K ratings behind it against 2.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Penguin Diner's written reviews are positive against 33% of Cooking Dash™'s.

Penguin Diner ships an update every 3 months, Cooking Dash™ every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Penguin Diner | Cooking Dash™ |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (2.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penguin-diner-restaurant-dash/id962991930/reviews) | **[4.7 (112K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cooking-dash/id978866413/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K | **112K** |
| Positive reviews | **71.6% of reviews** | 32.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Every 5 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | **#156** |
| Size | 48 MB | 206 MB |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Bigwig Media](https://appshunter.io/developer/524288857) | [Glu Games LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/284419051) |

## What reviewers say

### Penguin Diner

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/penguin-diner-restaurant-dash/id962991930)

Manage a bustling restaurant and serve hungry penguin customers in this addictive idle game. Slide fast, take orders, and earn money to help Penny the penguin return home. Upgrade your skills and diners to become a dining legend.

**Highlights:** Penguin slide serving, Multiple diners to unlock, Restaurant upgrades, Challenging restaurant dash levels, Comic-style storyline, Auto-save progress

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Remove Ads | $4.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Nostalgic and fun
- 🚀 Engaging gameplay
- 💕 Cute penguin theme
- 🕰️ Relaxing time-killer

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Glitches and crashes
- 💰 Too many ads
- 🔍 Limited upgrade options
- 🕰️ Repetitive gameplay

**Reported bugs**

- Game freezes after completing a level
- Inability to pick up food from counter
- Progress getting reset after updates

**Requested features**

- More levels and challenges
- Ability to customize the diner
- Bring back original background music
- Reduce frequency of ads


### Cooking Dash™

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cooking-dash/id978866413)

**Currently charting:** #156 Top Grossing · Strategy (US App Store)

Experience fast-paced time management as you prepare, cook, and serve dishes in exotic restaurants. Earn profits, upgrade your kitchen, and become a celebrity chef. Compete in challenges and customize your character with outfits and pets.

**Highlights:** Fast-paced kitchen action, Prepare, cook, and serve dishes, Upgrade food and appliances, Collect outfits and pets, Compete in Series Finales and Trial of Style, Spin daily prize wheels

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Handful of Gold | $0.99 | one-time |
| Handful of Coins | $0.99 | one-time |
| Ticket Bundle Low | $1.99 | one-time |
| Handful of Gold | $2.99 | one-time |
| Handful of Coins | $2.99 | one-time |
| Starbucks Promo! | $4.99 | one-time |
| Stack of Coins | $4.99 | one-time |
| Bucket of Gold | $9.99 | one-time |
| Bucket of Coins | $9.99 | one-time |
| Case of Gold | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fun and addictive gameplay
- 👍 Variety of restaurants and recipes
- 🚀 Challenging levels and time management

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive to progress without spending money
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Difficult to earn enough gold/currency
- 📥 Issues with video ads and rewards not working

**Reported bugs**

- Game crashes when trying to play certain levels
- Rewards and progress not saving properly
- Inability to connect to Facebook to save progress

**Requested features**

- Bring back free gold from watching ads
- Reduce cost of upgrades and new restaurants
- Improve customer service and bug fixes


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Penguin Diner free?

Penguin Diner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Cooking Dash™ free?

Cooking Dash™ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Penguin Diner or Cooking Dash™?

Cooking Dash™ is rated higher. Penguin Diner averages 4.6 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings, while Cooking Dash™ averages 4.7 from 112K ratings.

### Do Penguin Diner or Cooking Dash™ have ads?

Both Penguin Diner and Cooking Dash™ show ads.

### Which is updated more often, Penguin Diner or Cooking Dash™?

Penguin Diner ships an update every 3 months, and Cooking Dash™ every 5 weeks. Most recently, Penguin Diner was updated on November 7, 2026 and Cooking Dash™ on November 9, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*