Toriko wasn't exactly appealing when I saw it for the first time (back when it was just serialized). Ugly character design, weird anatomy, and a character combination that seems rather cliche, are just among some of the few things that didn't readers to check it out. While the first few chapters work well as an introduction to the world of the characters, it was weird in a way that you just don't know whether that would be a good or a bad thing.
As it turns out though, Toriko is WONDERFULLY weird.
I love food and I love fantasy comic that actually gives a sense of adventure to its world. Toriko has both of that. For a shounen series, Toriko's pacing is nicely fast. Just when I thought that it might turn into a 'menu of the week' manga, some new elements are introduced in, and that's the way it keeps working. As soon as you are familliar with some elements, something new will be introduced. While it sounds like a no-brainer to keep the readers interested by introducing new elements, it is harder said than done because an error in timing could easily have the readers bored or confused. In a span of 125 chapters, Toriko exercises this practice very well. Even though the story's structure is rather straight forward, I have to give points to the writer for knowing when to spice things up.
Another good thing about the story is the lack of the dread training session (if you have read Bleach or Naruto, you should have a VERY clear idea what I mean by that). Upon meeting the protagonist, Toriko is already good at what he does. He has been trained before the story began and he has a pretty good idea on how to do things. When things are getting tough, he is sufficient enough to learn through battles. Despite the fact that he seems like a brash man at first, Toriko has both the brain and the brawn. He is stubborn and good as any shounen protagonist should be, however, he is smart enough to know which battles he can't win and won't afraid to ask for help if he decides that he needs it. He is also able to show tough love by not getting in the way of other's battles although he would have ones he is responsible of. Toriko is nicely balanced out by Komatsu, a talented chef who aids Toriko in his foodie quest. Komatsu proves himself to be a (physically) weak character who doesn't drag the stronger protagonist down, which is something that I don't see that often in a 'tough-guy+weak-shrimp' shounen character combination.
While I remain the notion that I dislike the character design, I love how the monster looks. They are just so bizarre that you can't help but anticipate what would come next. Not mention that the writer is damn good at drawing delicious food and describe the taste, which probably means that he is a hardcore gourmet himself. I could get hungry from reading this series.
To summarize my long rambling: Toriko is a nicely paced shounen series with simple plot that doesn't try too hard to be anything other than what it is, but it does what it does very well. It also presents some characters with unique depth and fantastic monster design. If you love food manga, you will definitely get hungry reading this one, which might be kinda bad because you know that you won't ever get to eat anything quite like what is shown in the story.