Chapter 246 - The Restaurant’s not Big, but There are So Many Rules! (1/2)

“No name?”

“This…”

Wang Peng turned to look at Xue Zhebin and found that he looked just like the waitersmiling, but not saying anything. Wang Peng felt like he was being looked down upon. They were treating him like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

“That’s not right. How can this restaurant register without a name? Are you keeping the restaurant’s name a secret from customers as part of some kind of strategy?”

Wang Peng felt even more defeated. As one of the creators of Quanmin Reviews, he had gone to many restaurants and seen many unique ones, too.

However, this was his first time experiencing something as strange as this.

Normally, even low-key private kitchens would have names. Some would take their house number to be their names and come up with things like ‘Kitchen Number 45’ or ‘Restaurant Number 78’.

No matter how low-profile a restaurant tried to be, it had to have a name. Otherwise, nobody would know how to describe the restaurant they were eating at. That would be unnecessarily troublesome.

What’s more, not having a name would hinder the restaurant from becoming known and reputable. Unless the restaurant’s boss did not care about fame nor had extreme confidence in his own restaurant, he would not make this move.

Xue Zhebin saw the confusion in Wang Peng’s eyes and felt extremely content. A strange sense of superiority filled his heart.

“Stop thinking so much-just eat. The food’s getting cold,” rushed Xue Zhebin.

Wang Peng nodded. He would cast these questions aside for now. He whipped out his cell phone to take pictures.

The waiter was just about to tell Wang Peng not to, but Xue Zhebin spoke first. He pointed at the sign on the dining table and said, “You cannot take pictures.”

Wang Peng was confused. The private kitchen was not big, but there were so many rules!

Wang Peng had heard of restaurants not allowing pictures to be taken, but they were extremely rare. What’s more, most of them were overseas.

It felt almost inhumane for local restaurants not to allow their customers to take photos. It had almost become customary for people here to take photos of their food before eating. If they weren’t allowed to take photos, how could they show off to others?

They spent a ton of money on the food but were not allowed to take photos and show off to their friends. Wouldn’t that be as good as not coming here at all? Of course, they could not enforce a ‘no photographs’ rule. If a customer insisted on taking his cell phone out to snap a photograph, the waiter could not possibly destroy one’s phone. They could only remind one not to do so politely. If one insisted, there was nothing they could do.

Then again, it would already affect the customer’s dining experience to have a waiter walk up and remind them not to take photographs. Most waiters would not do something that stupid.

What’s more, if customers took more beautiful photographs of the delicious food, it might draw more people to the restaurant. It was akin to publicizing the restaurant for free. Why wouldn’t the restaurant want that?

Thus, from any angle, it seemed extremely outrageous that a restaurant would forbid customers from taking photographs.

Wang Peng was puzzled. “What’s the meaning of this? The food looks so good, but I’m not allowed to take photos? Isn’t that a waste?”

He looked at the food in front of him. Every single dish looked colorful and perfectly-presented. It physically hurt him not to be able to take photographs of them to show off to others.

The grin on Xue Zhebin spread even wider. Wang Peng’s confusion fed his sense of superiority. Thus, he decided to explain on the waiter’s behalf.

“This is the amazing thing about this restaurant. The restaurant’s boss thinks that taking photographs would distract one from the food’s taste.

“If you keep thinking about how to get the best angle and lighting, you would not be able to focus on enjoying the smells and tastes of the food in front of you. You would miss on out many details about the food. “Put your phone down. Only then would you be able to focus on talking to your friends and tasting the delicacies. You would enjoy a relaxing time over all.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I know you’re busy at work, but having a meal wouldn’t hinder your work too much. Keep your phone.”

Wang Peng still felt sorry, but Xue Zhebin had already spoken. He would be considered a wet blanket if he insisted on taking photographs of the food. Thus, Wang Peng kept his phone and dug in.

Tomahawk Steak, Matsutake, and caviar… these were not cheap. This meal alone cost over ten thousand yuan.

What’s more, Xue Zhebin had not ordered the most expensive dishes on the menu. His main intention was to check out if the dishes which needed to be pre-ordered would turn out to be a scam.

Wang Peng tried the dishes one by one, paying attention to the subtle flavors.

“Indeed, these are no ordinary dishes.”

As a manager of a consumer review site, Wang Peng had tasted many delicacies before. After all, this was all part of his job.

How a dish tasted depended on the ingredients used, the chef’s skills, the dining environment and atmosphere, and the diner’s mood. Among these, the most important was the ingredients used.

After trying each dish, Wang Peng could tell that the ingredients were high-quality and worth every cent.

Of course, these ingredients were not the best of the best. This was because many precious foreign ingredients were put up for auction in their place of origin. Only a limited number of such ingredients would be produced, and they could thus only be sent to a small number of surrounding areas. There was no way they could send such ingredients to China.

Still, it was obvious that this nameless restaurant was making use of the best kind of ingredients obtainable in China.

Xue Zhebin watched Wang Peng’s expression. “How’s the taste?”

As a rich second-generation heir, Xue Zhebin had eaten a lot of good food in his lifetime. He could distinguish good-quality food from bad-quality ones, but he was no professional. He was still a far cry from Wang Peng. Wang Peng nodded, satisfied. “Not bad. I think it’s even better than what we ate the last time.

“Take the caviar for example. Thirty percent of the caviar in the world is produced by our country. Of 26 three-Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, 21 of them serve premium caviar produced in China.