Chapter 148
After his little speech, the customer picked up his [Juicy Burger] and deliberately took a large bit out of it in front of them . As he chewed, he exclaimed, “Such delicious [Juicy Burger], I could eat it all my life and not get tired of it . Yummy!”
The air around the peanut gallery grew quiet, then, almost collectively, everyone immediately looked away from Bishop . Who, me? I don’t know this guy .
It was one thing to conduct espionage against a rival restaurant, but to be caught, and be caught saying unpleasant things by a customer of all things… the boss of this restaurant had not even said anything yet before said customer jumped out to defend the shop . To make things worse, it was a customer who had sampled the food from both restaurant, this kind of awful feeling… the others around him wince from association .
Bishop’s face turned a dark, awkward red . His signature dish, the crispy shallot pancake, was the number one snack food in Aden Square . Last year, it even made it to the 100 most delicious food in Aden Square, though it was at the bottom of the 100, it was still quite amazing for a snack food .
To have a customer say to his face, that his beloved signature snack was inferior to this [Juicy Burger], moreover, it was said in such disdainful tone, as though those two thing could not even be mentioned under the same breath… blood shot to his head, and he was very close to erupting .
“Hey, old man, we’re here to eat, not make trouble . Best restrain yourself . ” Miles whispered as he tugged at Bishop’s sleeve .
If a fight really occur, it would be bad for everyone . Though they were all business rivals, none of them had any intention of doing stupid things like sabotaging a fellow restaurateur . Things like making trouble in other people’s restaurant must be avoided at all cost .
Thankfully, Bishop was an old fox who had been in the business for a long time, several decades in fact, and knew the consequences of his actions . He breathed in deeply twice and nodded after a faint sigh . He managed to refrain himself .
As for the customer who spoke up just now, the remark was made off handedly, almost out of reflex in defence of Boss Mike . His attention was now completely upon the delicious [Juicy Burger] in his hand .
“Ahem, ahem, we’re just a bunch of old fogey gathering together for a chat and a meal . Since we didn’t want to eat at our own place, I thought it’d be a good idea to try out the food in this wonderfully family friendly place . ” Miles laughed heartily as he explained their presence to one of his regular customers . If he had known that he would encounter so many of his own regulars, he wouldn’t have come over .
“Welcome, may I take your order?” Abbé Mia had also noticed that this peanut gallery . She was a little guarded against these group of people, worried that they were here to make trouble . Still, she smiled at them and handed over a menu .
“Hss! Just one [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] cost 600 copper coins? A [Juicy Burger] is 300 copper coins? Hey, are you sure your menus are written correctly?” the old auntie looked at the menu with shock, her voice pitched higher as she glared at Abbé Mia . ”
“That’s right, ah . Why is it so expensive?” the rest also gathered around to look at the menu, unable to believe what they had heard .
600 copper coins could buy half a roasted suckling pig at the Flair Pub, Aden Square’s 6th most popular food . To think that this restaurant would actually charge 600 coins for this tiny portion of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] which probably had less than a handful of chopped meat .
To charge 300 copper for a single [Juicy Burger], compared to the 5 copper per crispy shallot pancakes, the heck, the price difference was certainly too amazing .
The most expensive dish this group of people could boast of was less than 200 coppers, and most of the dishes costing over 100 coppers were expensive due to quantity . Who would dare to sell a single plate of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] and a biscuit for hundreds of coppers? Normally customers would have smashed the shop’s signboard on the first day .
Isn’t this cheating?
Everyone looked at Abbé Mia, waiting to see if she would give them some satisfactory explanation, it’s entirely possible that this menu had been specially prepared to scared them off . You think you can scare us off so easily?
“Apologies, dear customers . There is no mistake in the menu . The prices on the menus are all the same . ” Abbé Mia explained with a smile, she had been asked this question so many times that answering it was second nature already, however, she still maintained a smile as she gave her explanations .
If customers felt the price was too high for them, they may leave quietly or, if they could afford it, stay and give the food a try .
Customers who tried their food inevitably turned into their regulars . Something that made Abbé Mia swelled with pride and respect for Boss Mike .
However, she was not sure what these owner chefs were here for, but if they were here to make trouble, she really wasn’t sure how to deal with them .
When it came to fighting, she could probably beat all of them up, however, if it came down a quarrel, she probably would not be able to do much about it .
“But, your prices…” the old auntie frowned, looking as though she had something else to say .
“Since the price is the same for everyone, I’ll have one [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] and one [Juicy Burger] . ” Andrew said directly, he cast another glance at the old auntie, “Madam Vergans, every restaurant is free to set their own price . The prices are all properly displayed and customers could choose to eat here or not . ”
“I’ll have one of each too . ” Bernice also nodded . She had no intention of quarrelling over the price . As Andrew had said, since so many people still came pouring into this shop to eat despite the price, this means that customers felt that food here was worth the price .
And these people here were not restaurant bosses intending to investigate the food here, Bernice cast her gaze around the dining hall, and settled her eyes on a Grey Temple mage who was currently engrossed with his [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] . It was unlikely that anyone could actually hire someone from the Grey Temple to lure in customers, moreover, from the decorations on his robes, this man’s magical ability was not low .
“I’ll have a [Juicy Burger] . ” Bishop said after a while, as he nodded to himself .
“I won’t be eating, I’ve had enough of it for today . ” the woman stomped her feet and left .
Everyone exchanged glances with each other helplessly, but there was really nothing they could do, so nobody said anything to stop her .
Madam Vergan’s restaurant business had worsen over the recent years . They heard that the woman’s tongue had suffered an injury and her sense of taste have declined a lot . Her famous mutton soup which made it to the top 50 of the most delicious food in Aden Square had never been the same for a long time . People have not been able to taste the mutton soup of their childhood for a long time .
Madam Vergan’s son and daughter-in-law had died from some illness a long time ago, the only family she had left was a useless grandson who was only interested in wasting his time outside . It was only after two years of nagging that she managed to pester this grandson of hers to help out in at the restaurant . However, it looked like he didn’t have much talent with cooking and the mutton soup he made seemed to taste worse and worse . In fact, nowadays only regular customers who visited the old lady out of pity would come for a bowl of soup now and then . Sometimes, if they were lucky, the soup would actually be quite good, unfortunately, customers who would finish an entire bowl of soup was getting rather rare .
Other people from the peanut gallery also started to make their orders .
“Alright, um, [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] tasted best when it’s just made, unfortunately we don’t have any seats open for now . Would it be alright if I serve the [Juicy Burgers] first?” Abbe Mia asked with a smile after noting down all their orders .
“No problem, we’ll wait . We’d like to sit together if possible . ” Bernice answered, the rest of them nodded . Since they were here to try the food, it made sense to sit and analyse the food together .
“Alright,” Abbe Mia nodded, before turning to make her way to the kitchen . Once she got into the kitchen she whispered, “Boss, do you think they’re here to make trouble?”