Chapter 939: 939

At this moment, the person beside Yu Chu spoke,” Mr . Yu has indeed prepared amply . ”

The sous-chef of Palace Cuisine was the one seated beside Yu Chu . He was dressed in traditional Tang attire . Due to him being a quiet person, he did not attract much attention .

“We have to be strict when it concerns data,” Yu Chu said with a nod .

As they chatted, the first dish was served .

Since the appetizer was already on the table when they arrived, the first dish served to them was one of the Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine’s signature dishes: Dry Roasted Carp .

The Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine was very brave in terms of ingredient usage, and their main ingredients frequently undergo change . Moreover, they also possessed the characteristics unique to Jiangsu Cuisine and Shanghai Cuisine where the dishes were cooked with a rich amount of oil and sauce .

Since the Dry Roasted Carp was served for the exemplary restaurant competition, it was not spicy at all . A fleshy carp rested on the fish-shaped plate, and on top of it, green peppers and garlic slices were sprinkled everywhere .

An outline of chili oil surrounded the fish, most likely having flowed down there when the sauce was poured onto the fish .

“Please enjoy your meal,” said the waitress before leaving .

“Chairman Zhou, you first,” said Hu Yue .

“Sure,” Zhou Shijie reached toward the fish’s belly with his chopsticks .

After Zhou Shijie picked up a piece of meat, the others joined in as well .

After eating only one mouthful of the fish, Yu Chu started writing in his notebook .

“The fish tastes decent . It’s not spicy, and has a nice aroma of something that has been deep-fried on it . Yet inside the skin, the meat is tender and soft,” Hu Yue remarked .

Although Hu Yue was praising the dish, he stopped eating after that .

“Um, not bad indeed . But the Dry Roasted Carp is a dish that should be mildly spicy . With this rendition being not spicy at all, it felt like a Braised Fish instead,” Lee Yanyi went straight to the point .

They ate even lesser than when they went to Zhi Yuan . The reason for that was very simple . When they went to Yuan Zhou’s place, they were served the Chongqing School’s Sichuan Cuisine as well .

If it was any other cuisine, it was fine . But since this restaurant served Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine as well, they could not avoid comparing the two . And after a comparison, none had the mood to eat more after the initial tasting .

But since there were a lot of them there, the fish was still nearly finished by the time each took a mouthful of it . Thus, the situation did not look too awkward .

“The next dish is probably Boiled Beef . It’s the signature of this restaurant . I heard the beef of this restaurant is very tender . The second dish should be good,” Hu Yue said .

“Um,” Zhou Shijie nodded with a strict expression .

As for Hu Yue, despite what he said, he was, in fact, not feeling hopeful for the second dish at all . After all, they had just eaten Yuan Zhou’s Boiled Meat Slices a few days ago .

But since they were filming a show, he had to be more kind with his words . As a chief editor, Hu Yue was well aware of how to conduct himself on a show .

“The second dish, Boiled Beef . Please enjoy your meal,” right this moment, the waitress came with the second dish .

“Place it there,” said Lee Yanyi as he pointed at the middle of the table .

“Ok . The head chef also reminded me that I need to light this dish up . May I?” asked the waitress politely after placing the dish down .

“Sure,” Zhou Shijie answered .

“Alright . I’ll get started,” said the waitress . She then took out a delicate matchbox . After striking a match, she waved it above the dish .

Whoosh . The soup in the bowl was immediately ignited .

“When it stops burning, you may start eating,” said the waitress as she slowly left the room .

“Excessive showing off,” Lee Yanyi frowned .

“It’s refreshing and brave, also an embodiment of the Chongqing School of Sichuan Cuisine’s spirit,” said Zhang Yan .

“We will only know the taste after eating it,” said Hu Yue .

After about 10 seconds, the fire extinguished by itself . At this time, a fragrant and spicy smell wafted into their noses, instantly stimulating their appetite .

Again, Yu Chu started writing in his notebook .

“It looks spicy,” Lee Yanyi said with a satisfied nod .

Even Hu Yue’s heart was filled with expectation now .

“For some reason, I keep wanting to eat something spicy the past few days . I won’t be holding back, then,” said Hu Yue the moment Zhou Shijie took a piece off the dish .

“True . I have been eating spicy food for the past few days,” Lee Yanyi said .

“Haha, I share the same thought,” said Zhou Shijie as he nodded . He then stuffed the beef into his mouth .

“Um?” Zhou Shijie frowned slightly before the frown quickly disappeared .

“It doesn’t seem to be spicy?” Hu Yue asked doubtfully after eating the first piece .

That’s right . This Boiled Beef smelled fragrant and spicy yet when eaten, it gave off a slight sweetness instead and wasn’t the least bit spicy .

At this time, Yu Chu had finished his piece as well and he wrote in his notebook again .

Yu Chu would write in his notebook three times per dish he ate . Fortunately, he did not spend a long time writing and thus it did not affect his eating .

He wrote while eating for each of the three dishes served .

And seeing how serious Yu Chu was, the crew-cut guy decided to focus the camera on Yu Chu’s notebook .

“There,” said the crew-cut guy towards the cameraman while pointing at the notebook .

“Um,” the cameraman nodded and pushed the camera towards Yu Chu, preparing to focus on the notebook .

Soon, the crew-cut guy saw the scene filmed by the camera and immediately regretted his decision .

“What in the world is this?” asked the crew-cut guy as he stared at the screen in astonishment .

The astonishment was understandable as within Yu Chu’s notebook were his opinions and evaluations .

The format in which Yu Chu wrote was very formal, as if this was an official report for his job .

Appearance: The warm yellow color of the lounge overwhelmed one’s visual senses, affecting one’s appetite . The layout of the restaurant was unreasonable, and the shape of the VIP room was off . The environment would affect one’s appetite when eating . Compared to the neat and smooth layout of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, this restaurant is rated 0 . 1 Yuan .

First dish, Dry Roasted Carp: The carp was arranged improperly, looking like a dead fish . This reduced the appetite of any would-be diners . In terms of appearance, it was much worse than Boss Yuan’s dishes . The spiciness was removed through black beans and it was very underwhelming . I can only rate this dish as 0 . 2 Yuan .

Second dish, Boiled Beef: The fire performance was pointless, affecting the texture of the meat . The flame failed to increase the enjoyment of the dish, and the dish smelled spicy yet was not spicy at all when eaten . The authenticity of Boiled Beef was lost . 0 . 15 Yuan .

Third dish, Beer Braised Duck: The aroma of the beer was too strong, while the original flavor of the duck was nowhere . Like the second dish, it was not spicy at all . 0 . 2 Yuan .

Overall rating: 0 . 4 Yuan

A rating was given for each dish . In fact, even the snacks and tea were rated as well . But the crew-cut guy no longer had the mood to look at those .

The reviews written by this guy was too weird . This guy was even harder to deal with than the guy from the other day .

“I’ll overlook the poor review for now, but what does Yuan mean? Did he get the wrong word?” wondered the crew-cut guy gloomily .

“Move the camera away, quick,” the crew-cut guy quickly signaled the cameraman .

From the reviews in the notebook, one would think that this was a terrible restaurant .

By the time they put the camera away, the appraisal team was preparing to leave as well . Leaving after eating had always been their style .

When it was time to give his opinions, Yu Chu did not give them the ratings with Yuan as the unit of measurement . Rather, he spoke like a normal person and told them how he felt . He remarked that the food there was sufficient to make one full and did not say anything else .

Listening to Yu Chu’s comment, the crew-cut guy couldn’t help but recall the weird rating system using Yuan in his notebook .

After they were done grading the final restaurant, the exemplary restaurant competition reached an end as well .

Just like that, the 10 days exemplary restaurant competition organized by the government ended . The result would be announced three days later .

Naturally, this was announced in the final video posted . Of course, the notebook was edited out of the video . With that, an uproar was avoided .