pertwk Chapter 504 - 416: Buffet Secrets—Only Go for the Expensive Dishes
Chapter 504 - 416: Buffet Secrets—Only Go for the Expensive Dishes
"Is this... a food blogger?"
"You mean, the sandwiches were bought from this shop?"
The three women leaned in curiously for a few glances, thinking it was a store exploration blogger who travels everywhere eating delicious food, but surprisingly found a personal bio and address written beneath the homepage.
"Dieppe Radisson Hotel?"
Seeing this line of text, the three exchanged glances.
Bought the sandwiches from so far away?
"Thanks, let me follow this blogger first."
"I’ll follow them too."
"Looks like the food they sell is quite tasty. Is it Asian cuisine?"
Lin nodded, seeing the three had already found the account, she quickly pulled her phone back, trying hard to prevent it from being snatched.
Seeing this, the women waved their hands indifferently, casually greeted them, and then turned to leave.
Knowing this black girl didn’t have many friends, they didn’t expect her to be so reclusive, unwilling to say even a word, eyeing them like a thief.
Really boring.
Getting a job here means going through rigorous screening, people with character issues can’t get in at all. There’s absolutely no need to worry about anything happening, it’s even safer than walking on the street.
But Lin just wouldn’t trust anyone, only her old buddy Daniel.
After the three left, the whole workshop was empty except for Lin.
She let out a sigh of relief, increased her phone’s volume by two notches, and started watching those food videos.
Noodles flying in the air, fat oysters sizzling with oil, a wide array of ingredients selectable for spicy hot pot, golden crispy fried chicken fillets...
"Gulp"
A clear sound of swallowing echoed in the silent factory.
...
"Is this what foreigners usually eat at upscale buffets?"
Seeing the serving ovens filled with various roasted meats, the eyes of Great Xia tourists lit up, rushing over with two plates in hand each, looking like they would move the entire restaurant.
These tourists aren’t very old, mostly in their twenties to early thirties, the age when their appetite is best.
"Roast chicken wings? They don’t look like Orléans style, just to be safe let’s take one to taste first, and a drumstick too."
"Guide! What are these flavors? Translate it, can’t understand!"
"Honey roasted pork ribs? Sounds nice, let’s try a couple of those."
"What did you say? Most of them are plain roasted meats, just a little bit of salt? Oh, you eat them with these sauces on the side, which is the black pepper sauce?"
"No black pepper sauce????"
"What’s this? Tartar sauce? And this one? White sauce? Creamy flavor?"
"What’s this orange-red sauce? Spicy and sour? It shouldn’t be the kind of spicy and sour I’m imagining, right?"
The guide wiped the sweat from his forehead, nearly driven crazy by these demanding guests.
It’s just a meal, do they need to ask about every little detail so thoroughly?
Just take a little of each to taste, isn’t that enough?
Find what’s tasty, grab more later; don’t take what’s not tasty, simple enough isn’t it?
Although he could speak Chinese, he was a local born and raised here, not very familiar with those things from back home, only encountered on the internet.
Especially in the years since he started being a guide, his knowledge has gradually accumulated.
He’s quite aware that Great Xia people like black pepper sauce. Unfortunately, that stuff is simply not available here, at most similar sauces might be present.
Just today he didn’t see it.
The head chef’s pairing surely has his own reasoning, what’s the point in questioning?
Although he thought this, outwardly he still had to welcome them with a smile, patiently explaining to everyone what each sauce is, roughly what taste, and which meat they complement.
These Asian-faced diners had already caught Lucinda’s attention; since they’ve only just entered, they don’t yet need her to clear plates, just adapt by standing nearby the serving area.
Seeing these diners linger in the roast section for quite some time, ultimately focusing mainly on pork ribs and rib-eye, she twitched her lips, getting an inexplicable foreboding feeling.
Though today marked the first day of the roast buffet, it certainly didn’t mean she was clueless about normal diners’ dining patterns.
Customarily, roasted chicken wings ought to be one of the most popular dishes, followed by roasted chicken or honey glaze pork ribs like these cuts.
A typical diner’s meal sequence should start with a plate of salad to open the appetite, then some pre-meal soup and appetizers, before entering the meaty segment.
Take a little of each to try, finally fill up a half or full plate of favorite meats, then shift to the dessert phase.
After dining at countless buffet restaurants, this was the conclusion she reached.
If not universally true, then at least ninety percent of diners adhere to this routine.
But these Great Xia people simply won’t play by the rules; they didn’t even glance at the salads and soups, charging straight to the roast section.
They didn’t take wings, or drumsticks, just the hefty chunks of meat.
Could it be that Great Xia’s eating habits are opposite to Westerners?
Eat meat first, then vegetables and soup?
She didn’t quite get it but thought it presented a great chance to observe dining traits from other countries, so she quietly stayed where she was, eyes continuously tracking their movements.
After watching for a while, she perceived that these Great Xia tourists broadly fell into two habit groups.
The first type is relatively normal; they take a little of each meat to taste. Some impatient ones even eat while they take, trying the flavor directly onsite, then pick their favorites and carry a full plate back to their seats.
The other type is what she saw earlier, directly skipping the small portions of meat and only picking the large chunks.
Left hand holding a plate filled with two or three pork ribs, the right hand holding a plate filled with roasted beef, piled like small mountains, they walk back with smiles on their faces.
As soon as all the guests have gotten their meals, Lucinda quickly goes over to count the number of dishes left.
Upon seeing this, she is left speechless.
The roasting dish originally filled to the brim with meat is normally enough for over thirty people to take a round.
But now just over ten guests completely emptied it??
"Jonathan, Jonathan!"
She quickly picks up the walkie-talkie at her waist: "Restock the pork ribs! Restock the roast beef chuck! Immediately!"
"Huh??"
Jonathan on the other end of the walkie-talkie is dumbfounded, subconsciously glancing at the clock on the wall.
It’s only been ten minutes since the service started, how is it time for restock already??
Based on previous experiences, guests would enter, register, then find a seat, follow with salad, appetizers, soups, before reaching the meat.
Even with a few impatient diners, the first round of restocking usually happens around half an hour after the start.
He scratches his head and replies with an okay, quickly retrieving two packs of tightly foil-wrapped meat from the oven.
Once unwrapped, there’s a thick layer of greaseproof paper inside, which needs to be torn open to reveal the tender roast meat hidden within.
As the greaseproof paper is torn open, a burst of steam rushes out, carrying a rich aroma throughout the kitchen.
"Sss... Ah!"
"Smells so good~"
Jonathan takes a deep breath, immersed, carefully cradles the meat, tilting it slightly to let thick juices flow from the greaseproof paper.
Western cuisine emphasizes not wasting anything, making full use of resources; these meat juices will eventually be made into a delicious sauce to accompany the roast meat.
Soon, he pushes a cart out of the kitchen, and on the top tier are two trays of sliced roast meat.
Jonathan briskly walks toward the roast meat area, observing meat consumption along the way.
"Barely touched the roast chicken?"
"Chicken wings and drumsticks down by a third, speed aligns with expectations."
"Strange, why have the pork ribs and roast beef been consumed so much?"
Along the way, most dishes haven’t been depleted much, but two roasting trays are empty except for a little remaining meat juice.
He removes the trays, pours out the juice, and carefully places the prepped meat piece by piece to reconstruct them back to whole slabs.
Jonathan has just placed the meat down, pushing the cart to the neighboring tray, ready to remove the inner tray, when his peripheral vision catches sight of two figures already standing where he just was.
"?"
With confusion, he turns his head and sees two slightly lean men smiling widely as they pile the freshly placed pork ribs onto their plates.
One rib, two, three.
These pork ribs are roasted whole, not cut short, and each bone length nearly matches that of an adult woman’s forearm.
Jonathan’s eyes bulge, his mouth slightly ajar, filled with disbelief.
These people eat so much?
Though the meat on the pork ribs isn’t as thick as the three or four fingers’ width on beef ribs, there’s still about one finger’s width.
A whole rib could nearly fill up a woman, and two or three ribs would definitely satisfy a man.
Evidently, these two aren’t just arrived diners, they probably already ate one round and came back with specific goals.
Eating this much in a second round is usually something the 1.8 to 1.9-meter tall burly men can manage.
Jonathan can’t quite picture these two, seemingly about 1.7 meters tall and lean, with the appetites of such sturdy men.
Despite his shock, he feels a bit proud.
Doesn’t this indicate that guests find his culinary skills exceptional, hence they take so much?
Just as these two diners carrying their pork rib mountains leave, several more diners approach from the same direction.
With clear intentions, they grab new plates and head straight to the pork ribs. The new lamb chops next door aren’t spared either, instantly depleting a large portion.
While Jonathan is stupefied, three people stop by him, their gazes moving between the empty tray and the full tray of roast meat on his cart.
"Hello?"
"Ah? Oh, oh, right away!"
Jonathan snaps back to awareness, hurriedly plating the whole roast beef chuck beside him.
Just as the meat is placed, tongs reach over, taking full plates at a time.
His mouth twitches; finally, he understands why today’s meat is being consumed so rapidly.
As he pushes the cart back, he’s still secretly observing those diners.
"Yellow-skinned, Asian?"
"Their accent sounds a bit like that of the two chefs Lin recently hired—is it possible they’re from Great Xia? Visiting tourists?"
"Do Great Xia People love roast meat this much?"