"Taste of Gourmet Food" Increasing...

"Taste of Gourmet Food" Increasing

After hanging up, the manager returned to the lobby and approached Zhen Xiaoqiu and the others, his smile even brighter.

"Thank you all for your hard work. My surname is Wang, and I'm the manager of Da Long Feng Restaurant."

"We at Da Long Feng Restaurant fully support the filming of this food program. Our boss just said that we'll send out our best chefs to prepare Da Long Feng's most distinctive dishes. Of course, all expenses will be covered by Da Long Feng."

"Please come to our Emperor's Private Room. First, let me introduce Da Long Feng Restaurant. We mainly serve Cantonese cuisine, but we've also incorporated dishes from other regional cuisines, such as Chaozhou cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, and so on."

As he led them into the building, the manager introduced Da Long Feng Restaurant. Before long, they arrived at the restaurant's most luxurious Emperor's Private Room. Its lavish decor truly made it seem like a palace.

"At Da Long Feng Restaurant, we specialize in preparing bird's nest, shark fin, and abalone. We cater to the high end and are strict—almost harsh—with every dish. Our chefs are all top masters from Hong Kong."

The cameras were set up and the lights switched on. There were three cameras in total, covering every angle.

Dish after dish was brought to the table. The cameramen snapped away at the food, following Jiang Hao's one requirement: make it look as beautiful as possible.

What they needed here was "stunning"!

A stunning opening would draw people in and lay the groundwork for the contrast to come.

The traditional serving order was "cold before hot, meat before vegetables, savory before sweet, refined before rustic." If abalone and shark fin were served at the same banquet, shark fin generally came first, with abalone following soon after.

Cold platters, soup, stir-fries, main dishes, vegetables, pastries, fried rice, and fruit. Once the vegetables were served, it meant all dishes had arrived.

Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken, slow-simmered soup, shark fin soup, honey-glazed char siu, gastrodia-stewed pig brain, lobster baked in superior broth, Official Grade Abalone, Coconut Sugar Bird's Nest.

Every dish was beautifully plated and smelled irresistible. Zhen Xiaoqiu and the other staff members could not help secretly swallowing, while estimating that this table of food had to cost at least tens of thousands.

A master chef wearing a tall chef's hat entered. Manager Wang hurriedly introduced him. "Everyone, this is Head Chef Dai of Da Long Feng Restaurant. Chef Dai will introduce these dishes to you."

Chef Dai gave the group a slight bow, a reserved smile on his face. But as his gaze swept over everyone at the table, he suddenly froze when he saw a familiar face.

Stephen Chow.

Jiang Hao had been following the filming crew the whole time, but he had not said a word and seemed almost invisible. No one had paid attention to him. Chef Dai had dealt with Stephen Chow before, which was why he recognized him at once.

Chef Dai pondered to himself. Why is he here? This is Boss Wu's restaurant. Boss Wu ruined Stephen Chow's food business. The two of them are definitely enemies. He probably didn't come here with good intentions.

But there were more pressing matters before him. Several cameras were aimed at him, leaving him no time to think further. After another slight bow, he said, "Everyone, please try the first dish, Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken. Since ancient times, people have said, 'No feast is complete without chicken.' Chicken sounds like 'good fortune,' and has always symbolized auspiciousness, warding off evil, and celebration. That is why our first dish is chicken."

"This dish uses premium tender chicken, prepared with cooked ham and served with vegetable hearts. In Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken, Jinhua refers to the ham, while Jade Tree refers to the vegetable hearts. The dish has rich colors—red, white, and green—blended in harmonious tones."

"Please, have a taste."

The food was portioned out. Jiang Hao picked up a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth. It was fresh, fragrant, tender, and wonderfully refreshing.

Delicious. Really good!

"Ding~~ Collected one portion of 'Taste of Gourmet Food.' Please keep up the good work, Collector."

Jiang Hao's heart stirred as a system display appeared before him. Checking the mission progress bar, he found that a sliver of green had appeared, with "1% complete" displayed beside it.

Jiang Hao was pleased, but he knew why he had come. He closed the display, set down his chopsticks, spat out a tiny chicken bone, and looked at Zhen Xiaoqiu. "This dish is indeed delicious. No feast is complete without chicken—Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken. A fine name with a fine meaning."

Manager Wang beamed at the praise and kept nodding at Jiang Hao. Head Chef Dai, on the other hand, could not stop the corner of his eye from twitching. He had the nagging feeling that trouble was coming.

I hope I'm wrong.

Unfortunately,

sometimes a person's instincts were remarkably accurate. The moment he finished that thought, Jiang Hao spoke again. "Unfortunately, I can only give it a failing grade. It's still far from a true Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken."

Manager Wang's smile froze as he looked at Jiang Hao.

Knowing it was time for her to play along, Zhen Xiaoqiu asked in a surprised tone, "I think it's very tasty. How can it still be a failing grade?"

With a gentle smile, Jiang Hao ignored Manager Wang's constipated expression and addressed the camera. "For Jinhua Jade Tree Chicken, the finest chicken should be a tender Wenchang hen. Wenchang Chicken is plump and thick-fleshed, but this is clearly not Wenchang Chicken."

"This chicken dish is supposed to be deboned." Jiang Hao pointed at the bone on the table, making his meaning obvious. The cameraman cooperatively filmed the tiny bone.

"Jinhua, Jinhua—naturally, it should use Jinhua ham. Don't tell me this is Jinhua ham." Jiang Hao picked up a slice of ham and waved it before the camera. The cameraman hurriedly recorded it, then turned the lens toward Chef Dai, whose expression had grown increasingly awkward.

Setting down the ham, Jiang Hao picked up the chicken head and chuckled. "Chicken head and phoenix tail—the chicken head is the most important part. Yet you used a carrot carving. You've completely ruined the symbolism of this dish. That's the biggest flaw."

"So, I give it a failing grade." Jiang Hao sat down after saying that.

Manager Wang's face turned ugly. He looked at Jiang Hao, then at Zhen Xiaoqiu. "Miss Zhen, who is this?"

Zhen Xiaoqiu smiled. "Manager Wang, he is the tasting guest host invited by our food program, responsible for scoring. After all, we're evaluating the top ten restaurants. We're all amateurs, so naturally we need an expert to lend us credibility."

Head Chef Dai leaned close to Manager Wang's ear and muttered a few words. Manager Wang froze, then looked at Jiang Hao with wariness and hostility in his eyes. He nodded and said quietly, "You handle things here. I'll go inform the boss."

Only then did he realize that something was suspicious about this matter.

Manager Wang turned and left the room. Jiang Hao knew exactly what he was going to do, but he was not afraid. Right now, he was merely freeloading on food and drink. Even if Boss Wu came, there was nothing he could do to him.

The filming continued.

"Let me introduce this dish, Fresh Crab Meat Braised Sea Tiger Fin. We use premium shark fin, which undergoes soaking, preparation, braising, and many other steps. The fin strands become translucent and tender, with a fresh, delicious flavor—chewy yet crisp, rich without being greasy."

"Please, have a taste."

Jiang Hao took a spoonful.

"Ding~~ Collected one portion of 'Taste of Gourmet Food.' Please keep up the good work, Collector."

The mission completion rate had risen to 2%.