Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 421 This Wine ’Really Good

The waiter was explaining to him when a plump middle-aged man came over, "What is the matter, honored guest? Is there a problem?"

"No problem, I was just curious as to how your establishment doesn’t even have a menu," Chen Nuo said.

"What is this ’menu’?" The man glanced at the waiter.

"It seems to be a list of dishes. This honored guest was asking why our restaurant doesn’t have a menu. I couldn’t answer that, so now that you’re here, Shopkeeper, I’ll go to the kitchen," the waiter said and dashed off with the order slip.

Shopkeeper turned and offered Chen Nuo and Jin Zha an apologetic smile, "I am truly sorry, honored guests. You aren’t locals, are you? Around here it’s not common to have one, so we don’t really provide a menu, oh, a list of dishes."

Chen Nuo frowned, "This has nothing to do with whether I’m local or not. How can you run a restaurant without a menu? It makes ordering so troublesome."

"Ah, ordering dishes... Just say what you want to eat. Do you still need to look at a menu? What is normally written on it?" Shopkeeper asked.

Jin Zha looked towards Chen Nuo, "It’s like this when ordering dishes in the mortal world. Shopkeeper Chen, you don’t have to fuss over this."

"I’m not fussing," Chen Nuo said. "I’m merely making a suggestion."

"A suggestion, you say? Let’s hear it, I’m all ears," said Shopkeeper, realizing from their attire that both his guests were nobility.

Nobility’s suggestions were bound to be insightful, possibly places they often visited. He was eager to learn from them, and if it didn’t cost money, he too could pick up a thing or two. Then his establishment might just become the best in town.

"The menu lists the names of the dishes," Chen Nuo explained. "Although you cook, even the chef’s skills have limits. They can’t possibly introduce every dish the customers might want. With a menu, you can clearly write everything down."

"Additionally, if the customers can’t discern from your recommendations and end up tasting something they don’t like once the dish is served, it could hurt your reputation." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Shopkeeper nodded, sensing the logic in what was said. Often, customers were dissatisfied for this reason, and it was troubling indeed if they spoke poorly of their food to others.

They had suffered in silence, not knowing how to resolve the issue. If they encountered a bad-tempered customer who started cursing in the restaurant, neighbors might think the food was bad, directly affecting that month’s business.

"Honored guest, how exactly should this menu be written?" Shopkeeper humbly inquired, "Please tell me so I can serve you a few extra dishes later on."

"It’s easy to write," Chen Nuo said, and habitually knocked on the system for it to print, only to remember after calling out twice that the system was gone, and he felt a bit lost.

But he quickly adjusted himself, not wanting strangers to notice, "Shopkeeper, just bring me a piece of paper and a pen, and I’ll write it down for you."

"That would be wonderful, please wait here," Shopkeeper said and went to the counter to get paper and a pen to place in front of Chen Nuo. "Young master, here you are."

Chen Nuo took the pen and drafted a rough outline, dividing it into sections for vegetarian and meat dishes, as well as soups. After he finished writing, the menu instantly made sense.

"Wow, young master, having this menu written out is truly an eye-opener for me!" Shopkeeper accepted the menu, and looking at its contents, knew that outsiders always had a different take.

"The menu can be divided into meat dishes, vegetarian dishes, and soup categories, and you can also list your restaurant’s specialties at the very start. This way, customers can immediately see your specialties," Chen Nuo explained, then looked around the restaurant, "Your establishment isn’t that big, so you’re following a homestyle approach, right?"

"Ah?" Shopkeeper was a bit confused by what Chen Nuo meant.

Chen Nuo rephrased, "What I mean is, your restaurant isn’t very large, so the prices of your dishes must also be affordable, right?"

"Yes, my shop is the most affordable one in the whole town, and not just for people from other places, neighbors from the street also often come to eat here," said the Shopkeeper immediately upon hearing this.

If that was the case, Chen Nuo understood that this shop, if placed in modern times, would be considered a relatively large restaurant.

Chen Nuo then suggested, "Or you could directly write out the name of your shop’s signature dishes and hang it on the wall, perhaps with a few notes beside it. That way, it’s more clear, and customers can see at a glance what you offer when they come to eat."

The Shopkeeper looked around his own establishment, and with the walls bare, he realized that it was indeed a bit monotonous. The business had managed to survive up to now solely by building a good reputation.

"Then I thank you greatly, young master. I’ll have the kitchen add another soup to your meal," said the Shopkeeper.

After the Shopkeeper left, Jin Zha turned to Chen Nuo, "Truly worthy of being Shopkeeper Chen. I originally thought this was just an ordinary shop, but with your words, not only the Shopkeeper but I too have had an eye-opening moment."

Chen Nuo took a sip of tea, "It’s just some experience I’ve gathered from spending a lot of time at the shop. By the way, what kind of tea is this? It’s quite unusual."

Jin Zha also took a sip, "It’s nothing special, probably just poor quality tea. If you don’t like it, should I ask the waiter to bring you a jar of wine instead?"

Although Chen Nuo wasn’t picky, having lived in this world for so many years, he had never eaten outside before. Naturally, it couldn’t compare to what he had in his own shop, and the sudden contrast was a bit much for him, making him somewhat uncomfortable.

He wasn’t someone who could endure unpleasantness; nor did he intend to pretend he could stomach the tea. He just nodded in agreement.

"Waiter, bring us your best alcohol, remember, the very best!" Jin Zha shouted to the waiter.

"Alright, dear guest, please wait a moment, I’ll fetch the wine for you right away!"

The waiter smiled and went off to the kitchen. In no time, he came back holding a jug of wine and poured a small cup for each of them.

"This is the finest rice wine from our shop; a mere two taels of wine is produced from one jin of rice."

Jin Zha waved his hand dismissively at the waiter,"Alright, alright, you can go now."

"Okay then." The waiter placed the towel on his shoulder, "If you need anything else, just call for me, dear guests."

"Give it a try, the best wine they have here."

Jin Zha pushed the wine cup towards Chen Nuo, "Actually, this is my first time here too. The Mountain God can’t leave Mount Taihang for long, at most he just gets a craving and buys a couple of jars of wine."

"Although he’s my friend, I’ve never been to the town at the foot of the mountain, so I’m not sure what’s good here. Since he runs a restaurant, his taste is definitely different from mine. If there is anything you’re not used to, don’t hold it in."

"Don’t worry, I’m not someone who holds things in," Chen Nuo looked at the wine in his cup, "Is this really the best wine this shop has to offer?"

"Huh? It should be, I don’t think they would deceive us. What’s the matter?" Jin Zha also picked up his cup to look but didn’t notice anything unusual.

"The wine is so murky," Chen Nuo swirled the wine in his cup, then put the cup under his nose to smell it, "All the fragrance of wine has dissipated, leaving only the pungent smell of distilled alcohol."

Jin Zha took a sip from his cup, "Oh, come on, that’s good enough. They run a restaurant, not a liquor store. To have wine at this level is quite something. Don’t expect every wine to taste like your Peach Blossom Brew, not everyone is an Immortal."

Chen Nuo felt that maybe he was being too particular and said nothing more, lifting his cup to drink.