"Comrade Chen, what kind of pot shall we have?" the young woman looked at the menu and asked her husband.
Such serious address is also a feature of the times. You can't call them husband and wife, or wife and son, because those addresses are not serious. In the past few years, the management was strict, and people might even be accused of being a hooligan. Everyone was still scared. Anyway, the wife and husband are colleagues in marriage, so they just call each other xx comrade in public. Now this habit has not been changed.
"What kind of pot?"
The man calmed the noisy child and took some time to ask.
"There are so many choices." The woman looked at the menu and was more surprised the more she looked: "Spicy hot pot, mushroom hot pot, fresh pepper fish hot pot, tomato hot pot, lamb hot pot, old duck hot pot, curry hot pot..." She read out a long list of names, and the man could hardly remember them all.
The price of a meaty pot is 2 yuan, and a vegetarian pot is 1 yuan.
"Comrade, let me get you another menu."
Seeing this, the waiter quickly brought another menu and handed it to the man.
"This store has quite a variety of pots, some of which I've never heard of." The man looked at the long menu and sighed.
"There are so many pots, which one should we order?" The woman was suddenly confused and wanted to eat all of them.
"We have double-flavor hotpots here. Two comrades can choose between two soup bases." The young waiter reminded.
"Then we'll have a spicy hotpot and a duck soup." The woman thought for a moment, ordered two pots, and looked at her husband: "Eating something spicy in the winter will warm you up. The child is still young, so we'll have the duck soup."
The man had no objection and nodded.
"There are many dishes here, what do you want to eat?" After ordering the base of the pot, the waiter notified the kitchen to prepare it, and the family began to look at the hot pot dishes again.
"Meat dishes are 1.80 yuan, and vegetarian dishes are 60 yuan. The prices are not cheap." The woman muttered a few words, but when she looked at the surrounding environment, she felt that it was good value for money.
Jiang Yilu paid attention to the interior decoration at the beginning, and he grasped the public psychology.
"Isn't it half price today? At worst we won't come next time if it doesn't taste good." The man said with a smile. Eating out is always more expensive than cooking at home, otherwise how would the boss make money by opening a store.
"Give me a plate of mutton, a plate of pork, a plate of cabbage, and a plate of bean curd..." The woman ordered seven or eight dishes, and the man ordered a few more. He stopped only when he felt that the four people had eaten enough.
"Okay, what condiments and drinks would you like? The condiments are free. The drinks include Coke, Sprite, plum juice, and coconut milk. The wine list is on the back of the menu."
The waiter wrote down their orders and asked again.
"The seasoning is free." The woman suddenly felt a lot happier and looked at the seasoning list pointed by the waiter.
"Shacha sauce, mushroom sauce, seafood sauce, peanut butter, sesame sauce, garlic sauce..." Like the soup base, there are still many women who have not tried them. She ordered the garlic sauce, which is the safest choice, and ordered a sesame sauce for her son and daughter. As for the man, he has a heavier taste, so he ordered a pepper sauce.
"No need for drinks. Do you have tea?" the woman asked after placing the order.
"Yes, our tea is also free." The waiter's attitude remained unchanged and he answered patiently.
"Then bring me a pot of boiling water." The woman answered without thinking, drinking water is so good and healthy.
"No, I want to drink Coke, I want to drink Coke." The little bully was unhappy enough that he didn't get to eat what Lao Mo wanted. Now his mother wouldn't let him drink the beverage, and he slammed the table and wanted to rebel.
"The Coke in this store is 10 cents more expensive than outside." The woman felt a little sad, but she thought that Lao Mo had been wronged by not letting her son eat it, so she could only grit her teeth and agree. Since her son bought it, her daughter couldn't be partial to one and ordered another bottle of Coke and a bottle of coconut milk.
"The total cost of this meal is fourteen dollars and sixty dollars, which is seven dollars and thirty dollars at half price. This is much cheaper than eating at Lao Mo." While the waiter was away, the woman took out the small notebook she used to keep accounts at home, calculated the dishes they had just ordered in her mind, and a hint of joy appeared in her eyes.
"The family is not short of that little money."
The man looked at his wife who had gotten a great deal and smiled dotingly. Although his wife was quite mercenary, it was also for the sake of this small family. He was so lucky to marry such a virtuous wife.
"That's how you men are." The woman muttered a few words and started to record the accounts in her account book.
The waiting time for the hot pot was very short, after all, the ingredients were all available and the base of the hot pot was prepared in advance. Not long after, several neatly dressed waiters came over with the pot and hot pot dishes.
"This is a free side dish provided by the store, hot and sour cabbage, pickled radish and spiced dried tofu." The waiter brought three small side dishes to the table, giving the woman a small surprise. Although it was not a valuable thing, it was always happier to have something free, especially in this era of material scarcity.
"This restaurant is really good. The seasoning is free and they also give you free side dishes."
The woman praised him a few words and gave some dried tofu to her husband and child.
"It's delicious, mom, I want more."
The little fat boy ate a piece of dried tofu, and his eyes immediately opened wide. His little mouth kept chewing, and his little hand wanted to reach for the pile of side dishes.
"I want one too." The little girl, who had never spoken, shouted in a sweet and soft voice.
The woman was curious. Her two children were a bit picky and had never liked anything so much. Could there be some secret behind this free side dish?
After giving each of the two children another piece with their chopsticks, the woman couldn't help but eat a piece. As soon as it entered her mouth, the salty and fragrant tofu captured the woman's heart.
Dried tofu is delicious, so delicious; kimchi is delicious, so delicious; even the most ordinary pickled radish is crispy and refreshing like never before.
"Waiter, do you have this side dish for sale?" The complimentary dish was just a small plate, and each person took a few chopsticks and it was gone. The woman looked at the expectant eyes of her husband and son, and with the saliva constantly secreted from her mouth, she gave up and called the waiter over and asked helplessly.
"Yes, hot and sour kimchi and pickled radish are one dollar per portion, and spiced dried tofu is one dollar and twenty dollars per portion." The waiter answered smoothly.
"Then..." The woman didn't expect this side dish to be so expensive, but thinking about the taste, she was relieved, "Give me a plate of pickled radish and a plate of spiced dried tofu."
The woman said with a sad heart, "Conspiracy, this free dish must be a conspiracy of the boss, who is sure that people who finish the small portion will order a large portion." The woman thought to herself, but when she saw the child's smiling face and cheers, she felt that the money was worth it.
With such an excellent side dish, the whole family began to look forward to the pot.
The hot pot is an old-fashioned copper pot with coal placed in the tall cylindrical pipe in the middle. The pot is divided into two halves, one half is red soup with a spicy smell, and the other half is milky white old duck soup with scallions and various spices floating in it.
"I want to eat meat, and my sister wants to eat meat too." The children are still young and cannot cook hot pot by themselves, so the little boy gave orders to his parents.
The portions on the menu looked quite large, with each plate full, which made the woman who had just muttered about the prices a little more satisfied. She and the man first put in some vegetables that were not easy to cook, such as cabbage and radishes, and then the woman picked up two slices of mutton, which was cut very thinly and was cooked in a short while.
I blew on the steaming lamb, dipped it in some sesame paste, and placed it on the children's plates.
"tasty."
The little foodie's eyes sparkled: "Mom, this hot pot is better than Lao Mo's. Let's eat here again in the future. I want to eat meat, lots of meat."
Children are the most honest, and it is obvious that this hot pot has captured his heart.
This thing is cheaper than Lao Mo's, so the woman certainly wouldn't refuse her son's suggestion. She was just more curious about how this pot tasted better and could surpass Lao Mo's.
The spicy hotpot is spicy and fresh. Once it enters your mouth, your taste buds are stimulated. But it is also strange that the heavy base material does not suppress the taste of the ingredients at all. Instead, it stimulates each other, making people want to eat more and more, and their appetite is greatly opened. The old duck soup is made from real rural old ducks. It is fresh and fragrant. Eat a bite of spicy hotpot and then a bite of old duck hotpot. It is simply the best enjoyment.
The woman had also made hot pot at home, and she selected the soup base according to the experience passed down by the older generation. She originally thought that her cooking skills were pretty good, but now she realizes that the soup bases she made before were a complete waste of hot pot.
The couple were obviously very satisfied with the hotpot. They were so busy preparing the dishes for themselves while taking care of their two children that they didn't even have time to talk.
Finally, in addition to the hot pot dishes we ordered earlier, we ordered a few more dishes of meat and vegetables. We didn't slow down until we were so full that we couldn't move anymore.
"It's twenty-one dollars and forty cents in total, and after the discount it's ten dollars and seven cents."
After paying the bill, the woman came out holding her son and daughter. She looked at the hot pot restaurant behind her, hesitated for a long time, and said to her husband: "Let's eat hot pot again tomorrow."
The husband smiled and said, "Okay."
******
This is just a microcosm of one of the families. After the first day of opening, this hot pot restaurant, which appeared for the first time in the eyes of the people of the capital, became popular, at least in this neighborhood. People from the pharmaceutical factory and the Municipal Party Committee Office heard unprecedented praise from people who had eaten at this hot pot restaurant called "Jiangwei".
Delicious appetizers, a variety of soup bases and seasonings, all delicious...
These compliments filled the public with curiosity, especially when they heard that the food was half price in the first three days of opening. Many people were attracted and prepared to go to the store to try it the next day.
The next day, this small hot pot restaurant was packed with people who came here for its reputation and repeat customers who came on the first day. The long queue outside made people who passed by curiously remember this restaurant...
Jiang Yilu finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the hot pot restaurant developing well, but there were still many problems. He had a secret recipe for the hot pot base, but he had not learned the skill of making side dishes from the old lady. Seeing that the several jars of pickled vegetables he brought from his hometown were almost unsustainable, he had to hurry back to Qingshan Village to ask the old lady for help.
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