I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 316: Chapter 299: This Restaurant Is Not as Simple as Imagined

Though they were curious, the guests temporarily stopped asking Lin Guodong who had cooked the food.

With such delicious food right in front of them, who had the mind to ask questions?

They would eat first and talk later.

Those who had previously eaten the steamed pork with preserved vegetables went to try the braised chicken and steamed mandarin fish.

Likewise, those who had eaten the braised chicken and steamed mandarin fish went to try the other two dishes.

This time, they were even more excited.

These three dishes were simply incredible. They had truly never eaten anything so delicious.

Aside from these three, the guests temporarily ignored all the other dishes.

Because just from their appearance, the other dishes were on a completely different level from these three.

”Every time I go to a banquet, there’s almost always steamed pork with preserved vegetables. I’ve had it so many times, but I never imagined that I’d only taste a truly delicious version today,” someone lamented once more.

”This steamed pork is not only super delicious, but it’s not greasy at all. If I could, I’d eat this entire bowl in one go.”

”You wish. You’ve already had a piece, you can’t have any more. I won’t have any more either. Let’s leave the rest for the two elders.”

”Fine by me! I’ll just have more of the braised chicken. I’ve had countless braised chickens in my life, but only today have I tasted one that’s truly good. I never thought braised chicken could be this delicious. It’s absolutely amazing.”

”And this fish! What on earth is it? How can it be so tasty?”

Regarding this question, Lin Guodong answered, ”This type of fish, we call it a ’mother sow shell’ around here, but its real name is mandarin fish. It’s the ’mandarin fish’ from the poem ’White egrets fly before Mount Xisai; in the stream of peach blossoms, the mandarin fish are plump.’”

Lin Guodong now remembered this line of poetry very clearly.

When the guest heard the poem, his eyes lit up and he said, ”I know that poem, and I’ve heard of mandarin fish. So this is how delicious they are. No wonder they were written into a poem.”

Lin Guodong smiled faintly and said, ”The mandarin fish itself is indeed delicious, with tender meat. However, if we were to cook it, the taste would be worlds apart. It’s not just us—even if master chefs from hotels were to cook it, the result would likely be far inferior.”

The guests didn’t object to this, but they were very surprised and astonished.

It was normal to say that the results would be worlds apart if an ordinary person cooked it. But to say that even master chefs from hotels couldn’t come close—wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?

Lin Guodong understood the guests’ astonishment, so he added, ”I only said ’likely,’ I wasn’t completely certain. However, the probability that it would be far inferior is over ninety-nine percent.”

The guests remained skeptical.

However, one thing was now certain: these three dishes were not made by Lin Guodong, nor by anyone else in his family.

So, who on earth made them?

The guests asked this question once again.

Lin Guodong felt it was time to reveal the answer. ”On the way from here to town, right at the entrance of Jiulong Gorge, there’s a restaurant. The owner of that restaurant made these. I bought all three dishes there. Well, not exactly—the steamed mandarin fish was a gift from the owner.”

This made the guests even more confused.

His cousin, Duan Canghong, said, ”I’ve gone to town from here before, and I know where the entrance to Jiulong Gorge is. I don’t remember there being a restaurant there back then. Of course, just because there wasn’t one then doesn’t mean there isn’t one now. But the key thing is, that place is in the middle of nowhere! It’s just a stretch of wilderness. Why would anyone open a restaurant there? And even if someone did, how could the owner possibly make something this delicious? A chef with such skill could open a restaurant anywhere. Why there? It just doesn’t make any sense!”

Lin Guodong laughed. ”Cousin, it makes perfect sense if you think about it the other way around. It’s precisely because the owner’s cooking skills are so extraordinary that he dares to open a restaurant there. With food this good, the business can thrive even in that location. And if the business can be successful, why not open it there? The area is spacious and the scenery is beautiful. It has many natural advantages that city restaurants lack.”

”Well...” Duan Canghong thought about it carefully. ”That does make sense. In that case, the restaurant’s business must be very good.”

”Extremely good!” Lin Guodong said. ”Not only do many people from town go to eat there, but people also make special trips from the county and even the city.”

Hearing this, all the guests, including Duan Canghong, suddenly became very interested in the restaurant.

Duan Canghong said, ”It’s not too far from here to that restaurant, maybe seven or eight kilometers. Cousin, how about we all go check it out after we finish eating?”

Lin Guodong said, ”Sure! Let’s go right after we eat.”

”Great, great! Then let’s eat up, eat up.”

Both Duan Canghong and the rest of the guests were in high spirits.

...

「Jiulong Gorge.」

Li You was still busy in the kitchen.

The restaurant was bustling with activity.

Many of the customers were excitedly discussing a particular topic.

Namely, that Li You was planning to bring in a few arcade machines and host tournaments for fighting games like *The King of Fighters ’97*.

The news, which started with those first three people, had already spread among more and more customers.

A great many customers were extremely interested.

”Hahaha! *The King of Fighters ’97* is my specialty! I’ll take first place... and even if I don’t win the championship, getting into the top few should be no problem. Not only will it be fun, but we can also get discounts on dishes and other perks. I can’t wait!”