Today I went to lunch at a a very cheap, all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant – only six euros. The food is very mediocre, but if you know what to select, you can come away with a pretty satisfying meal. For example, the Chinese noodles, cucumber salad, pig knuckles and chop suey are quite good.
But that’s not the real reason I keep going back. The restaurant has a couple of very charming characteristics that had led it to have a very dedicated customer base. For example, it is always packed with Chinese. I figure the fellow who runs the place must entertain 200 to 300 customers a day. Crowds come in, eat, and then whisk out, all within half an hour.
So utter convenience is one big factor. Quick in, quick out.
But the truly compelling reason for going back is the owner. He runs everything himself from getting drinks for people to refilling the empty food containers to bussing the tables to settling the final bill. I do suppose that he has a cook in the back, but I’ve never seen him or her.
The fellow is sort of a prickly type. He does not hesitate to bark at customers who are getting out of line (literally) or who have complaints about the food. If anyone does complain (but I have only seen that once), he very cooly barks “You eat! You pay! You go!”. And they do.
If you have any questions, he will answer you, but it is usually with no more than one sharp syllable. For example, I asked him where I could find a napkin and he jutted a finger in the air toward the other end of the food line and uttered a very sharp “THERE!”. And indeed, the napkins were there. I somehow felt ashamed of myself, and by no means offended by his harsh tone.
He runs everything like that. But the part about it that wins me over is that the fellow is relentlessly fair. He treats you no differently whether you are Chinese or non-Chinese, rich or poor, ugly or pretty. He’s simply efficient and fair through and through. I always feel good about myself after I leave the establishment, as if I have been handled with endless tough love. It’s a fascinating and satisfying concept he’s got going there.
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2 comments:
Those pig knuckles should really draw the crowds in! All I can think of are those jars of pickled pig feet and eggs...They were pretty tasty with a serving a sauerkraut on the side.
Did you actually eat those things?????!!!!! I never could get up the courage. But I suppose anything tastes good with sauerkraut. TT
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