Li Xiao was satisfied with the kimono-clad girl’s apologetic attitude.
After all, everyone makes mistakes.
She was also quite clever, completely ignoring the burnt chicken and shifting the blame to the kitchen staff responsible for prepping the ingredients.
Improper prep might leave a feather on the chicken skin, but it certainly wouldn’t cause the meat to be burnt.
Her way of sidestepping the major issue to focus on a minor one was quite impressive.
It was a waste of talent for this young woman to be a waitress here. If she were a press spokesperson, she’d probably have a meteoric rise.
In the livestream chat.
"LMAO, is this the so-called Bird-Burning Immortal?"
"Even the 2-yuan-a-skewer barbecue stalls back home know to trim off the burnt parts with scissors. This place just serves it straight up???"
"The streamer’s too uncultured, he just doesn’t know how to appreciate it. This is clearly the Bird-Burning Immortal’s exclusive technique: the Char-Grill Method!"
"And here I was, wondering what a 1700-per-person meal would be like. This? This is it??"
"Chicken and chicken skin... back home, that’s 1.5 a skewer. This one has a bit more meat, so 3 yuan at most."
...
After the first skewer was sent back, a new one was brought out quickly.
Just from its appearance, the second skewer was clearly much better than the first.
At the very least, it wasn’t burnt and had no stray feathers.
He brought the yakitori to his lips. The initial taste wasn’t particularly amazing.
The skin was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a strong charcoal flavor, but the overall texture was relatively plain.
As he took a bite, the tender, smooth meat and the crisp skin mingled in his mouth.
The light salt and pepper seasoning made the overall flavor profile neutral, without much complexity.
The soy sauce flavor was only on the surface and hadn’t penetrated the meat, which meant the outside of the yakitori was very flavorful, but the inside was bland and tasteless.
Li Xiao had a good idea why this had happened.
Ikegawa Yoshihiko prepared the yakitori in batches of sixteen, so naturally, he would have prepped exactly sixteen portions of ingredients.
Since the first skewer for Li Xiao was ruined, the chef had to add one in at the last minute.
Not only was it hastily prepared, but to avoid delaying the next batch, he had likely rushed the cooking time and applied the sauce fewer times.
That would explain why the skewer looked fine on the outside, but its flavor was so uneven.
He put down the bamboo skewer, his brow furrowed slightly.
The grilling technique for this yakitori seemed passable, but the texture and flavor were both somewhat plain.
The next moment, a system notification sounded in his mind.
[Congratulations, you have unlocked the 19th gallery entry.]
[The food gallery entry you unlocked is: Yakitori]
[Food Item Score: 60/100 [Pass]]
[As the food item received a passing score, you have received one (1) reward.]
[Congratulations, you have obtained: Yakitori Preparation Insights]
Li Xiao had only taken one bite and had no intention of eating any more.
If this yakitori had come from an ordinary street stall, the flavor would have been barely acceptable.
But for a high-end restaurant with a 1700-per-person price tag, the quality was simply too poor.
However, Li Xiao didn’t cause a scene. He had come here specifically to see if this place was a dud, so he had already anticipated bad food or even being given a hard time by the chef and staff.
He had considered these possibilities before coming, so as long as things didn’t get too out of hand, he still planned to finish the entire yakitori course.
After all, if he left after trying just one or two dishes, they would have too many ways to make excuses.
Seeing that Li Xiao hadn’t even finished one small skewer of yakitori, many viewers in the livestream chat began to comment.
"Why did the streamer stop after one bite?"
"If he’s not eating it, it must be bad!"
"I just looked at the menu, and that skewer costs dozens of yuan. It’s a bit of a waste not to eat it!"
"The guy above must be new here. The streamer is a big shot who gives away hundreds of thousands in gifts in a single stream. Why would he force himself to eat something that tastes bad?"
"The world of the rich is just unreal. A few dozen yuan is enough for my entire barbecue dinner."
...
Soon, the second yakitori skewer was served.
The kimono-clad girl introduced it with a smile:
"The second skewer is chicken neck. You can only get two portions of neck meat from a single chicken, so it’s a rather precious cut. Its flavor and texture are both exquisite."
??????
The corner of Li Xiao’s mouth twitched.
’Seriously? The area around a chicken’s neck is full of lymph nodes.’
’That’s why people in Guangdong Province give chicken necks a wide berth; most people just throw them out with the head before cooking.’
’And yet, to hear this kimono-clad girl describe it, this thing has somehow become a precious cut. It’s pretty surreal.’
Although he felt a bit disgusted, Li Xiao still picked up the exquisitely grilled chicken neck in front of him and examined the dish carefully.
Since there isn’t much meat on a chicken’s neck, this yakitori skewer was noticeably smaller than the previous one.
The neck meat was wound meticulously around the bamboo skewer, looking like countless threads tangled together.
The chicken neck was grilled to perfection. Its outer layer had an alluring amber color and a slight, oily sheen.
He put the chicken neck skewer in his mouth and immediately sensed a difference.
A thin, crispy outer layer had absorbed a large amount of soy sauce, becoming glossy and brittle under the high heat. As he bit down, a crisp sound echoed in his mouth, bringing a sense of pleasure.
The meat inside was tender, juicy, and had a complex texture.
The light salt and pepper seasoning wasn’t overpowering; instead, it accentuated the chicken’s natural, savory flavor.
As he chewed the neck meat, Li Xiao realized that this whole chicken neck business wasn’t so hard to stomach after all.
This grilled chicken neck was a clear cut above the previous chicken thigh.
The meat was more tender and smooth, the texture richer.
He savored every bite, appreciating the subtle nuances brought about by the chef’s control of the flame.
A unique grilled aroma filled his mouth, as if his taste buds were reveling in a magnificent feast.
The level of skill demonstrated in this rather good chicken neck was a significant improvement over the last one.
Sure enough, the next moment, a system notification came through in his mind.
[The food you have tasted is: Yakitori]
[Food Item Score: 75/100 [Average]]
[As you have already unlocked this food gallery entry, there is no additional reward for this tasting.]
Li Xiao swallowed the last bite of chicken neck.
’Just as I thought.’
’The reason the first one was only barely passable was definitely because the process was off.’
Still, while "Average" was a step up from "Pass," for a place that charges 1700 per person, failing to even reach a "Good" rating was pretty inexcusable.
In the livestream chat:
"The streamer finished that skewer?"
"Guess this one tasted okay??"
"You could tell just by looking at it that this one was better than the last."
"Is that all? The portions for this yakitori are tiny. Japan is as stingy as ever."
...
Seeing the comments fly by, Li Xiao explained in a low voice:
"This chicken neck skewer did taste better than the last one, but in my opinion, it’s only at the level of an average roadside barbecue stand."
"I only finished it based on the principle of not wasting food."
"As for the first skewer, the chicken thigh, the main reason I didn’t finish it was because the taste was really quite poor. It was too salty on the outside and had no flavor on the inside. It barely reached a passable level."
"I stopped after one bite to spare my taste buds the torture."
"For now, the quality at this Akatori restaurant isn’t looking good. Of course, there are still more than a dozen types of yakitori to come. We’ll make our final judgment after we’ve tried them all."
While Li Xiao was chatting with his livestream viewers, the third yakitori skewer was placed before him.