Recently I decided to dine at the X lodge in Y country. Its reviews comprehensively praised the excellent menu and the extremely fair prices. After being seated, I ordered a soda water.
"Mildly sweetened," I qualified.
I watched as the bartender poured a glass and added what appeared to be a quarter teaspoon of sugar. As expected, it was delicious. For the main entree, I decided on a wagyu steak--one might as well go all out at a nice restaurant. My waiter described it as "400 grams of the finest beef with extensive fat marbling contributing close to 200 of that." Interestingly, I noticed the chef weighing my cut with a mysterious measuring contraption.
"When meat cooks, it loses significant weight in the form of water, so we like to estimate the weight without any moisture. When we say the customer gets 400 grams, we mean it," the waiter explained upon seeing my surprise.
Of course, the steak was sumptuous. So too was the quarter pound confection that I ordered for dessert and that tasted almost like pure, exquisitely delicate sugar. Fully satisfied, I asked for my bill.
4.20 credits for the drink! And the reviews had all quoted the fair prices! Then I saw the amount for my entree and my jaw dropped. 2600.00 credits? I know I ordered the creme de la creme but... To top off my horror, the delicacy had set me back another 453.59 credits. As a small consolation, the establishment refused tax and tip, so I left exactly 3057.79 credits on the table.
As I left, I spied a couple returning their sporting equipment. From what I could catch of the conversation, it appeared as if they had been deep ocean diving all day. At those prices, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them fork over a fortune, but image my dismay when the employee instead shoved a large stack of credits into the couples' hands with a smile!
Where in the world did I eat, and what was up with those prices?
