Fusion April. 2014 | Page 34

What makes a good restaurant? The answer to this question should be settled in mind before people write reviews about restaurants. The dining experience I am about to tell you inspired and refreshed my definition of an extraordinary restaurant.

One of the standards existed in my mind before I try Golden Buddha is: good restaurants that do not do delivery. I have spent my entire freshmen year to find a decent Chinese delivery but cannot manage to do it. One of my friends told me "every restaurants do delivery can not be your targets." Giving his words another thought, I find it kind of reasonable. Cooking requires a lot of work and dedication. A very small detail can save or spoil completely your dishes considering raw material choosing, temperature, and even washing process. The cooking is also time consuming; some certain food needs a lot of time to cook and treated with tenderness and carefulness. Food delivery, on the other hand, requires speed, and the customers cannot eat it right after it's done. The flavor of the food will be affected negatively without doubt, and thus really good restaurants and chefs will never allow their food to be denounced especially because of delivery. Therefore, my friend's statement is true in some extent.

However, after having the wonderful night eating delivery food from Golden Buddha, I did not agree with him anymore. As far as I am concerned, nearly every Chinese restaurant here at Atlanta does delivery. The reason why they do it is partially because some of those people who run Chinese restaurants have financial conditions that are not good enough, and therefore they need to expand their business further in order to keep their restaurants running in profitable tracks. We cannot blame those restaurant owners for this reason, but we must also question the qualities of their food. However, if we think deeper, does deliveries mean that the qualities of food will be affected? If people eat at the restaurant, there are a lots of factors that are able to influence people's perception about the food experience, including the services waiter or waitress provide, the layout of all the tables and decorations, and even background music. They play important roles on how people evaluate the food they eat. Nevertheless, if restaurants provide delivery, there is nothing but the food that matters. People who order the food will only give comments on how the food taste. Thus, if the restaurant wants a good review and fame, it must keep its food on a satisfied quality.

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