Sixteen Again

28

"Let’s eat out tonight. I’ve made a reservation at a private restaurant a friend recommended to me.  Why don’t we give it a try?”

The subject change was a bit sudden so Jiyeon blanked out for a moment before she replied, “Ok, but if we eat out now, we won’t get home until after nine. Probably closer to ten.”

“It’s fine, Juyeon is staying at her great-grandfather’s house for the night and I’ve told Mom to pick her up tomorrow.”

They drove from the village where they shot the reality show back to Seoul, but luckily there was no traffic so they arrived half an hour earlier than expected. The private restaurant she mentioned is located in the suburbs and from the outside, it looks like a simple villa, but once you open the doors it becomes a beautiful paradise.

There are only two tables on the first floor, and this is because, despite it being a restaurant, most of the guests choose to eat in the spacious private rooms upstairs.

A gentle-looking young man walked over and smiled at the both of them, “Miss Kim, your reserved seats are over here.”

The waiter pointed at a carved, old-fashioned, 8-seat table that stood next to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

This caused Hyunjung to frown, “Didn’t I book a private room on the second floor?”

“Apologies, Miss Kim. Your reservation was a little last minute so we only had this table available. If you are not satisfied, I can adjust your appointment to an opening three days later.”

….who would want to come three days later? They’re trying to eat a meal now, not later.

Jiyeon whispered, “Just sit there, I’m hungry.”

Hyunjung still had her doubts but she nodded anyway, “Ok.”

After they sat down, they were not given any menus instead there was a mini-tablet with a stylus lying next to it. She picked up the tablet and took a lot of it.

The rules of the private restaurant were written on the screen and there were…..a lot of rules.

For example, one could reserve a seat but not a time slot. Their business hours were only five hours, from five to ten pm. If they arrived before five, they would be forced to wait outside. If they haven’t finished eating before ten, they would be directly kicked out.

There are only ten reservations a day, and each reservation cannot exceed four guests. At the same time, the guests cannot be older than 60 or younger than 6. And once you’ve arrived at the restaurant, you can’t order your food either. The restaurant changes its menu every month and serves different dishes every day. There are always four dishes and one soup. Whatever is on the menu that day is what you eat. Furthermore, you can’t ask the chef for any changes to the dish unless you prove you have a food allergy with a certificate issued by the hospital.

Once Jiyeon put the tablet down she quietly asked Hyunjung, “Is the food really that delicious here?”

Why does she have a feeling that the restaurant was falsely advertised and sold a different (and often cheaper/worse) product than the customer expected?

Hyunjung was also not sure. She regularly patronizes private restaurants because they usually have tasty, albeit expensive, food and they offer the privacy she wants. However, she has never been to this restaurant before and only came here because of another’s recommendation.