In the throat-free restaurant industry, most business owners boast that their dishes are the best in town.
Feigang Fei, who runs the Chinese restaurant Aunt Dai in Montreal, took a different approach, with a menu with honest descriptions of the dishes on offer.
“Compared to our General Tao chicken, this is not that good,” reads the entry for orange meat. “Anyway, I’m not a big fan of North American Chinese food, and that’s your call.”
Another entry warns: “Do not let the name deceive you, this is NOT an authentic Chinese food.” Elsewhere, Fei openly admits that he’s not a big fan ‘of the restaurant’s version of sweet and sour pork strips.
The restaurant is now seeing an increase in customers after a tweet over the menu went viral.
“It was a very exciting and busy time,” Fei said. “But I love it.”
Fei explained that after opening his restaurant seven years ago, he was disappointed when customers returned food that had not been eaten. “Some customers who did not try certain dishes were amazed at the spice or texture,” he said.
So he started writing a little more straightforward descriptions.
‘The intestines are fried, it’s too dry. Compared to stir-fried pork intestines, I recommend the former, ”reads the entry for dry wok pig intestines.
Under “water tooth chicken” Fei writes: “We are not 100% satisfied with the flavor now and it will soon get better. PS: I’m surprised some customers are still ordering this plate. ”
A former IT engineer, Fei, immigrated to Canada 14 years ago and is well aware of the challenges newcomers face.
After a fire destroyed Aunt Dai’s first place, he found that the new place had more space than needed. He converted the second floor of the restaurant into an area where new immigrants can take French and English lessons, as well as meetings to share skills.
“There are so many immigrants coming to this country as qualified,” he said. ‘I saw firsthand how many opportunities were missed because someone was too shy. I wanted to change that. ”
While the pandemic has forced Aunt Dai into ‘survival mode’, Fei is hopeful that the business may soon re-emerge as a gathering place for friends and family.
‘We do not have a wonderful item, something that is complicated and shows the ingenious cuisine. Our food will always be good, but we are simply not the best, ”he said. “Well, maybe a little above average.”