Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty-Six: The Not So Mysterious Menu

After being dragged into the dining area, I was picked up and placed in a chair.

Mayari quickly took the seat next to me while Ms. Kna’Ve and Master sat in the ones across from us.

Looking around, I saw that the place was almost empty, with only a few other patrons scattered around the rather large dining area.

Which was honestly surprising considering the feel-good vibe of the inn and the pleasant smell of the food being cooked.

Then I remember Ms. Moni.

‘How could I forget. She’ll definitely scare away some customers. She’s absolutely terrifying.’

After sitting for a couple of minutes, a waitress came with menus for us.

She was a clownfish person, giving me a flashback to our recent encounter with Joe the bozo. She seemed to have an attitude as she set down the menus on the table.

‘Ms. Moni lets this slide? That’s hard to believe…. wait she’s a sea anemone and this girl’s a clownfish. Does she have a soft side for clownfish?’

If the others noticed the girl’s rudeness, they simply ignored it, opting to browse the menu instead of reacting. Following their example, I opened up the one in front of me, taking a look at it.

Then I remembered that I couldn’t read…

Mayari quickly noticed my plight, scooting her chair closer to mine, and sharing her menu with me. She began at the top of the menu, reading each item.

Each item had a description and a picture. 

The menu was…interesting. It was oddly familiar but at the same time completely foreign to me. I feel like someone had spoofed a standard restaurant menu and was secretly observing to see if I would recognize the changes.

A couple of items stood out in particular. One was the tuna fingers. I’m pretty sure there was such a thing on Earth but this felt different. I assumed from the picture and the description that these were actually the equivalent of chicken fingers.

‘I do kind of recall tuna being called the chicken of the sea, but isn’t this a bit too on the nose?’

Another one that caught my eye was the shark chops. Which must have been either lamb or pork chops. It was just a bit hard for me to wrap my head around. To think that a shark, one of the most feared creatures on Earth, is the same as a pig or a lamb to the people here.

A couple of other notable mentions included angler-fried angler, lanternfish wraps, and a lionfish salad.

However, the most interesting part wasn’t the items that were on the menu. It was the items that weren’t.

From what I could gather there were absolutely no items prepared in the way that I remembered seafood being back then. Everything was the sea copy of the land food.

There were no boils, no calamari, no nothing. 

“So, you see anything you’d like to try?” Mayari asked as she finished reading the last item.

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“Hmm…“ I mumbled, looking at the other three. 

It seemed that they had already decided on what they wanted and were politely waiting for me to decide.

“What are you all having?” I asked.

“The lanternfish kelp wraps,” Master said.

“The grilled marlin sandwich,” Ms. Knave answered.

“The starfish stir fry,” Mayari replied.

“Isn’t that cannibalism?” I asked the redhead.

“No, because I’m an Asterian, not a starfish. But if it was…my answer would be good food is good food. So, what’s the point of getting hung up on the details?”

‘Note to self, this girl is crazy. Don’t let her lick you or you might die.’

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I was just joking…maybe. But it’s not like I’d eat you or anyone here, right? So it's fine, right?”

“Don’t listen to her, her scavenger instincts are acting up,” Master interjected. “Maua, just pick something. Don’t worry about it if you don’t like it. It's fine if you don’t eat it all.”

Hearing her say that was certainly reassuring, but I wasn't completely convinced.

“Are you sure that’s okay? From what you told me; this place is pretty expensive…like one meal cost almost twenty…what were they called again?”

“Riots,” she replied.” Really it’s fine, I appreciate your concern, but I’m rolling in dough. I might be a dragon, but I’m willing to give up a bit of treasure every once in a while.”

‘Right, a riot…the name of the currency here. Which was also my childhood nickname from my mother. The currency shared several similarities to the one I was used to. The riots were paper bills, with similar designs and the same denominations of the values. The biggest distinction was the color of the bill being red instead of green. There are also coins, called wings. From what I can tell, the value of a riot is also similar to that of a dollar. Obviously, it’s not completely the same due to the difference in the economic landscape…but it seems like someone deliberately made it like that.’ 

Taking Master’s words into account, after much deliberation, I decided to get a cheese grouper…a fishy cheeseburger.

At a price of twelve riots and fifty wings, it wasn’t the cheapest thing on the menu but was definitely far from the most expensive.

For reference, Mayari’s stir fry was twenty five riots, Master’s wraps were seventeen, and Ms. Kna’Ve’s sandwich was fifteen.

With my choice finally made, Master waved the rude waiter over to take our orders.

She did so with a sigh, taking the menus and slowly making her way to the kitchen area.

“Alright!” Master clapped. “Since we already ordered and are just sitting, this is a perfect time to start explaining things.”