Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 97 - 94: Biological Clock and Boyfriend

Like most American steak restaurants, the variety on the Keens Steakhouse menu was rather limited.

The lunch menu had just one brief page, and even the dinner menu, with appetizers, main courses, desserts and all, wasn’t very long.

Together, various types of beef and potatoes made up one-third of it.

An American steakhouse is also characterized by its "rustic" utensils that lack aesthetic appeal and heftier cutlery for slicing the steak.

The menu at Keens Steakhouse specifically noted that all of their beef was hand-selected and certified USDA Prime. (note 1)

Aside from the ceramic pipes hanging from the ceiling that once belonged to celebrities and gentlemen, Yan Yan found something else peculiar while ordering.

On the meat section of the steak menu, the very first recommended item wasn’t beef, but "Our Legendary Mutton Chop."

Beyond this mutton chop, the rest of the meats had rather ordinary names.

"Is the mutton here really legendary?" Yan Yan wasn’t in the habit of eating mutton at a steakhouse.

"I’ve never tried it," said Qi Yi, speaking truthfully, "The person who recommended this place only mentioned the Prime New York Sirloin and the Filet Mignon. It’s my first time here too, so I wouldn’t dare give rash recommendations to a foodie. Look at what cuts of meat you usually like and then decide."

Since Qi Yi didn’t know any tasty recommendations, Yan Yan decided it would be safer to ask the waiter for suggestions.

In the end, the two ordered Lincoln’s Oysters, Lump Crab Cocktail, Keens’s Creamed Spinach, and a five-layer-cooked Prime Porterhouse for Two. (note 2)

When the Prime Porterhouse arrived, its portion was surprisingly huge, and it was just meat, a big plate brought straight to the table without any sides or plating.

If you wanted side dishes, you had to order them separately.

The waiter would add customer-ordered sides like creamed spinach, salt, and pepper to the meat as per the customer’s request, right in front of them, though of course, you could add them yourself.

"My biological clock tells me it’s breakfast time, while my boyfriend tells me it’s dinner time. Who do you think is more powerful, my biological clock or my boyfriend?" Yan Yan was very satisfied with the first dish, the Crab Cocktail.

Crab Cocktail actually had nothing to do with alcohol; it was simply crab salad served in a cocktail glass.

At this restaurant, they used the same presentation for the Iced Shrimp Cocktail.

The time difference between Melbourne and China is only two or three hours, so Yan Yan had never before visited a place where she needed to reverse her day and night schedule.

This "early morning" steak feast was definitely a first for Yan Yan.

"I think neither your biological clock nor your boyfriend is as impressive as your stomach," said Qi Yi, confident in Yan Yan’s foodie tendencies.

"You make a good point; with that in mind, I think I need to pray for my intestines to be equally invincible." Yan Yan sincerely exclaimed upon seeing the second dish, an enormous plate of oysters on a bed of ice.

"Could you perhaps save that prayer for after we’ve eaten?" proposed Qi Yi, bringing up the topic that had remained unresolved from yesterday’s conversation.

"Oh dear, grandpa, you’re not young anymore; could you please not?" Yan Yan anticipated that Qi Yi was going to steer every topic towards what he wanted to talk about.

Yan Yan initially thought Qi Yi mentioned waiting to pray after eating because it might affect her appetite during the meal.

"Do you think I want to? Who’s to blame when you’re leaving tomorrow? Don’t you want to spend every moment with me, not wasting a single second of what’s left?" Qi Yi felt his request was entirely reasonable.

"If I told you the truth, would you believe me?" Yan Yan said, slightly amused as she looked at Qi Yi.

"You don’t seem like you’re about to tell the truth right now," Qi Yi didn’t directly respond to Yan Yan’s question.

"Whether I tell the truth is my business, whether you choose to believe is yours. I’m asking you if you would believe me," Yan Yan looked at Qi Yi, waiting for his response.

"It seems I have no other choice but to say I believe you," Qi Yi quickly conceded, as he was not there to upset Yan Yan.

"Believing is the right choice. You see, I want to be with you every single moment. I genuinely worry that with a handsome man by my side, I might devise some unscrupulous plans. You are a god among men to me, to be admired from a distance, not to be trifled with. To prevent you from being ruined by me, I must leave as soon as possible," Yan Yan continued with her playful banter.

"So what you’re saying is, you plan to just watch me from a distance in the future?" Qi Yi could hardly believe his ears. He wasn’t worried about Yan Yan trifling with him; he was worried about her not trifling at all.

"How is that possible? I’ll soon knock you off your pedestal and turn you from a male god into a mere Xiao Qizi," Yan Yan often had some bizarre logic, just like now.

"Become a eunuch?" Qi Yi decided to throw in some extra flavor and make Yan Yan’s logic even more ludicrous.

"Haha, Grandpa, I like how humorous you’re being right now," Yan Yan laughed heartily.

"What’s humorous about it? I certainly haven’t set a goal for my future to be strong-willed despite physical disability," Qi Yi looked at Yan Yan with a serious face.

Qi Yi was obviously dissatisfied, but for some reason, seeing Yan Yan laugh so brilliantly, Qi Yi couldn’t help but want to smile a little himself.

.........

note 1:

The United States is a major beef country, and the USDA (US Dept. of Agriculture) also has its own steak grading standards. From highest to lowest, the grades are Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner.

Prime beef has very beautiful marbling, with a fat content of about 10%. Only up to 2% of American beef reaches this level.

note 2:

[Xiao Mo’s class]

The names of steaks, such as Sirloin and fillet, are transliterations of the meat from different parts of the cow’s body. We’ll write about that in detail when we have the chance.

Today, we’ll have a special simple and practical Xiao Mo’s class.

When ordering steak, one inevitably faces the question: How would you like your steak cooked?

Many Chinese people who travel abroad for the first time and are fairly fluent in English often make a blunder with this question.

Chinese people like their steaks seven-eighths cooked.

So, the question is, what’s the English expression for seven-eighths cooked steak?

I’ve heard several people tell the waiter they want a 70 percent (70%) steak.

Foreigners simply don’t understand what that means and often think you only intend to buy 70% of a portion.

Restaurants don’t offer such a service, leading to many people being turned down.

The term "seven layers" is unique to Chinese speakers.

For foreigners, steak doneness is commonly expressed with three terms: Rare (one point cooked), Medium (medium cooked), and Well Done (fully cooked).

These words originally all have their own simple meanings and only have these specific connotations when describing steak.

With these three, the combinations for three points cooked and Medium Well are just an arrangement issue. novelbuddy.cσ๓

Three points cooked is Medium Rare, while seven-eighths cooked is Medium Well.

Few people who go to Keens’s Steakhouse for steak order doneness beyond Medium.

The higher the level of doneness, the higher the internal temperature of the beef, and the more pronounced the juice loss.

Gourmets prefer a Medium Rare three points cooked steak, especially for Prime grade beef, which truly melts in the mouth at this level of doneness.

With a medium cooked steak, the juices are still fairly intact, and the internal temperature of the steak will reach 140 degrees, which is the highest level of doneness that steak aficionados can accept.

If you really can only dare to eat a Medium Well seven-eighths cooked steak, the taste will be somewhat lacking.

And for those who want to eat Well Done, it’s recommended to leave directly and not defile such a good piece of meat.

After all, it’s not so easy for a cow to grow its meat to Prime level.