Don looked at the meat in the black terracotta bowl in front of him critically. The interlaying fat and lean pork was cut into a cube and was braised by the thick gravy until bright red. It didn’t look greasy at all. The edge of the skin curled up slightly, glistening with some oil.

A rich aroma of the meat assaulted his nose the moment the bowl was set down.

This aroma! Why is it so enticing!

Don’s eyes lit up immediately. His adam apple moved, and he couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

10 years ago, when Ducas Restaurant introduced the roast pig for the first time, he was one of the lucky people to try it first.

The delicious roast pig seemed to have opened the doors to a new world for him. That stunning feeling always made him want to go back to recap it again for the past 10 years.

Although he already couldn’t find that stunning feeling now, and it had become a habit, the roast pig still ranked first among all the delicacies in his heart.

However, the impactful aroma from the red braised pork was shaking his resolve now.

The smell of the meat was inspired to the extreme by the spices, and it had stunned him, just like the first time he met the roast pig.

No! The roast pig should be the best! Don shook his head and chased that thought out of his mind. But, his adam apple couldn’t help but move when he looked at the red braised pork in the black terracotta bowl.

I will taste this red braised pork, which is the number one on the meat category rankings, and see if it deserves the accolade or its ranking was bought with money, Don thought as he picked up a piece of the red braised pork and put it in his mouth.

The red braised pork already melted away in his mouth with a gentle bite. The fat meat melted away almost instantly. The soft and tender skin was not hard to chew like it was normally, yet it gave the red braised pork a chewy bite, and brought about a stronger sense of bliss.

The sweet and tender, fatty but not greasy red braised pork was at the extreme end of tasty. It made Don forget why he was there.

The tip of his tongue was shaking. That was his taste buds doing a cheer!

He wondered what magic the chef applied to this tiny piece of pork that made it become so scrumptious. Just a single bite, and he was absorbed into the vortex with no way of getting out.

In Don’s heart, a roast pig was running toward him on its short legs when a flaming Fiery Pig slammed it away, and all there was left in his heart was that running Fiery Pig.

Tasty! Extremely tasty! Unbelievably tasty!

Don was generous with his flattery in his heart. What was a roast pig? He didn’t care anymore! All there was left in his eyes was the bowl of red braised pork in front of him.

When compared to the extremely well-executed red braised pork in taste, heat, and condiments, the roast pig, which was originally perfect in his heart, seemed to be rough now.

The taste of pork meat wasn’t totally covered, the greasy feel of the inner fatty meat wasn’t marinated, and the dryness of the lean meat had a bad texture.

All these were little flaws that could be ignored by Don if there wasn’t any comparison, but after tasting this delicious red braised pork, these flaws were magnified indefinitely to the extent that even he, who was a true fan, couldn’t ignore.

They were both pork and therefore the difference between the two of them was even more direct.

The disparity in the culinary skills of both chefs was especially obvious with the red braised pork and roast pig.

Don was having complex feelings now. His favorite for 10 years was simply shattered by the red braised pork like this.

All the words that he had sworn earlier… He couldn’t voice them out anymore.

If this extremely delicious red braised pork hadn’t been ranked first in the meat category rankings, then this Delicious Cuisine Rankings would then truly have been unfair.

Even though his feelings were complex, Don’s mouth was very simple. One mouthful of rice with one mouthful of red braised pork, he enjoyed eating it tremendously.

As a carnivore, he hadn’t found a taste that astonished him for a long time, but today he had found this feeling again.

Red braised pork, First in the Meat Category Rankings, truly deserving!” Don couldn’t help praising it after putting down his chopsticks when he finished a helping of red braised pork.

…

“This… This is a so-called soup? It’s a blasphemy to soups!” Bolton felt ridiculous when he stared at the braised chicken.

Even though he had to admit that the aroma that greeted him was indeed very enticing, it was too much that this soup, which didn’t even have a piece of meat in it, could get the First in the Soup Rankings!

“Don’t jump to conclusions, taste the soup first. Be mindful of your tongue, don’t bite it,” Harrison said happily as he bit into a roujiamo in his hands.

He had long noticed that this big bro sitting across him was here to make trouble, but he was very restrained and calm about it; hence, he made him curious about what was going to happen next.

“If this could be considered as soup, it would be akin to rubbing the intelligence of his customers on the ground.” Bolton pursed his lips as he scooped up a spoonful of the golden-red chicken soup.

Before the spoon even got close, the aroma of the rich chicken soup that was mixed with a mysterious fragrance already washed all over him.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, this aroma was very special and enticing.

“Gulp.”

Bolton’s adam apple moved uncontrollably, and the sound of him swallowing his saliva could be heard clearly.

How is the scent of this chicken soup so rich? There is also a hint of unique fragrance within it that made the aroma of the chicken soup even more refreshing. Bolton blushed as a sense of incredibility appeared in his heart.

The freshwater seafood soup at Sith Restaurant was renowned for its “freshness”.

That freshwater seafood soup only used wild seafood caught freshly from the river[1] that day. The chef’s secret recipe spices were added to emphasize the freshness to the very extreme. It was not an exaggeration when it was said to be the best in Chaos City.

However, the fragrance of this chicken soup had already surpassed the freshwater seafood soup to Bolton. And it surpassed it by more than one level.

Maybe it’s only the aroma. Taste is what matters the most. It’s just normal chicken and not even a specially made soup, how can it compare with the freshwater seafood soup? Bolton tried very hard to convince himself in his heart before he put the chicken soup in his mouth.

Silence…

Silence…

“It’s delish!” Bolton praised out loud.

The freshness of the chicken soup was elevated to the extreme by that mysterious fragrance. The taste buds on his tongue went crazy the moment he put it in his mouth. They were engulfed by the chicken soup without any means to extricate themselves.

He felt that all the pores on his body opened up as he swallowed. The warm feel of it nourished his whole body, and made him feel very comfortable.

If the freshness of the freshwater seafood soup came from the freshly caught seafood in the river, the freshness of this chicken soup was the collision of fresh chicken and some mysterious ingredient. The fresh taste that was the result of the combination of these ingredients astonished him.

Although the freshwater seafood soup was good, it was miles behind this chicken soup.

Braised chicken soup, First in the Soup Rankings, truly deserving too!

[1] As such, it’s not really “seafood”, but it looks like a creative license case on the author’s part, so we will stick to it. Besides, some definitions of seafood include sweet water creatures.