主厨告诉你，菜单上哪些东西溢价最高 [美国媒体]

The Most Overpriced Items on the Menu, According to Chefs

主厨告诉你，菜单上哪些东西溢价最高



G19注：图中写着“加价3000%”

Thrillist on Yahoo
November 20, 2015

By: Matt Meltzer

Spaghetti and meatballs. The wedge salad. A bottle of wine. You don’t have to be a well-heeled foodie to know that you’re overpaying for certain items on a restaurant’s menu — you just need to have bought groceries. Like once, ever. Truth be told, though, there’s a whole host of other dishes that, while they might seem reasonably priced, are actually netting the restaurant big margins at your expense.

肉丸意面。蔬菜色拉。一瓶红酒。你不必是一个有钱的美食家，也知道你为一家餐馆菜单上的某些菜付了过多的钱——你只要买过菜就知道。而真相是，另有一些菜品，看上去定价很合理，实际上是餐馆赚取利润率的杀手锏。

To discover the most overpriced, marked-up, sucker-bet foods at your favorite eatery, we talked to chefs and restaurant owners; under the cloak of anonymity, they shared the biggest wastes of money on the menu.

为了揭开你喜欢吃的东西里面哪些溢价最高，最宰人，我们找了一些主厨和餐厅业主，在匿名的情况下，他们讲出了菜单里面最浪费钱的东西。



“Kobe” beef
Real, actual Kobe beef is made in Japan from cows that get daily spa treatments, full-body exfoliations, and consultations with a naturopath. Or something like that. “Some restaurants, however, are serving American-style ‘Kobe,’ calling it Japanese Kobe, and charging $35/oz for it,” said one chef, adding that since there are no standards for an “American” version of the beef, there’s also no value in “Kobe” hot dogs, hamburgers, Bolognese sauces, nachos, or anything else. Restaurants are basically using the term to mean “add eight dollars.”

神户牛肉
真正正宗的神户牛肉，来自日本产的每天做spa、全身去死皮、享受理疗服务的牛，反正就是类似这么NB的东西。“然而一些餐厅，提供的是美国版的‘神户牛’，把它叫做日本神户牛，每盎司收35美元”，一个主厨说，并且因为美国版神户牛根本没有一个标准，所以什么神户牛做的热狗、汉堡、肉酱、玉米片或者任何其他东西都是没有价值的。餐厅基本上用神户牛这个词来代替说“加8块钱”。



Spicy tuna roll
You know why they make that thing so damn spicy? The same reason cuisines from places with sub-standard refrigeration are often spicy: the meat is suspect. Not spoiled, necessarily, but as one owner told us, “I stay away from spicy tuna rolls because they’re made with the leftover parts of the tuna and disguised with the spicy sauce.”

辣金枪鱼饭团
你知道他们为啥把这玩意弄得这么辣吗？与食材不新鲜的餐厅喜欢做辣菜是同一个原因：肉有问题。不是说一定变质了，有一个店主告诉我们，“我不会吃辣味金枪鱼饭团，因为是下脚料做的，用辣味酱汁来掩盖。”



Fried calamari
The squid-to-breading ratio here is only slightly better than the ratio of basketball-to-commercials during the last 30 seconds of an NBA game. “You’re paying for pure breading,” one chef/owner told us, “which usually falls off or is chewy.”

炸鱿鱼
鱿鱼裹面粉的比例，只是比一场NBA比赛最后30秒插播广告和实际打球的时间的比例稍微好点（NBA比赛最后阶段往往插播大量广告，意思是鱿鱼裹了很多的面）。“你实际上买的是面粉”，一个主厨同时是店主告诉我们，“裹粉还常常脱落或者很难嚼”。



Truffles
The large majority of “truffle oil” has about as much actual truffle in it as there is lime juice in a can of Sprite. Pretty much every chef and owner we talked to agreed on this one, and many told us it’s usually a chemically engineered imitation or a highly diluted extract, like vanilla. Even on the rare occasion when actual truffles are used, paying $58 to see some black flecks on your risotto is never worth it.

松露
大部分所谓“松露油”里的松露含量，和一罐雪碧里面柠檬的含量差不多。我们交谈的几乎每个主厨和店主都同意这一点，很多人告诉我们这通常是化学调味的仿制品或者高度稀释后的产品，就像香草一样。即使偶尔碰到真的用了松露的，花58美元就为了在你的煨饭上看到些黑色斑点，实在不值。



Bottled water
This is not as obvious as you might think. Sure, you’re paying for something you get for free, but if you’re one of those people who’s like "I can’t trust the tap water that’s so gross” and/or European, ask your server about the restaurant’s tap water before you order bottled. Most places now have advanced filtration systems and the taste/clarity of the water is almost indistinguishable from that $11 bottle of Voss.

瓶装水
这个不是你想的那么显而易见。当然，你在为你可以免费得到的东西掏钱，但是如果你是那种“我不相信自来水，恶心”的人，或者欧洲人，在点瓶装水前先让你的服务员给你上点餐馆白水。大多数地方现在都有先进的过滤设备，水的口味和清澈度与11美元买一瓶Voss矿泉水其实没啥区别。



Any chicken entrée over $25
Unless that entrée is called “Chicken à la 20-Dollar Bill,” you’ve just grossly overpaid. Chicken – even those free-range, born-free, allowed-to-vote-in-local-elections birds – rarely cost the restaurant more than a few dollars per pound, one owner told us. He added for reference, “the cheese in your chicken quesadilla typically costs more.”

任何高于25美元的鸡肉主菜
除非这道主菜的名字叫20美元钞票的鸡，否则你只是被宰了一把。鸡肉——即使是那些自由放养，生来自由并拥有投票权的鸡（开玩笑）——也很少能花餐厅几块钱一磅的成本，一位店主告诉我们。他补充道，“你点的鸡肉玉米饼里面其实芝士的成本都比鸡肉高”。



Lobster mac and cheese
A few dollar markup from the standard mac and cheese makes sense, but any more is a waste of cash. “You aren’t getting prized lobster tails and generally not even claws, you’re getting all the scraps from the body shells,” one restaurant owner said. “It may taste great, but the restaurant’s laughing all the way to the bank.”

龙虾奶酪通心粉
比标准奶酪通粉贵几块钱算正常，再多就是浪费钱。“你不会得到昂贵的龙虾尾，甚至连钳子都不会有，你得到的都是壳里的下脚料，”一个餐馆业主说。“味道可能真挺棒的，但是餐厅会一路笑到银行”。



Well liquor
Unless you’re knocking back $1 liquor pitchers at one of the best college bars in America, paying $8 for hangover-grade tequila is just an investment in a miserable next morning. One restaurant owner admitted that the markup is considerably higher on well drinks, while the quality is drastically lower. You’re better off throwing down the extra dollar or two for a brand that purifies its booze.

烈性酒
除非你是在美国最好的大学酒吧里狂饮1美元一杯的酒，花8块钱买宿醉级别的龙舌兰酒是在投资一个悲惨的明天。一个店主承认烈性酒加价很高，然而质量却很低。你最好多花点钱买个好点牌子的酒。



Oysters
Oysters used as an ingredient in a more complicated dish like oysters Rockefeller, or some other creative endeavor, are worth it. But simply oysters on a plate? As one chef put it: “$36-$45 per dozen is absolutely outrageous for an ingredient that requires no culinary skill whatsoever.”

牡蛎
如果是作为原料做成一个复杂的菜式比如洛克菲勒牡蛎，或者做成其他有创意的东西，是值得的。如果只是简单的装在盘子里端上来？一个主厨总结说“36到45刀一打，对于一个完全不需要烹饪技巧的原料来说无论如何是太离谱了。”



Mezze platters or artisanal toast
Think about how much you’d spend on a giant plate of Wonder Bread and ketchup, because while it’s a little bit fancier, that’s pretty much what you’re getting. As one chef noted, “it’s a great way for restaurants to charge an arm and a leg for bread and condiments.”

开胃菜拼盘或者手工面包
想想你为一大盘奇怪的面包和蘸酱花了多少钱，就因为它更有范一点，这就是你得到的全部东西。一个主厨说，“这是餐厅把面包和调料卖出大价钱的好办法”。



Expensive wine or Champagne
At this point, telling someone the second-cheapest bottle of wine is the most marked up is kinda like telling someone pro wrestling isn’t real: the secret’s out. But the higher up the wine menu you go, the more actual cash you’re paying in a markup. One restaurant owner told us that if you’re a true wine connoisseur, you’re better off just bringing in that favorite $100 bottle from home and paying the corkage fee. And if you’re not an aficionado? Then stop being a jerk and order something cheap.

昂贵的葡萄酒或者香槟
这年头，告诉别人第二便宜的葡萄酒酒是加价最高的，有点像告诉别人美式摔跤不是真的：大家都知道。但是你点的酒价格越高，你贡献给加价的钱就越高。一个店主告诉我们，如果你一个真正的葡萄酒鉴赏家，你最好自己从家带一百美元一瓶的好酒来，交个开瓶费。如果你不是一个葡萄酒迷？那就别装B老老实实点点便宜的吧。