Welp, just played it (Like three months late, I know). It’s rare that I outright hate a story, but it happened. I have honestly no idea why they hated the food so much. I passed two difficult and two dicey checks, picked the right meat. Was it because I took the hat? Because I lied by omission? Because I saw the spices? Because I returned to the market?
My choices in this story feel completely disconnected from the outcome. It’s not just RNG in-game, it’s RNG in real life. I have no way of knowing which is the right option in any choice, but there definitely is. Even the options without RNG are a coin toss.
Very disappointed in it. edited by NotaWalrus on 2/29/2020
That’s the core of it, I think. Everything might seem to be going fine, and then at the end you’re simply told that you failed horribly with very little explanation.
When I first read the comments in this section, I braced myself for the worst. However, I’m happy to report that not only did I manage to prepare a good dinner, but managed to get Dolly’s a third Cockade!
Here’s what I did, if anyone is interested:
[spoiler]
I accepted the hat from the Sous Chef and told the Critic that I was the Sous Chef.
I gave more freedom to the Line Cooks.
I put the Illustrious Chef into the pantry.
I refused to take sides between the Critic and the Pastry Chef at first, but I sided with the latter when returning from the Covered Market, because I wanted to attempt the extremely difficult dessert and figured having her in a good mood might help.
I had the Sous Chef show me the spices.
When first speaking with the Tiger, I told him the Illustrious Chef was coping well (i.e. lied outright).
I bought the special meat suggested by the Bandaged Boucher.
I stuck to difficult dishes for the first three courses (I bought Chert Apples for the meat and cheese course). I succeeded at all three. I attempted the extremely difficult dessert with the Splinted Vine and failed.
I let the Sous Chef talk to the diners.
The diners seemed happy with the dinner (clean plates, untouched bread, smiling waitress, one lady mouthed "well done" at me), so I credited the Illustrious Chef during the presentation, but did admit to minor difficulties in the kitchen.[/spoiler]
Overall, I’m happy with the result, but I don’t know if it’s just because I got extremely lucky, or because there is some actual logic to my choices that led to this outcome. edited by Neel Falas on 3/7/2020
[quote=Neel Falas]When I first read the comments in this section, I braced myself for the worst. However, I’m happy to report that not only did I manage to prepare a good dinner, but managed to get Dolly’s a third Cockade!
Here’s what I did, if anyone is interested:
[Neel Falas’ actions]
Overall, I’m happy with the result, but I don’t know if it’s just because I got extremely lucky, or because there is some actual logic to my choices that led to this outcome. edited by Neel Falas on 3/6/2020[/quote]
Interesting, I also managed to get Dolly’s a third Cockade and I think the dinner went well. Was likewise braced for the worst and I think that influenced some of my choices, e.g. in attempting the less difficult meals. Here’s what I did:
[spoiler]
I did not accept the hat from the Sous Chef.
I was ambivalent re giving more freedom to the Line Cooks.
I closed the Illustrious Chef’s eyes but did not move him into the pantry.
I refused to take sides between the Critic and the Pastry Chef at first, but I sided with the Critic when returning from the Covered Market.
I had the Sous Chef show me the spices.
When first speaking with the Tiger, I lied by omission re the Illustrious Chef’s difficulties.
I bought the special meat as instructed by the Critic (i.e. not the substitution suggested by the Bandaged Boucher).
I succeeded in moderate dishes for the first two courses and failed in the difficult meat and cheese course for which I’d bought Chert Apples. I attempted the fairly difficult dessert with the Mirrorcatch Box and succeeded.
I had the Maitre D’ bring back the Sous Chef when he was talking to the diners.
The diners seemed happy with the dinner, but the Tiger wasn’t giving me any hints about his satisfaction so I credited myself instead of the Illustrious Chef during the presentation. I also admitted to minor difficulties in the kitchen.[/spoiler]
Honestly, I thought it was more fun than what I’d been led to expect from the discussion here. I think that being realistic about your chances of succeeding or failing at the difficulty check of the meals was helpful – I intentionally selected less difficult meals which yes, give less credit but are more like to succeed. I’m not much of a gambler! It worked out, but of course it could easily not have, as nothing was 100% likely to succeed.
The only thing I regret is not realizing the dinner was a success and giving the credit to the Illustrious Chef, for which action he complained bitterly by mail in the epilogue… edited by theonie on 3/7/2020
[quote=theonie]
Interesting, I also managed to get Dolly’s a third Cockade and I think the dinner went well. Was likewise braced for the worst and I think that influenced some of my choices, e.g. in attempting the less difficult meals. Here’s what I did:
[spoiler]
I did not accept the hat from the Sous Chef.
I was ambivalent re giving more freedom to the Line Cooks.
I closed the Illustrious Chef’s eyes but did not move him into the pantry.
I refused to take sides between the Critic and the Pastry Chef at first, but I sided with the Critic when returning from the Covered Market.
I had the Sous Chef show me the spices.
When first speaking with the Tiger, I lied by omission re the Illustrious Chef’s difficulties.
I bought the special meat as instructed by the Critic (i.e. not the substitution suggested by the Bandaged Boucher).
I succeeded in moderate dishes for the first two courses and failed in the difficult meat and cheese course for which I’d bought Chert Apples. I attempted the fairly difficult dessert with the Mirrorcatch Box and succeeded.
I had the Maitre D’ bring back the Sous Chef when he was talking to the diners.
The diners seemed happy with the dinner, but the Tiger wasn’t giving me any hints about his satisfaction so I credited myself instead of the Illustrious Chef during the presentation. I also admitted to minor difficulties in the kitchen.[/spoiler]
Honestly, I thought it was more fun than what I’d been led to expect from the discussion here. I think that being realistic about your chances of succeeding or failing at the difficulty check of the meals was helpful – I intentionally selected less difficult meals which yes, give less credit but are more like to succeed. I’m not much of a gambler! It worked out, but of course it could easily not have, as nothing was 100% likely to succeed.
The only thing I regret is not realizing the dinner was a success and giving the credit to the Illustrious Chef, for which action he complained bitterly by mail in the epilogue… edited by theonie on 3/7/2020[/quote]
Very interesting! You did almost everything differently, but it still led to a good outcome, so I’m wondering what it is that determines success. About the only thing I can see for now is that we both only failed 1 dish and lied to the Tiger in some way.
Out of curiosity, what was your text for the diners’ reaction to the dinner? I’m wondering if it was very different from what I got, because it was pretty clear from mine that they’d enjoyed the food. I edited my post to add more details about that.
[quote=Neel Falas][quote=theonie]
Interesting, I also managed to get Dolly’s a third Cockade and I think the dinner went well. Was likewise braced for the worst and I think that influenced some of my choices, e.g. in attempting the less difficult meals. Here’s what I did:
[…]
The only thing I regret is not realizing the dinner was a success and giving the credit to the Illustrious Chef, for which action he complained bitterly by mail in the epilogue… edited by theonie on 3/7/2020[/quote]
Very interesting! You did almost everything differently, but it still led to a good outcome, so I’m wondering what it is that determines success. About the only thing I can see for now is that we both only failed 1 dish and lied to the Tiger in some way.
Out of curiosity, what was your text for the diners’ reaction to the dinner? I’m wondering if it was very different from what I got, because it was pretty clear from mine that they’d enjoyed the food. I edited my post to add more details about that.[/quote]
I think we got the same reaction, it was only that I didn’t realize it was – perhaps? – the best result so I hedged my bets by not blaming the Chef, only to realize very soon after that I would have been giving him credit instead. Here’s my echo of the diners’ reaction, and here, the Chef’s complaint later.
I too would love to see the – what’s it called? decision tree? for this story, i.e. which combination of actions lead to which results and which action(s), if any, may be determining factors for success or failure. Especially since so many players have complained of failure despite their best efforts, and what seem like similar actions to the ones we took…
I realize that I’m several months late, but there’s something I noticed, a minute lore tidbit with little relevance to the overall story, which nobody else brought up:
The Critic says that the Tiger is the son of a “Tiger Prince.” The Tiger himself says that he’s from the area of Port Carnelian. These two together would suggest that his princely father is the Banded Prince, who rules the Court of the Wakeful Eye.
Well I’m back here again.
Sorry to reopen this one after such a long time, but I always keep drifting back to Fine Dining. That mixture of panic and interesting Neath cooking gets me I think.
I’ve been trying to piece together the success options to get a full set and I was wondering if anyone hand a success on the Chertapple, Splintervine or the sorbet (or if there’s any I’m forgetting in the final recipes. I’ve found Knife, mirror catch box, Mustard and Neath spices).
Usually I’d run the story back and replay it but obviously Fine Dining doesn’t really lend itself to that approach. Still, anything that can stick in my head after three years is doing something right.
Also am I the only person who wonders if someone was trying to kill the tiger? The Bandaged poissonier’s substitution meat and the cherries seem a little similar tactically and I seem to remember that our Bandaged friend worked for the Khanate at points, who have political issues with tigers… But I’m probably just paranoid.
I have what I think is the success for the Chertapple. I didn’t opt to buy the other two, though I still have a play-through of this waiting. I’ll PM you the text rather than “publish” it here.