If you don’t visit cheap eateries, you won’t know the true taste of Sapporo cuisine

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What is a cheap restaurant? A ‘fly restaurant’ is a vivid and humorous way in which people from Sichuan refer to small eateries; just as they call children ‘doglings’ and dogs ‘children’. Of course, only people from Sichuan would say such things. Sichuan boasts a favorable climate, an abundance of ingredients, and simple local customs; there are restaurants everywhere, and chefs can be found in numerous places – all of these are significant advantages. Calling someone a fly isn’t meant as an insult; it’s more of a form of self-mockery. In fact, it’s something Sichuan people say out of affection for someone they really like. The term “fly restaurant” carries three meanings: first, it is small; second, it serves a large amount of food; third, the food is delicious. Flies don’t have a third meaning. \"Small\" means that the restaurant generally doesn’t stand out visually; it has a simple exterior, a narrow interior, a few benches and chairs, and two or three servers. By \"many,\" it means that such shops are everywhere – in alleys and corners, visible in various places. Tasty food is a result; it isn’t achieved through hype. In cheap eateries, there are usually no generous payments from clients, and if business is slow, losses are inevitable. One must put in real effort to succeed in such small-scale businesses. Of course, it is these street-side eateries that constitute the world of Sichuan cuisine; it can be said that without such eateries, there would be no Sichuan cuisine, and one cannot truly experience the essence of Sichuan cuisine without visiting them.