Restaurant In Shanghai Charges Rs 5,500 For Half A Chicken, Says It Was Raised On Music And Milk

A Shanghai restaurant has sparked controversy for promoting a half-chicken dish at an eye-watering value of 480 yuan (₹5500). The restaurant defended the steep value by claiming the rooster was raised on classical music and fed milk, as reported by the South China Morning Publish.

The incident gained consideration after a businessman and influencer with 270,000 followers visited the Shanghai Membership restaurant on March 14. Shocked by the value, he questioned the employees in regards to the rooster’s background, humorously asking if it was raised “listening to music and ingesting milk.” To his shock, the restaurant employees confirmed his assumption, claiming that the dish featured a uncommon breed referred to as “sunflower rooster,” sourced solely from a farm in Guangdong province.

A Premium Breed with a Distinctive Food plan

In keeping with the farm’s on-line description, sunflower chickens are fed a eating regimen together with juice extracted from sunflower stems and light flower heads. The breed is quite a lot of the three-yellow rooster, also called “emperor rooster,” prized by Michelin-starred cooks for its tender texture and wealthy taste. Nonetheless, sunflower rooster is considered much more premium, reportedly costing over 200 yuan (₹2300) per kilogram, with an entire hen priced at greater than 1,000 yuan (₹11,500) in eating places.

When questioned additional by native media, a employees member from the Sunflower rooster farm clarified that whereas the chickens are uncovered to classical music, they aren’t fed milk.

Public Backlash and On-line Mockery

Regardless of being prepared to pay the 480-yuan value, the influencer expressed frustration at what he noticed as deceptive advertising. “I may settle for the value, however not the fabricated tales,” he instructed the employees.

The incident shortly went viral, drawing mockery on-line. One consumer sarcastically commented, “Wonderful the weird tales one could make as much as promote merchandise.” One other instructed that such pricing techniques exploit Shanghai’s wealthier clientele: “One can seize a small share of a dish from less-developed areas in China and simply promote it to Shanghai individuals at a a lot greater value.”

Others joined in on the joke, playfully suggesting their very own pricing methods. “Can my rooster be priced at 1,888 yuan (₹22,000) a dish? They had been raised listening to Shanxi music,” quipped a consumer from central China’s Shanxi province.

Debate Over Shanghai’s Excessive Costs

The controversy has reignited discussions on the so-called “Shanghai forex,” a time period that gained recognition final 12 months to explain the town’s hovering costs and excessive spending energy. A broadly cited instance is the 800g Japanese toast that offered for 98 yuan (₹1100) in Shanghai—double its value in Japan—regardless of common grocery store bread costing round 20 yuan (₹230).

Authorities knowledge exhibits that the per capita disposable revenue of Shanghai residents in 2024 was 88,366 yuan (₹10.1 lakh), almost twice the nationwide common. This additional fuels debates on the town’s costly life-style and whether or not such high-priced merchandise are justified or just capitalizing on the affluence of its residents.