After eating at the Chinese restaurant Royal Highness Zhu, a customer posted a viral video reading the comments on her takeout bag.
Kelly Meng (@kellymengg) has reached over 417,900 views and 69,000 likes on her TikTok. In her caption, she tags @royalhighnesszhu and asks, “who hurt you.”
To begin her video, Meng says she had just eaten at Royal Highness Zhu, but her meal was a “surplus of food,” so she took the rest home for takeout.
As she pulls out a takeout bag, Meng says, “Let’s look at some of the comments that are on it.”
For reference, Meng says that Royal Highness Zhu serves “authentic, regional Chinese food.” She explains that the food is “very spicy and very heavily seasoned.”
“It’s not bland in any shape or form,” she adds.
Meng notices something strange
Printed on the takeout bag are numerous quotes and comments, presumably from customers who left bad reviews of the restaurant. Some of the comments read, “So spicy,” “small portion,” and “delicious but too small.”
“Why is this your bag?” Meng asks before continuing to read the comments.
“It was absolutely disgusting; I gave it to my dog,” another quote says.
Other remarks on the bag include “‘Too salty,” “Overseasoned,” and “Why hasn’t this store closed down?”
Before ending her video, Meng says that the food she received from Royal Highness Zhu “was really good.”
“This bag is just satirical at best,” she says.
“That’s how I know the food is going to be good and very authentic!” a viewer said in the comments section. “That’s a badge of honor for them.”
Another adds, “That bag is the best advertising though, I know their food will be good. Now I want to eat there.”
One says, “That’s what I call confidence.”
@kellymengg who hurt you @Royalhighnesszhu ♬ original sound – kelly meng
If the food is good, why so many bad reviews?
Another viewer in the comments section told Meng that Royal Highness Zhu knows “who their target audience is and those ppl know who left those comments.”
“They really said ‘haters are my biggest motivators,’” another added.
Meng told the Daily Dot via email that the takeout bag, “although silly and satirical, makes sense in the grand scheme of Asian cuisine available in the U.S.”
She says “full-bodied flavored foods” are often celebrated by being “chock full of aromatics and chilis that impart all the flavor into the actual edible foods. It’s not super commonly featured correctly in many parts of America.”
This may be why the Royal Highness Zhu bag has several negative reviews about the food being “too spicy” and “overseasoned.”
Food Fire Knives states that authentic Chinese cuisine “often uses a more complex combination of flavors.” On the other hand, generic Chinese cuisine “relies on a simpler blend of flavors.”
“This is because authentic Chinese cuisine often uses a more diverse range of ingredients. Generic Chinese cuisine often uses fewer ingredients,” the site continues.
“I’m glad that they are sticking to authenticity within the actual cuisine and rolling with the criticism instead of watering down tradition,” Meng adds.
Royal Highness Zhu is not the only restaurant where negative reviews are celebrated. In another viral video, a server turned a 1-star review she received from an angry customer into a T-shirt to wear to work.
The Daily Dot reached out to Royal Highness Zhu via Instagram direct message.
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