There is the mystical Da Hong Pao, the most expensive tea in the world.It has just gone on the menu for the first time at the Royal China Club in London, a swish Chinese restaurant in Baker Street beloved of wealthy connoisseurs of oriental gourmet exotica.
這是世界上最貴的大紅袍茶，這種茶是第一次登上倫敦皇朝中餐廳的菜單上。皇朝中餐廳是倫敦貝克街上一家時(shí)尚高檔的中式餐廳，它備受諸多富有、講究的東方飲食家的喜愛(ài)。

易詞解詞（BY 摩西）

restaurant n.餐館?，F(xiàn)代意義上的餐館出現(xiàn)于1765年的巴黎，賣(mài)湯食的小販Boulanger在攤位前立起了標(biāo)牌，上面寫(xiě)著"Boulanger débite des restaurants divins"，意思是（Boulanger sells divine restaurants)。這里的restaurant本來(lái)指的是能讓人“restore”精力和活力的“湯”，后來(lái)詞義轉(zhuǎn)為能用餐的飯館。

Here, the Da Hong Pao is served reverentially by pretty girls wearing fuchsia lipstick; brought forth on a bamboo tray and poured from a ￡400 hand-painted clay teapot. It costs ￡180 a pot, which means it is about ￡40 for one tiny porcelain cup of tea.
價(jià)格180英鎊一壺的大紅袍放在竹托盤(pán)上，被涂著紫紅色口紅的漂亮女服務(wù)員端上來(lái)。茶壺是手工上色的陶制茶壺，價(jià)值400英鎊。女服務(wù)員小心為你斟滿一小陶瓷杯，就是這一小杯平均下來(lái)相當(dāng)于40英鎊。

易詞解詞（BY 摩西）

tray n.托盤(pán)。日耳曼語(yǔ)詞源，本意是用樹(shù)的木材做成的盤(pán)子。因?yàn)闃?shù)有堅(jiān)固、穩(wěn)固和持續(xù)等特點(diǎn)，所以延伸出了可靠和信任等抽象含義，與其相關(guān)的單詞有tree樹(shù)、true真實(shí)的、truth真理、tryst幽會(huì)（信任對(duì)方）和troth n.誠(chéng)實(shí)；諾言，v.與…訂婚等。啥叫訂婚呢對(duì)吧？確定下來(lái)，敲定下來(lái)。

Yet that seems cheap, compared with what is to come. The tea is part of a ￡1,500-per-head menu, surely the most expensive in the country, which the restaurant serves to its most demanding customers. It must be arranged in advance, according to availability of ingredients, and features six courses of the most exotic and highly-prized Chinese dishes.
不過(guò)比起接下來(lái)要端上桌的料理，這算便宜的了。這茶只是皇朝中餐廳人均消費(fèi)需1500英鎊的菜單上的一部分，這份菜單是為那些對(duì)飲食挑剔的顧客準(zhǔn)備的，堪稱是英國(guó)最貴的一份菜單。其特色是六道最具中式風(fēng)情的珍饈美味，而且由于食材的時(shí)令性，所以必須提前預(yù)定。

易詞解詞（BY 摩西）

customer n.顧客。這個(gè)家伙和custom n.習(xí)慣；風(fēng)俗；海關(guān)長(zhǎng)這么像，有聯(lián)系嗎？有的！一個(gè)customer是”時(shí)?！保ㄒ呀?jīng)成習(xí)慣）探訪某店鋪的人，他“?！痹谠撎庂?gòu)買(mǎi)，和店?yáng)|維持良好關(guān)系。海關(guān)呢？是因?yàn)楹ｊP(guān)“習(xí)慣性”的對(duì)經(jīng)由的貨物收稅！于是customize就是定制，是根據(jù)某個(gè)customer的特質(zhì)，而accustom就是則是要使某人“習(xí)慣于”別人的習(xí)慣。

The centrepiece today will be a serving of 30-year-old dried abalone (sea snail) that costs a staggering ￡888, while other delights include tiny, green baby Japanese peaches (￡8 each), a portion of dried cod stomach (￡128) and a serving of swallow nest stew (￡88), literally a stew made of swallows’ nests, to finish things off.
今天這餐的亮點(diǎn)要數(shù)這道30年之久的干鮑魚(yú)了，價(jià)格是888英鎊，其他還包括每個(gè)8英鎊的日本小綠桃，128英鎊一份的干鱈魚(yú)胃，88英鎊一份的燉燕窩。

The prices on the menu always end with an eight, which is considered lucky in China — if not quite so lucky for the customer. The costly ingredients used are kept under lock and key, with the most precious items stored in a safe, to which only the head chef knows the secret combination (8888 perhaps?).
該餐廳菜單上的價(jià)格一般都是以8結(jié)尾，因?yàn)?在中文中是吉祥數(shù)字，能帶來(lái)好運(yùn)，不過(guò)對(duì)顧客來(lái)說(shuō)這個(gè)數(shù)字可帶不來(lái)好運(yùn)。餐廳里最貴的食材都被鎖起來(lái)保存的，最貴重的餐具也都放在保險(xiǎn)柜中，只有主廚才知道哪些料理和哪些餐具能配套使用。

Customers are lured here by the off-menu specialities and the restaurant’s reputation for sourcing exceptional items; exotic teas wrapped in tissue paper, bottles of ￡15,000 rice wine, rare herbs grown at high altitudes, and deep water shellfish brought in weekly from the Far East by the Royal China’s own team of couriers. And with Chinese New Year set to be celebrated next week, the larders are groaning.
餐廳的誘人之處在于那些不在菜單上顯示的當(dāng)日特色菜，還有餐廳為人所知的那種追求精益求精的各種特色項(xiàng)目。由薄頁(yè)紙包裝的外國(guó)茶葉，1.5萬(wàn)英鎊的瓶裝米酒，高緯度地區(qū)生長(zhǎng)的珍奇植物，由專門(mén)運(yùn)輸團(tuán)隊(duì)每周從遠(yuǎn)東地區(qū)運(yùn)來(lái)的深海貝類…下周就是中國(guó)的春節(jié)了，所以當(dāng)然餐廳的儲(chǔ)藏室里也被塞得滿滿的了。