La reseña del restaurante (The restaurant review)
MCER B1247 palabras
Casa Nuria has stood on the same corner of my home town for forty years, and I ate there almost every Sunday until I moved away. Last month I went back for the first time in ten years, so take this review as the opinion of somebody who left, not of a regular customer.
The good news first. The dining room is brighter: the heavy curtains have gone and there is proper light over every table, so you can finally read the menu. There are three vegetarian main courses now, where there used to be one plate of grilled vegetables, and the staff no longer look offended if you ask what is in the sauce. The bill came two minutes after I asked for it, which used to be unthinkable.
Something else left with the curtains, though. The menu used to be written by hand every morning, depending on what the market had; today it is printed, laminated and identical to the one on their website. The bean stew my grandmother ordered for thirty years has gone. The portions have shrunk as well, and the prices have not.
So, a mixed verdict. It is a better-run place than the one I remember: cleaner, faster, kinder to anybody who does not eat meat. It is also more predictable, and I miss being surprised. Perhaps a family business cannot grow up and stay unpredictable. I will be back in the summer, and I will still ask for the stew.
Palabras que quizá no conozcas
- reviewreseña, crítica
- curtaincortina
- main courseplato principal
- staffpersonal, empleados
- billcuenta
- laminatedplastificado
- stewguiso, estofado
- portionración
- to shrinkencoger, hacerse más pequeño
- verdictveredicto, juicio
Preguntas
Se contestan con el texto delante. No es memoria: es entender.
How long had the writer been away from Casa Nuria?
Ten years — «I went back for the first time in ten years». Cuarenta años es lo que lleva abierto el restaurante; un mes es lo que hace desde la visita.
The dining room is now ___ than it was, because the heavy curtains have gone.
brighter — «The dining room is brighter: the heavy curtains have gone». Como la frase compara con lo que había antes, hace falta el comparativo: brighter, no bright. También se acepta lighter.
Casa Nuria offers more vegetarian main courses than it did ten years ago.
True — Verdadero: «There are three vegetarian main courses now, where there used to be one plate of grilled vegetables». El used to be marca lo de antes, y tres es más que uno.
Which change is presented as something the restaurant has lost?
The menu is no longer written by hand each morning — La luz y la rapidez están en el párrafo 2, entre las mejoras. La carta escrita a mano según lo que hubiera en el mercado está en el 3, entre lo que se perdió: ahora es impresa y siempre la misma.
What does the text tell us about the amount of food and the prices?
You get less food, but you do not pay less for it — «The portions have shrunk as well, and the prices have not». Ese have not es una elipsis: sobreentiende shrunk, o sea que los precios no han bajado. El texto no dice que sean los mismos de antes, solo que no bajaron; por eso la opción habla de no pagar menos.
Which sentence best sums up the final verdict?
The restaurant is run better than before, but it no longer surprises the writer — A mixed verdict: better-run por un lado, more predictable y I miss being surprised por el otro. Ni un elogio ni una queja, y la prueba es que piensa volver en verano.