fact or fiction

Is it a fact or is it merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the lesser known truths in the food universe.

The Orange Peel Waterfall: A Lesson in Being Seen
One photo shows orange peels pouring down from a stall. From a distance, it looks like a bowl of noodles overflowing onto the street. Another shows a huge skeleton propped up in front of a barbecue stand. A third reveals a supermarket owner who used dried chilies and garlic cloves to arrange faces on cabbages. The vegetables look alive.
By Jin29 days ago in Feast
The Night I Sold My Soul to a Hot Glue Gun
The parent chat group buzzed at four in the afternoon. "Please use the weekend to create a handmade Mid-Autumn lantern with your child. Bring it to school on Monday morning."
By Jin29 days ago in Feast
I Have to Watch a Commercial Before I Can Enter My Own Home
Beijing, Chaoyang District. Ms. Li stands outside her building. She opens the Daguanjia app. A shopping ad fills the screen. “Twist to download or jump to a third-party app.” She doesn’t twist. She hunts for Skip. Tiny gray text, lower right. She taps. Misses. The shopping app opens. She switches back. Taps again. Two seconds. The door opens.
By Jin29 days ago in Feast
I Broke Down That Viral $25 Takeout Bill. The Restaurant Got $6.08.
The bill Customer side: meal 25 yuan, packaging 1.5 yuan, total 26.5 yuan. Merchant side: promotion subsidy 10 yuan, delivery subsidy 4.31 yuan, platform service fee 6.1 yuan, merchant gets 6.08 yuan.
By Jin29 days ago in Feast
The Meal They Can’t Afford: Inside Japan’s “Cancel Eating” Trend
In the summer of 2026, a phrase spread across Japanese social media: “Shokuji Kyanseru Kaiwai.” Literally translated, it means “the meal-canceling community.” Young people use it to describe an everyday act: skipping a proper meal and reserving the time or money for something else. The phrase is light, playful, carrying the composure of “I choose.” It was quickly picked up and amplified by mainstream media, becoming the newest member of the “cancel” series, after “cancel bathing” and “cancel cooking.”
By Jin30 days ago in Feast
I Make 50,000 Yuan a Month. I Still Eat 20-Yuan Fast Food.
Yes. If I made 50,000 yuan a month, I would still eat 20-yuan fast food. Not to look humble. Not to save money. Not because I dislike expensive restaurants. I would probably spend the first few months eating everything I used to skip: Japanese food, French food, steak, private kitchens, tasting menus, Michelin stars. Whatever I could reach, I would try. People who lacked something tend to overcorrect. Appetite, held down too long, wants a season of excess.
By Jinabout a month ago in Feast
Lin Sheng Says Xibei's Collapse Would Set China's Restaurant Industry Back. He's Wrong.
In a livestream, Lin Sheng said that if Xibei collapsed, it would be a step backward for China's restaurant industry. His reason: Xibei does well in quality, safety management, and raw material management. It is a benchmark, he said. Ask anyone in the industry.
By Jinabout a month ago in Feast
I Thought This Was a Knockoff Burger Shop. Then I Learned It Has 3,000 Locations.
In Small Towns, the 9.9-Yuan Burger Has Its Own Way of Surviving Last month, I went to a small town on business. It was hot. A friend said, “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere cool to eat something.”
By Jinabout a month ago in Feast
The Big Apple Breakdown: . Content Warning.
There are a lot of things you can find in a gritty Maine gas station. Red hot dogs rolling under a heat lamp that’s definitely older than the clerk's grandparents. Coffee that tastes like it was brewed during the Carter administration and left to rot. A wall of scratch tickets promising hope to people who can't afford it and delivering absolutely fucking nothing. And, of course, whoopie pies. The real ones. The kind wrapped in plastic that fogs up from the humidity of the cake. The kind that taste like childhood, pure sugar, and the exact brand of comfort you only seek out when you’re standing under buzzing fluorescent lights at nine o’clock at night, wondering how your life got this profoundly weird.
By Syl De'Vilabout a month ago in Feast
Why you shouldn't eat at everyone's house. . Content Warning.
I need you to understand something before I begin. I was 12 almost 13 and we lived in Hawaii. I had no control over the situation what so ever. Okay.!!
By Syl De'Vilabout a month ago in Feast
Turkish Lunch Adventure
I have eaten MREs that could legally be classified as war crimes. I have eaten chow hall “eggs” that were definitely poured out of a five‑gallon bucket labeled Product . I have eaten vending machine sandwiches that tasted like they had been assembled by someone who had only heard rumors about food. But nothing—absolutely nothing—compares to the meal I had in 2000 at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, when me and my friend Franki B walked off gate guard duty and straight into a stranger’s house like two feral raccoons who had decided to try our luck indoors.
By Syl De'Vilabout a month ago in Feast
In the Maldives, the Coconut Is More Than Food
Fresh coconuts cover the table. Some are still whole, while others have been opened to reveal their white flesh. Around them are sweets, tropical ingredients and natural decorations prepared for a World Coconut Day buffet in the Maldives.
By Cristian Marino2 months ago in Feast