Rarely has one meal made so many people happy.

Last week, our tour guide pointed out a red-lanterned street known as “Ghost Street” and said that it was a famous area for spicy dishes, hot pot, and Sichuan food. We were in a minibus at the time, but my husband and I decided that we’d go back and check it out. At 3:00 the next afternoon, we did.

We were fooled by the menu posted outside one restaurant that had pictures of food labeled in English. It seemed like a good choice so we went in.

The young woman serving us came over with a very detailed order sheet; the kind you typically see in a sushi place. But this one was entirely in Chinese characters. There wasn’t a word of English anywhere on it and we had no idea what to do with it.

She stood at our table…