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Comment by taprun | Hacker News Reader

Go to a fast food restaurant and look at the prices. They'll probably end in .99 because the owners are competing (at least partially) on price.

Now go to a fancy restaurant and look at the prices. They'll probably end in .00 because the owners don't want to look like they're competing on price.

What kind of brand are you trying to build?

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Also fancy restaurants:

  Soup du jour 8
  Pork belly 24
  Cheese selection 12

(One is left to assume it's a price, in your local currency...)

Go somewhere fancy enough and there's not even a price on the menu...

Go somewhere even fancier and there is no menu...

...buffet?

No, the chef decides what you’re going to eat. Because at that level, you pay for an original culinary experience, not to eat a well-cooked version of your favorite dish.

For example, at Sukiyabashi Jiro you get whatever the chef has prepared for the menu that today. Part of this is practical, the fish that will be used is usually purchased that very morning, and part of it is the quality of the restaurant. This isn't unique to Japan's concept of "choose to leave it to the chef" (omakase).

[0] https://www.sushi-jiro.jp/dining-at-jiro/

The fanciest I've ever been to had a 'surprise' menu. Let the chef know your dietary preferences and restrictions, they choose the dish for you. The surprise element was definitely the high point. Could be unacceptable for some but worked for me.

And they take your personal childhood memories into account and serve it with a dish that best reflects it.

This is a good point. E.g. DigitalOcean is not pricing in .99s while virtually all of their competitors are.

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