Super impressed that you got to 9 lol. Also good on you for noticing that beef is more expensive. Once the jam ends and I can update the game, I'd like to add something that tells you the value of each item- I was just wary because I don't want people to try saving the most valuable items instead of saving the most common/useful ones. I have an update developed where you can buy single ingredients (so you could buy a random staple for $5 until you get rice, for example)- adds even more strategy to the game, in terms of balancing your economy and upgrades.
The reason there are two dishes is that I was originally hoping to lean more into the "Date" part of the game, where people come to your restaurant for romantic dinners together, which makes it even funnier when one person gets a perfect steak platter and the other receives cream cheese pizza with apple sauce. Hopefully I can make this clearer in future updates. Thanks so much for your great feedback :)