Gary is very exacting, and I did get stuck when playing the game too, but I actually likes the pattern of delivering dialog in the first couple of scenes using the press_any_key and the tunes. I loved the beep tunes in fact.
The graphics to me are very nice.
It's an atypical adventure game, and I'm not sure if eating the meal is a good thing or a bad thing, when it sends me back to the start. Based on your questions on pan_game variables, I assume that it's a game that involves the player learning facts every playthrough then resetting the game with the meal. But maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, it's unorthodox, and definitely pay attention to what Gary is saying, but I like the uniqueness of it.