I already told her lah, gave her a few options to choose from. We finally decided on this chinese restaurant
Then why didn’t you tell her at the same time that you prefer to split for that lunch? (PS: This also takes skills as to how you say it)
Then if she still went ahead, but left while you were in the toilet for 5mins, it was on her liao for choosing to go meet you. But in this case it isn’t.
You called it a date, so this person must be someone you would like to meet and go out with instead of some random hangout, you initiated to ask her out, you chose the place, but you asked to split on first date after the meal. Lol
2026 or 2006 or 1996, women in general still prefer to be treated on a first date. This applies to Asian and western society. They wanna see how willing you are to invest in them which directly or indirectly reveal your interest levels. A meal is just the most basic thingy.