The defined road to Menu Planning!

What do you think makes a great menu? 

It’s not always about the food or taste or its appeal, a great menu also matters!

How many of us have seen a menu and walked out of the restaurant..well…yes, we do. I have personally seen menus and said I don’t think its this that I want to eat today and I am sure many of us have. 

“ A unique menu is a way to the great success of any restaurant”

Menu engineering as we hoteliers say is an important factor to be considered. What do you think is menu engineering?

As for me everything that your menu says will lead to your restaurant’s profitability.

Pricing

Know your audience!! It’s important you target your audience, your pricing depends on the demand as well as the inventory. If the price is high and it’s not selling….LET IT GO!

Personalization 

A most important factor for me!! If I love the menu I love the restaurant. It’s crucial to make your menu look appealing and in sync with the restaurant’s decor and theme.

Balance

This really applies to set menus/table d’hôte. A menu with a fixed set plan along with a fixed menu for a specific number of dishes. As a hotelier we are always taught, “choose dishes that have balanced colors”……yes! that’s true. Give enough accompaniments….research your accompaniments. 

 I visited a Punjabi themed restaurant “Amritsr”  (@amritsruae) / www.amritsruae.com serving authentic Punjab Dhaba food. We ordered their specialty… Kulchas!!! 

Each kulcha was offered with an accompaniment that it goes best with. They do offer much more with each dish that’s served and believe you me it does bring back all memories of eating at a Dhaba back in India. 

Menu Description

Do describe your dishes… use easy terms that don’t push your guests to find ways of researching each dish that you offer. Make things simple for your guests and they would visit you more.

Well let me site a very common and one of the most important example;

Murg Makhani

(Succulent morsels of chicken cooked in tomato gravy with Indian aromatic spices)

One can add much more to that but it does make things simpler. Don’t you think?

Keep it short

Offer quality! Offer what is needed. 

A large size menu can interest your guests but adds confusion. Offer food that portrays your restaurant and that you specialize in, adding dishes and cuisines can make your guests uncomfortable. 

Suggestions

A menu with chefs’ suggestions/ideas/stars is what a restaurant needs. 

*TIP- Suggest the dishes that you would like to sell the most. 

Chef’s suggestions add value to the dining experience. Make sure you have specialties in your menu …” the lesser the better”.

Make it interactive

A very restaurant-specific method but can make you popular. Lets take Prax’s (www.praxs.ae) / @praxsuae for example. 

They offer a certain set of dishes but they also encouraged “go freestyle”. Their guests could either choose the options that exist in their menu or you could make your own meal with your choice of ingredients. That’s interesting!!

Puzzles…Pictures….are some more ideas that make your menu interactive. 

Think out of the box and then let your menu do the talking!!

These are some of the recommendations that I feel would enhance your experience in designing a menu and make “Menu” look like an interesting task. Menu designing and planning is a “One- Time” task…Make it VALUE!