Don't be seduced by menu descriptions

When eating out, what do you consider foremost when choosing a restaurant? Studies confirm that people prioritise food and beverage type first, followed by location, price and value, atmosphere, and, last but not least; the level and speed of service. When buying out (takeaway food), speed of service or more accurately, speed of delivery would triumph above all.

Speaking of food first, the majority of us decide what we want to eat, even before choosing the restaurant.  Although you have an idea of what you want to eat , choosing a restaurant isn’t always a decision that happens in a split second - particularly when it involves a group of people (family/friends), where seeking a restaurant whose menu includes something for everyone is paramount. However, everyone agrees, that people go where their cravings take them – so long as it is friendly to their wallet.

At the restaurant, as you sit down at your table, the waiter hands you your menu. You scan the menu and something just ‘bursts out’ at you. It’s not your appetite; it's how the food is represented. From this point onwards you order has very little to do with cravings and everything to do with how the restaurant’s menu exerts its powerful influence over what you’ll ultimately have for dinner. The menu is used to communicate to diners what the restaurant has to offer. Every item on the menu carries a brief description of the dish. A few lines that tell the story behind the food on the plate, while specifying the ingredients and the process of creating the final product can be considered as a good item description.

Research shows that words that promote taste and texture or appeal to diners' emotions can increase sales by 23 percent, and can even influence the way you think the food tastes. In one study, when a menu item was described in great detail (for example, “Succulent Italian Seafood Filet” rather than “Seafood Filet”) its sales increased by 27 percent. Mouth-watering descriptions like "tender, juicy chicken breast" or "ripe heirloom tomatoes" are increasingly common on restaurant menus. Words like these prep your taste buds to expect your chicken to taste juicy…so when it doesn’t, it results in disappointment. Creating a perfect balance between appetising sounding description, yet keeping it short, interesting and ‘honest to goodness’ can be quite tricky.

Additionally, a menu is both, a positioning statement and a marketing plan of the restaurant operation One rule-of-thumb has it that the longer the words on the menu, the more expensive the restaurant. Descriptive labeling is growing in use among restaurateurs. Unfortunately, there are those, who, in pursuit of adding a positive power-of-suggestion or halo to a menu, paint a picture that is far from the real. For example, they have a "Rack of Lamb" on the selection list, but you end up with two or three small chops. A "rack"...is just that...a rack. After you chop the rack...they are chops. When there is lobster, they never mention that it's a half-tail, sliced long. Be extra aware of sensory terms like "velvety" mousse and nostalgic ones like "legendary" spaghetti and meatballs. Some mislead diners over farm standards, using caged eggs for dishes supposedly containing "free-range eggs".

Businesses should always check that their menus accurately reflect the food on offer. Using untrue descriptions of the food offered is a form of mis-spelling. The popularity of TV food programmes and celebrity chefs may be leading to 'exaggerations' of menu descriptions but people have the right to expect that the meals they buy are genuinely described on the menus and price lists.

Ilzaf Keefahs

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