Chapter 4

Menu Planning & Development

By: A/wahab Farah

(MPH), B.Sc. (Nutr.Sc) & (BA)
 Objectives
To explain the importance of a menu
To explain the basic rules of menu planning
To understand the different types of menu.
To acquire skill in planning a menu.
To identify factors to be considered when planning a
menu
To identify constraints in menu planning
To plan and write a menu
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 INTRODUCTION
“The menu is the heart of any
restaurant; It showcases everything you
have to offer for food and beverages.”
The menu is designed carefully what the outlet
wants to cater for, keeping in mind the type of
customers.
 The main advantage of a well-planned menu is that
it leads to consumer satisfaction.
 It also helps to motivate the employees for a
responsible and successful service.
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 DEFINITION
Menu can be define as:
A list of food and beverages served in a food service. It is a
presentation of detailed list of dishes in a catering operation
and may include full meals or snacks.
Cuisine is a style or method of cooking and characteristic
of a particular country or region.

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The Purpose Of Menu

 To list items sold in the restaurant.

 To educate customers
 List of price
 Menu description
 Act as a marketing tools
 Major determinant for the budget.
 Gives customers satisfaction
 Part of an organization’s brand identity

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 TYPES OF MENU
1. Table d'hôte or Set menu
 Food items grouped together & sold for one price.
 Comprises a complete meal at a predetermined price.
 It usually includes three to five course meal available at a
fixed price.

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2. A la carte
 Food items priced individually.
A multiple choice menu, with
each dish priced separately.

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3. Static Menu
 Same menu items are offered every day.
 Frequently used and restaurant’s
concept is built around the menu,
including:
 Décor or decoration
 Advertising campaign
Market segment identified as the
target customers
 Examples: Pizza Hut
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4. Cycle Menu
 Different
items each day on a weekly, bi-weekly, or
some other basis, after which the cycle is repeated.
 Seasonal cycle menus are common.
 Used in healthcare institutions and schools.
 Offersvariety with some degree of control over
purchasing, production, and cost.

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5. Single Use
 Planned for service on a
particular day and not used
in the exact form a second
time.
 Used in on-site foodservice in
which the customer does not
vary much from day to day.

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6. Du jour menu – List the items “of the
day”. These menus change daily and
are focused on seasonal ingredients,
preparing
the freshest food possible.
7. Tourist menu – used to attract tourists

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 MENU EXAMPLE

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 TYPES OF MEALS
 Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a
night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning
before undertaking the day's work. Among English
speakers, "breakfast" can be used to refer to this
meal or to refer to a meal composed of traditional
breakfast foods (such as eggs, oatmeal and sausage)
served at early morning.
 Bruncha meal usually taken late in the morning that
combines a late breakfast and an early lunch is a
combination of breakfast and lunch eaten usually
during the late morning but it can extend to as 3 pm.
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 Lunch is a midday meal of varying size
depending on the culture. During the 20th
century gradually focused toward a small
or mid-sized meal eaten at midday. Lunch
is the second meal of the day after
breakfast.
 High tea (also known as tea time) usually
refers to the evening meal or dinner of the
working class, typically eaten between 5 pm
and 7 pm. Consists of a hot dish, followed
by cakes and bread, butter and jam.
Occasionally there would be cold cuts of
meat, such as ham salad.
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 Dinner usually refers to the most significant, and
important, meal of the day, which can be the
noon or the evening meal. The average dinner
time in the U.K. for those who call their evening
meal dinner has been found to be at 7.47pm.
 Supper may refer to a late- evening snack or else
as an informal family meal (which would be eaten
in the kitchen or hall room) as opposed to dinner
which would be eaten in the dining room. It is
common for social interest and Normally taken
between 10 pm to 11 pm.

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 INFLUENCES ON THE MENU
1.Health and eating
Customers are increasingly looking for the availability of choices that will enable them
to achieve a balance diet.
Customers are also requiring more specific information on methods of cooking
and ingredients used to produce their meal such as low fat milk, less sugar drink.

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2. Dietary requirements
Customers may therefore require a certain diet for medical reasons, some
may need to know about the ingredients used in a dish.
Allergies Food items that are known to cause allergies include the gluten in
wheat, rye and barley, peanuts, sesame seeds and other nuts such
as cashew, pecan and walnuts, as well as milk, fish, shellfish and
eggs. Cause anaphylactic shock resulting the lips, tongue or throat
swelling dramatically over a very short period of time.

Diabetic Refers to the inability of the body to control the level of insulin
within the blood. Avoidance of dishes with a high sugar content.

Low cholesterol Diets will include limited quantities of animal fats. Other items
eaten may include grilled fish or meat, fruits and vegetables, low
fat milk and yogurt.
Low sodium/salt Reduction in the amount of sodium or salt consumed.

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3. Cultural and religious dietary influences
Various faiths have differing requirements with regard to the ingredients that may be consumed,
cover preparation methods, cooking procedures and equipment used.

Hindus Do not eat beef and rarely pork. Some will not eat any meats, fish or eggs.
Diets may include milk and vegetarian dishes.
Jews Do not eat pork or pork products, shellfish or animal fats and gelatin from
beasts considered to be unclean or not slaughtered according to the
prescribed manner – kosher (clean).
Muslims Will not eat meat, offal or animal fat unless it is halal meat. Will
not consumed alcohol even used in cooking.
Sikhs Do not eat beef or pork. Some will keep to a vegetarian diet.
Rastafarians Will not eat any processed foods, pork or fish without fins (ex: eels). Will
not consume tea, coffee or alcohol.
Roman Catholics Usually will not eat meats on Ash Wednesday . Some of them not eat meat
on Friday.
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4. Vegetarianism
It may derive from cultural, religious, moral,
ethical or physiological considerations.

Vegetarians semi Do not eat red meats or all meats. Diet will may include fish, poultry
and dairy products.
Vegetarians lacto Do not eat meat, fish or poultry but may eat milk, milk products and
ovo eggs.

Vegetarians lacto Do not eat meat, fish and eggs but may eat milk and milk products.

Vegans Do not eat any foods of animal origin. Diet only consist of
vegetables, vegetable oils, cereals, nuts, fruits and seeds.
Fruitarians Diet may include mainly raw fruits and dried fruits, nuts, honey and
olive oil.
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5. Ethical Influences
Customers have become increasingly aware of ethical issues,
such as:
 Ensuring sustainability of foods consumed
 Fair trade
 The acceptability of genetically modified
foods or irradiated foods
 Reducing food waste
 Reducing the effects that food production and food
transportation have on the environment generally
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Basic Rules Of Menu Planning
Know your operation
- Cuisine
- Equipment
- Personnel
- Quality standards
- Budget
Know your guest
- Food preference
- Price
- Age

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Must Satisfy Guest Expectations

Reflect your guests’ tastes

Reflect your guests’ food preferences
Ascertain your guests’ needs
Must attain Marketing Objectives
Locations
Times
Prices
Quality
Specific food items

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Must help to achieve quality objectives

Quality standards:
flavor, texture, color, shape, flair,
consistency, palatability, visual appeal,
aromatic apparel, temperature
Nutritional concerns:
low-fat, high-fiber diets, vegetarian
Must be Cost-Effective
Commercial
financial restraints
profit objectives
Institutional
minimizing costs
operational budget
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Must be Accurate
Truth-in-menu laws exist in some localities,
cannot mislabel a product
“butter” must use butter not margarine
“fresh” must be fresh, not fresh frozen
“homemade” not purchased “ready-to-heat”
Space
Equipment available
Work flow
Efficiency
Ingredients
Standard recipe
Availability of the ingredients required any time
Cost

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Marketing Implications

Social needs
Physiological needs
Type of service
 (fast food, leisure dinning)
Festival
Nutrition
Quality Levels
Guests’ expectation
Employees’ skills and knowledge
Availability of equipment
Specific ingredients
Food selling prices

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Menu engineering

 Menu engineering is a way to design a menu in order

to push your most profitable dishes and up-sell to
your guests.
 The goal is simple: to increase profitability per guest.
 With the right menu engineering:
 you will be able to feature the most popular,
important and profitable dishes on your menu
 you will make it easy for your guests to choose a
dish
 you will be increasing your profit margins and you
will have a menu that is
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Menu design and layout
A good restaurant menu design is key to any
restaurant’s marketing plan. When you design
a menu it should express your eatery’s personality,
focuses your overall operations, promotes
profitability, establishes your budget, and keeps
your brand fresh in your customer’s mind.

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 Menu design

First impression is always important, the entire menu should complement the
operation
Cuisine Type style and/or lettering
Interior Decor Names of food items
Design (Merchandising) Description
Creativity Popular items are at the top of a list
Material Daily specials
Color Operations address
Space Beverage service
Separate menus for each meal period
Separate menu for host/hostess and
guests

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Menu Layout

Sequence:
Appetizers, soups, entrees, Depends on the operation (side orders, salads,
sandwiches, beverages) Depends on popularity and profitability
Placement:
artworks; space; boxes; clip-on; etc.
Format:
Menu’s size
General makeup
Typeface:
Printed letters
Font size

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Steps in menu planning

1. Plan dinner meals or other entrees for entire cycle

2. Select the different dishes
3. Plan dessert for both lunch & dinner
4. After luncheon & dinner meals have been planned, add breakfast & any
others
5. Evaluate if clientele, government regulations & managerial
considerations have been met

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Evaluating menus

Must set standards

Determine how menu is helping to meet standards

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Menu Evaluation:
Questions Most Often Asked

1. Is the menu attractive?

2. Do the colors and other design elements match the operation’s
theme and decor?
3. Are menu items laid out in an attractive and logical way?
4. Is there too much descriptive copy? Not enough? Is the copy
easy to understand?

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5. Is the typeface easy to read and
appropriate to the restaurant’s theme and
decor?
6. Have the menus been easy to maintain so
that guests always receive a clean, attractive
menu?

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 RECIPE

38

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 A recipe is a set of instruction for
producing
certain dish.a In order to match a desired it is
preparations, necessary to record the
ingredients, their amounts and the way they
are combined or cooked.

 Standardized recipes is a set of instruction

describing the way a particular establishment
prepares a particular dish.

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 Standardized recipes provide a
list and amounts of ingredients,
yield, equipment needed,
cooking time, cooking
temperature, and sometimes the
calorie count per serving. These
recipes ensure the same result
each time it is made. The
opposite of a standardized recipe
is an ‘original’ recipe.

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The structure of a standardized recipe

1. Name of the recipe

2. Total yield, number of portions and portion size.
3. Ingredients and exact amounts, listed in order of use.
4. Equipment needed including measuring equipment, pan
sizes, portioning equipment and so on.
5. Directions for preparing the dish
6. Preparation and cooking times 40

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Menu Pricing

DESIRED FOOD COST PERCENTAGE PRICING METHOD:

manager determines a reasonable food cost percent
then divides a menu item’s standard food cost by its reasonable food cost
percent

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 THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!

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