ATTENTION ALL ASIAN RESTAURATEURS: You’re Missing A Huge Opportunity!

So I was having dinner with my friend Priscilla at a Japanese restaurant last night, and realised that Asian restaurants are missing out on a huge opportunity. As with almost any non-Asians, both of us had pretty much no idea what all of the options were on the menu, and we ended up making a little game out of the experience of guessing what we were ordering.

So instead of keeping their customers in the dark, or futily trying to explain all of the options for their patrons, I think Asian restaurateurs should leverage this opportunity by providing an incentive for the customers to play such a game.

I think the best model would be to provide one free desert for each group table and letting the customers pick and mutually judge their own game - something like “Pick a random menu item, and whoever’s order turns out closest to their guess will get the desert.” A little card on the table could explain the incentive and provide game suggestions.

This would have a couple of positive effects: encouraging groups to patronize the restaurant, incentivizing the “losers” to buy their own deserts, creating a memorable and fun experience, and most importantly, creating repeat business in a highly competitive industry.

So would you play the Asian Mystery Menu game?