Lead with the senses
Help the guest taste the dish before it arrives: texture, aroma, key ingredients, how it's cooked. "Slow-roasted lamb, charred onion, warm flatbread" sells harder than "lamb plate" — without overselling.
Keep it tight and honest
- A line or two is plenty; long paragraphs lose the reader.
- Name the ingredients guests care about, and any signature touch.
- Never oversell — a description that overpromises breeds disappointment.
Mind dietary and allergen clarity
Mark vegetarian, vegan, and spicy options, and surface allergens clearly. Guests order with more confidence — and stay safe — when the menu is honest about what's in a dish.
Get translations right
On a multilingual menu, translate for appetite, not just accuracy, and have a native speaker check. A literal translation of a dish name can read flat or even wrong in Arabic or Kurdish — write each language to sound delicious.