Whenever you head to a restaurant and sit down, you may find yourself savouring the ambience, taking in the interiors and enjoying the aroma of delicacies wafting through the air. Dining out can be an immersive sensory experience. But struggling to place your order can quickly disrupt that experience. When you open the menu and are faced with several unfamiliar dishes, you may wonder which one would be the best choice.
So, what is the hack to navigating an extensive menu without getting worked up or falling back on the safest, most familiar dish? Vikas Narula, co-founder of Depot48, one of Delhi’s best-known independent live music venues and restaurants, where food, music and culture collide by design, shared the most common mistakes diners make while ordering and described how to choose dishes that are not the familiar type, but rather convey the kitchen’s strengths and create a perfect, wholesome meal Many diners take the wrong approach to reading a menu. But what exactly are they doing incorrectly? It’s treating the menu like an exam. It isn’t one. It’s an introduction.”
Vikas said, “Twelve years into running a restaurant, I can tell you the biggest ordering mistake isn’t picking the wrong dish.
He also shared his personal observation: “I’ve eaten my way through enough countries to know the same rule holds everywhere: restaurants introduce themselves before they reveal everything else. Ordering the dish a kitchen actually wants to cook is one of the few genuine compliments left in dining. So, this reveals that a menu gives a quick glimpse into a restaurant’s culinary identity.
Because it is recognisable, suppose you visit a Japanese restaurant, and you find an entire page devoted to robata dishes; do not immediately skip to sushi. Do not think about what is right or wrong or search for the supposedly best option. But there is no single correct answer when navigating a menu. Instead, Narula believed it should be used to understand the restaurant’s identity, culinary strength, and preferred cooking methods. Vikas then shared an example. There is likely a reason why the restaurant has highlighted slow-grilling barbecue Japanese food so prominently. Paying attention to such clues can help you understand the kitchen’s strengths and order a dish that represents what the restaurant is best at.
Vikas noted that diners often ask servers, “What is the best dish?,” as if there is one correct choice that will guarantee the best dining experience.
