Menu – The Illusive
Here’s how it goes, now, in most of the restaurants I have been in Indonesia:
I scan the menu, the plethora of yummy sounding food, then I choose an item. The waitress comes up and asks whether I am ready to order. I said yes, I am, I’m one of the ones who are pretty decisive on any choices I make. I mentioned my order, she/he said “Sorry, at the moment we haven’t got any of ….”
This happens, all the time. I have not visited a restaurant that had all the items either my friend or me chooses.
So now, it has become a game for me. I ask ‘ What have you got’ and they would say ‘ it is in the menu’, and I would guess the thing I think they won’t have. My guess works most of the time. I think because most of these kitchens only hold 70% of what they have on the menu. When they say we don’t have this then I say “So now, can you tell me what you actually have in?”
Choices are good, right? But what good are choices when they don’t actually exist. It is some kind of an illusion that will just shatter your hungry dreams.
From my experience whilst travelling, I think restaurants with limited menu have better quality of food. The best food I had in Venice, Rome and London are from non-consequential looking cafés, with 3 only choices for mains at lunchtime. The food was divine.
They serve seasonal food, from items they bought from the market fresh that day or the day before. They cooked limited beautiful portion with care, fresh that day. Not, half-warm microwaved food, fished-out of the freezer.
Indonesia has so many seasonal fruit and food, a lot of which are organically grown, coupled with the breath of recipes, why is it impossible to have freshly prepared menu? Which means a variety of food can be tasted through out the seasons.
What do you think? Would you be more disappointed with a restaurant with little menu, or big menu but half of which is unavailable?
Indonesia’s nature sure is rich, but chance is, we are more of menu lovers than food connoisseurs 🙂
Do you think so? I think we love good food though, we might not be connoisseurs, but having fresh ingredient is more our culture than western countries. I know that some people still go to pasar everyday/every other day to buy their food. I am not sure I want to be a food connoisseur. 🙂
Haha..iya kalau pelayannya sudah mulai bilang maaf yg ini kita habis, harus pakai kata sakti, jadi yang ada yang mana aja mba/mas? biasanya sesuai dugaan yg bisa dimakan tinggal 40% dr isi menu…..
Bener2 glad that the frustration is not mine alone. 😄
Only in Indonesia apa gak sih ya Ndien, disini kalau pas kosong, udah di sticker in gitu menu nya dan ditulis kosong, atau saat pelayan nya ngasih menu lgs diinform juga.
Bikin bete kalau lagi laper terus semua yang di menu kosong zzzzz…zzzz
Hmm, kalau di Indonesia soalnya ampir setiap resto begitu. Dalam beberapa minggu ini kebetulan ke resto macam2 beragam dari sekitar 4 kota di jawa. Jadi mending ke Food Court, atau tempat khas menu apa gituu.
haha, keinget satu kejadian pas masih tinggal di Jkt dan ke restoran apa gitu, pesen ayam bumbu istimewa. trus pramusajinya balik dari dapur ke meja kami, bilangnya, “nggg, anu Mbak, ayamnya ada tapi ngga ada.” 😀 mau marah tapi malah jadi ngakak dengernya! entah itu ayamnya yg ga ada atau bumbunya yg ga ada, tapi cara ngomongnya aja yg lucu.
sebenernya sih kesel banget kalo kejadian kyk gitu, dan seingatku belum pernah kualami di tempat lain selain Indonesia. untungnya pas baru2 ini ke Bali, hampir sukses semua tuh (kecuali di 1 restoran kebetulan makanan yg ibuku pesan malah ngga ada). i hope those restaurants have learned their lessons there in Bali.
yg aku ngga suka dengan kebanyakan restoran di Indonesia adalah entah kenapa kok susah banget minta makanannya dihidangkan sesegar dan sepanas mungkin. maklum suami perutnya rada sensitif, kami selalu minta makanan yg dipesan datang dgn asap masih mengepul (maksudnya supaya jelas kelihatan bahwa makanannya dimasak dgn benar & mateng, dan kalopun udah dibikin dari pagi2 tapi kalo dipanasin sampe panas banget kan setidaknya kuman2nya mati semua). tiap kali minta begini pasti datengnya masih adem alias ngga panas sama sekali, anget aja nggak. uuuhhh…. kadang jadi males kan makannya. but that’s another story. :p sorry for rambling!
Looh? Ayamnya ada tapi gak ada maksudnya apa? Hahaha. Oh iya tuh kemarin kan gw bawa temen2 ke Jogja, jadi kalau makanan gw pilihin jadi sharing, I make sure yg harus digoreng atau dioseng sih. Jadi tahu kalau baru dimasak. Untungnya everyone is ok. Saat salah satu mereka merasa mual2 ternyata hanya masuk angin, jadi gw kasih tolak angin sembuh. Hahahhaha!
Little menu! Cauae I always confuse myself on what to eat. More menus make it worse. Hahhaha
Totally! High five!
Kalau menunya banyak, selain puyeng milih2 mana yg mau dimakan, karena rasa2nya pengen dipesan semua haha. Suamiku pernah kesel nih waktu ke Indonesia direstoran pesen ini itu jawabannya sedang ga ada, sedang ga tersedia. Trus dia bilang, lha kenapa kok menunya banyak banget, mending tulis aja yg ada apa, daripada capek2 ditanya banyak ga adanya. Iya bener, mending menu isinya dikit tapi ada semua dan fresh. Pernah kejadian juga sih di restoran Indonesia di Den Haag.
Hah! Beneran tuh, gak masuk akal. Beneran deh Den, di Venice tuhh makanannya sedaaap banget, menunya bener2 tergantung tangkapan hari itu. Lezzaat. Kejadian apa di Den Haag.
Menu makanannya banyak disalah satu restoran Indonesia di Den Haag, tapi banyak yg kosong. Sekalinya ada rasanya ga fresh, kayak dipanasin berkali2, trus makanan lainnya kayak keluar masuk freezer. Sampai sekarang kapok ga mau kesana lagi. Padahal ini restoran terkenal.
Oooh ok. Ew dipanaskan berkali2? Di Belanda tuh ada badan tukang ratingnya gak sih?
I prefer a short menu karena artinya bahan-bahan fresh. Bener ini, pesen ini itu ngga ada. Mengesalkan ya. Jadi mikir gimana komunikasi dapur & staf pelayannya?
Benar.kenapa juga staffnya tidak tidaķ diprep sblumnya.
Definitely. It’s so common that you hardly think of it.
But I don’t think it is right. Remember when they gave change in candies instead. They should change.
I totally agree with you on this one, but in Indonesia, unfortunately nobody cares about customers’ rights
I thought it was only me who found this problem while eating out in Indonesia! Yup yup agree with you, and I found it very annoying, cos sometimes I’ve already set my heart on some dishes and they were not available oh my God…pengen ngamuk rasanya, tapi malu ntar saingan sama anak kecil😜😜🙈🙈
Agree, better have not so many dishes but they are actually available! 👌🏻
Hahahah! It is amazing right? I mean seriously, how much would cost to just print a menu of available items, most menus are also worn anyway, they need changingm
Exactly! Blom lagi kalo setiap menu yg kita mau tiap ditanya si mba/ mas nya harus masuk dulu ke dalam utk nanya dan ujung2nya tetep ga available….oohhh pengen balikin meja beneran😝😝
Hahaha! Aku ngetestnya selalu dengan Kopyor , jarang banget ada tapi banyak resto yg tampilin di menunya. Kalau di Eropa sekarang seasonal menu is considered better.