One fine day, you wake up wanting to take a break from the everyday meal prepared at home. You can either have it delivered from the restaurant or go to one.
The first thing that comes to mind is which restaurant to go to. Choosing a restaurant can be challenging when your palate craves something different.
When you finally arrive, you’re staring at the menu. The fragrant aromas of good food served at other tables add to the already famished state and confused mind! The agonising wait and the eagerness to taste the delicious food compound the situation.
The waiter comes to the table to take your order. Amidst the depressing distraction, you forget what you’re supposed to order!
Ordering food sounds simple… until you have to do it in person. You cannot plainly decide on what to order merely by looking at the menu. It is easy if you are alone; two or more people make it challenging.
After I got married, my wife and I would occasionally visit McDonald’s. Her choice was simple – McSpicy Chicken. Mom, when she tags along, chooses the same due to her preference for spicy food. On the other hand, I stare at the screen, figuring it out as I go. I don’t have to delve too long over it, but the mind does take time to decide.
In India, one goes through three courses of a meal. The starters or appetisers, options like kebabs or liquid choices like soups, are the first preferences for a meal.
The next course includes the main dish, gravy, and options such as rotis, naans, or pav. And sometimes, rice items are also part of the order.
Desserts come next, due to personal preferences, not many place orders for this. I believe this is because specialised dessert shops cater to a wide range of tastes!
1. Too Many Choices
When a restaurant menu offers too many options, it often leads to confusion. It gets agonising when you are unable to decide. That compounds when you are famished!
So, in such instances, you stick with your regular order. You are seldom ready for experimenting.
2. Time Pressure
What I’ve noticed is that some speciality restaurants keep their menu simple. They offer a decent choice based on the theme, offering flexibility. For example, a restaurant may be themed in a Punjabi style and feature dedicated Punjabi cuisine on the menu. They will also allow flexibility to accommodate Mughlai, Indo-Chinese fusion, and limited continental options. Usually, they keep popular items listed. Those choices might be small, but they exist to offer flexibility.
3. Regret After Ordering
The desire to try something new can sometimes have negative consequences. It could make or break your hunger. Sometimes you overestimate your hunger. The food remains, and you have to carry the remainder back home, unlike me, who does not leave it as is.
The food you order will be of high quality, and while it may come in smaller portions, its value justifies the cost. Despite the quantity you re-order it.
There was this very fancy restaurant I was eager to take my family to. It had a great reputation, but when I tried it, the surprise was unusual.
One fine day, I finally had the opportunity. I took my family there. The restaurant menu was significantly more expensive than most places I had visited. That didn’t bother me. I placed the order and waited patiently for the food to arrive.
When it did arrived, the quality that I had built in anticipation wasn’t what I had expected. The food was terrible and did not justify the price I was paying. I was disappointed.
People no longer go to the restaurant to satiate their hunger. They go to enjoy the ambience, the service and the food which they do not prepare at home. Why have the same thing at the restaurant that you prepare at home? This is one because you might feel unsure about what to order.
The best way to overcome decision fatigue is to ask the waiter for a suggestion. My wife always checks if the base for gravy is red or green masala. She checks the quantity to see if it would suffice for three adults.
Visiting a themed restaurant does help to narrow down your food choices. For example, if you visit a Maharashtrian-themed restaurant, the best thing to order is the Thali.
The dish features two types of gravies: Pandhara Rassa, a thin white gravy made with chicken stock, and Tamdha Rassa, a plain thin red gravy.. It also features Chicken Dry, Egg Gravy, and offers a choice of bread: Bajra, Chapati, or Tandoori Roti. Lastly, it is served with steamed rice.
The choices are subjective based on the restaurants you visit. Until then, you wouldn’t know.
When you go to the restaurant, it is the food that matters. The price comes later. We visit that place to enjoy ourselves, have a memorable experience, and recommend it to our friends. We also recommend the dishes. Word-of-mouth makes or breaks a restaurant.