The application of menu engineering and design in Asian restaurants

This article describes a cross-cultural study, which examines the relevance of menu engineering and design to enhance the profitability of Asian restaurants. Many entrée items analysed were classified as unpopular and/or unprofitable and the menus sampled lacked merchandising effects. Despite that, the foodservice operators were content with the current menu items performances and retained these dishes to add menu variety. In addition, the operators were unwilling to change the current menu formats which they claimed were working well for the businesses. Education regarding the application of menu engineering and design is considered an effective way to develop the operators' commitment to these systems.