As a restaurant, bar, hotel – or just about any other business on the planet for that matter – a first impression can mean everything and is likely to sway your customer’s opinion of you, which is why it is paramount that it is a positive one.
Their first point of contact with you is likely to be via your website, a poster or perhaps a menu and after taking in tempting images of tasty foods and plush rooms, their eyes will undoubtedly fall to the words, dishes and descriptions in front of them. This is the chance to really sell yourself, whether you are talking about your hotel’s unrivalled character and ambience, or the chef’s indulgent dish of the day – it’s important to check, double check and even triple check that there are no mistakes lurking, ready to annoy your reader or make them question your intelligence.
For me, it is one of my biggest pet peeves when I see something misspelt on a menu. For example, while in a restaurant recently, I was taking a look at the wine list when a certain bottle of white caught my eye. Sadly it wasn’t for its creamy, peachy flavour descriptions. No, this lovely bottle of 2007 Riesling was in fact described as ‘sweet, smooth & slightly vicious’ – not generally an attribute I look for when choosing a tipple. I had to assume of course that this was supposed to read ‘sweet, smooth & slightly viscous’ and that this fruity wine was not going to spontaneously attack its drinker!
This is one of the more amusing examples, although still completely unforgiveable, but the spelling snafu that really, really gets me is when the writer has chosen to use a foreign word and not spelt it correctly. This happens a lot, particularly on menus that include French elements. I can’t count the number of times I have enjoyed a crème brûlée or dined à la carte sans the correct accents.
Any correspondence you have with your audience is important, but I wanted to focus on menus, as this is where I see the most mistakes. It’s an opportunity for you to shine – whet your diners’ appetite by tempting them with your mouthwatering dishes and then hit them with a taste sensation when you deliver their meal. As funny as some spelling and grammar mistakes can be, they can damage your business’s brand by making people think that if you haven’t taken the time to proofread your menus, will you take the time to go the extra mile for your customers?
As a PR and marketing agency serving the hospitality industry, part of our job is to ensure all of our communication is of the highest standard, because clean and polished written copy is a critical element in sharp client-to-customer dialogue. When one of us is in doubt, we often call on Custard’s chief spelling and grammar ogre, Sophie.
Here are three menu blunders I’ve seen recently…
- Nachos served with salsa, sour creme [cream], gwakamoley [guacamole] and cheese – seen in a pub in Yorkshire
- Cheese burger with sheeps [chips] – seen in a kebab shop in Birmingham
- North Thumberland [Northumberland] roast grouse – seen in a restaurant in Newcastle
