Platebill
How to write menu descriptions guests actually read
A dish description has one job: help a guest decide. It should say what is on the plate and why it is worth ordering, in the time it takes to glance down a page. Most good descriptions are shorter than you think.
What a description should tell the guest
Guests mostly want to know three things: the main ingredients, how it is cooked, and anything surprising. Add where an ingredient comes from only when it really adds something, such as a single estate coffee or a regional rice.
- Main ingredients, in the order a guest will taste them.
- Cooking method, such as charcoal grilled, slow cooked, stone baked or tempered.
- What it comes with, such as served with jeera rice or two butter rotis.
- Anything unexpected, such as heat level, a cold dish in a hot section, or a sharing portion.
Keep it short
Aim for one line, two at most. Around 6 to 15 words is a comfortable range for most dishes. Long descriptions make the whole menu slower to read and push dishes onto extra pages. If a dish needs a story, give the story to your signature dish only, or put it on the back of the menu.
Not every item needs a description. Espresso, masala chai, plain naan and jeera rice explain themselves. Describe the dishes where a guest might hesitate.
Before and after
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| A delicious and mouth watering preparation of the finest paneer in a rich, creamy and flavourful gravy | Paneer, tomato and cashew gravy, finished with butter and kasuri methi |
| Our amazing world famous chicken | Chicken thigh, 24 hour yoghurt marinade, charcoal grilled |
| Coffee drink with ice cream | Blended cold coffee with a scoop of vanilla ice cream |
| Healthy bowl | Brown rice, roast pumpkin, chickpeas, tahini, pickled onion |
Words to cut
Words like delicious, tasty, mouth watering, amazing and finest tell the guest nothing they can check, and when every dish has them they cancel each other out. Replace them with something specific: the cut, the spice, the technique, the side.
Watch for repeated words too. If every dish in a section is rich and creamy, guests stop noticing. Read a section aloud, and any word that comes up three times probably needs changing.
Style and format
- Start the description with a lower case word or a noun, and leave off the full stop. It reads as a note, not a sentence.
- Separate ingredients with commas. Avoid slashes, plus signs and ampersands.
- Use the local name for the dish and explain it in the description, for example Akuri on toast, then Parsi style scrambled eggs.
- Keep allergens and diet details out of the description and in their own marks, so guests can find them quickly.
- Write the same way across the menu, so no section sounds like it was written by someone else.
Writing descriptions in Platebill
In Platebill, each dish has its own description field, separate from the name, the price, the diet mark and the allergens. Layouts set the description in a smaller, quieter style under the name, so you never have to style it by hand. When you paste a menu as text, a line without a price right under a dish becomes its description if it reads like one, for example a line with commas or several words. If a long description pushes dishes off a fixed size card, the editor tells you which ones no longer fit. For allergen and diet details, see the guide to veg and non-veg symbols.
Questions people ask
How long should a menu description be?
One line, two at most. Around 6 to 15 words covers most dishes. Save longer text for one or two signature dishes.
Does every dish need a description?
No. Familiar items like espresso, plain naan or steamed rice do not need one. Describe the dishes where a guest might be unsure what they are getting.
Should I list allergens in the description?
Better to keep them separate, in a short contains line or a mark next to the dish name, so guests with allergies can scan for them quickly.