Why do high-end restaurants have fewer menu photos?

Easy-to-understand family restaurants vs. confusing high-end restaurants

Everyone has been to a high-end restaurant at least once for a special occasion, right?
Relaxing music, service filled with the spirit of hospitality, breathtaking views, a calm atmosphere, and the faint scent of citrus from a warm hand towel...

Because we don't go there every day, everything provided there feels special. The food served in such an atmosphere brings a joy that cannot be experienced at home.

However,why are the menus always so hard to understand?

In the last few years, mobile ordering has become widespread in many restaurants, and if you scan a QR code, the menu is displayed clearly with photos. Even before that, almost all menus at family restaurants were designed with photos that really whet your appetite.

However, high-end restaurants share these common characteristics:

• Simple color schemes

• Only menu names, with no photos or even descriptions of the features

• Prices are blended into the menu, making them hard to find at first glance

I would like to think about this clear difference in the stance of menu creation together while solving a quiz.

Question

So, here is the quiz.

The answer will come right after the question, so if you are interested, please stop here and think about it for a moment.

The three characteristics I mentioned earlier are all intentional, but this time it might be good to focus on the fact that there are 'no photos'.

There isn't just one answer, and the goal naturally changes depending on the restaurant, but please try to focus on the 'simplicity'.

The intention behind simple menu notation

Now, I would like to explain it right away.

Answer

There is intention in the 'difficulty of understanding'

Photos are effective for simple, easy-to-understand dishes like 'beef bowls' or for business types with many first-time customers. In fast food and casual dining, they are considered to reduce decision-making anxiety and encourage ordering.

At high-end restaurants,
'leaving space' is more valuable than 'adding information'.

The presence of space creates a sense of excitement, as you don't know what kind of dish will be served until it arrives, and the time spent verifying your imagination when it is actually served becomes part of the experiential value.

Especially in high-end restaurants, the experience is designed to include not just the appearance and taste, but also the aroma, portion size, temperature, presentation, and the explanation and service provided at the time of serving.

To ensure that this experience is felt as valuable, the menu narrows down hints to just the dish name, allowing the customer to imagine the finished image through words and the experience itself.

For example, in the case of a menu item like 'Dassai Daiginjo Granita,' what would you think if a photo like this appeared first?

• A granita is basically like a sherbet, right?

• It looks pure white, so I can't tell what it is at first glance.

• It must be cold and crunchy.

• The portion won't be that big.

You end up thinking about various things like this.
Because you end up thinking about it, you try to enjoy it within the scope of what you imagined.

While having photos means 'it conveys information without explanation,'
it reduces the space and the pleasure of imagination that high-end restaurants value.

There are other reasons for not putting photos on the menu

• Because the content changes due to seasonal ingredients and procurement, photos are prone to discrepancies with the actual product.

• It becomes easier to compare with the photo, creating a risk of disappointment due to the gap with expectations.

• It maintains the chef's discretion without being bound by the reproducibility of the appearance.

I believe there are various reasons for this.

Creating an experience that goes beyond the guarantee of 'deliciousness'

When you invest time and money to go to a high-end restaurant, it is only natural to expect delicious food.

Therefore, since you unconsciously approach the table with the expectation that deliciousness is guaranteed, high-end restaurants are inevitably forced to thoroughly pursue how much they can exceed those expectations through elements other than just 'taste'.

Menus at high-end restaurants are less like sales materials and more like a part of the experience design.
By removing photos, it becomes easier for guests to perceive the food as an 'experience' rather than a 'consumer good'.

As a result, they are evaluated based on the narrative and craftsmanship of the experience gained at the restaurant.

The virtue of not explaining everything

In business-to-business transactions, we often find ourselves giving too much advice out of a desire to help the customer, or providing additional information when responding to a single inquiry.

Of course, depending on the time and situation, this can be perceived as kindness, but being given hints in advance can lead to psychological satisfaction, which might cause you to miss that 'final step'.

When thinking about the moment that brings the customer the most joy, just like a menu at a high-end restaurant, it is very important to design the timing for comparing expectations with results accordingly.

If this comparison happens too early, the hurdle at the time of delivery will rise, and if it happens too late, it may lead to dissatisfaction with the service quality.

By creating the optimal timing for each service, or by breaking down the timing into multiple parts to create mechanisms that allow for frequent comparisons of expectations and results, the customer's engagement will gradually increase.

For companies, this is especially important not only for the benefits, but also for the timing of explaining important matters and aligning on how to approach risks.

Conclusion

It is said that we humans are creatures of imagination.
Because we have the power to think about a future that has not yet happened, we can eliminate ambiguity and proactively deal with problems that may arise in the future.

However, in this busy modern age where we are exposed to various uncertainties every day, perhaps there are times when we should intentionally leave some room for thought, and by accepting an uncertain state, we can create the joy of imagination and the experience of building up imagined images together with our colleagues.

If you have the opportunity to go to a high-end restaurant next time, please let your imagination run wild!