Alright, let me walk you through how I recently put together a Mandarin cuisine menu. It wasn’t for anything official, just a personal project I got stuck into, wanting to see if I could organize something decent.
First off, I just started listing things. Pulled out memories of dishes I love, things I’ve cooked, stuff I’ve eaten out. Didn’t really organize it at first, just a big brain dump. Everything went down – Kung Pao Chicken, Mapo Tofu, dumplings, noodles, the works. It was a mess, just a long list of food.
Then came the sorting hat moment. I looked at this giant list and thought, okay, need some structure. Started grouping them. You know the drill:
- Appetizers
- Soups
- Main Courses
- Rice & Noodles
- Desserts (though honestly, Mandarin desserts aren’t usually a huge focus, added a couple simple ones)
Sorting the Mains
The main courses section was still huge. So, I broke that down further. Made sections for Pork, Chicken, Beef, Seafood, and importantly, Vegetable dishes. Made it much easier to see if I had a good balance or if it was just fifty chicken dishes.
Next, I had to be realistic and start cutting. You can’t have everything. I tried to pick a good variety within each section. A spicy one, a mild one, something saucy, something stir-fried. Kept the classics people expect, like Sweet and Sour Pork, but maybe threw in one or two slightly less common things just for interest. It’s about creating a balanced offering, not just listing favourites.
With the dishes chosen, I started writing descriptions. Kept it super simple. No flowery language. Just the main ingredients and maybe the cooking style. For example, for Mapo Tofu, something like: “Mapo Tofu – Soft tofu and minced pork in a spicy chili bean sauce.” Short, tells you what it is. Did that for every single item.
I even thought about pricing for a second, just mentally. You know, thinking this dish has expensive ingredients, that one is labor-intensive. It helps make the menu feel more real, even though I wasn’t actually printing prices.
Putting it Together
Finally, I organized it all neatly. Used simple headings for each section, like
Appetizers
,
Soups
, etc. Used bullet points or just simple line breaks for the dishes under each heading. Made sure the dish name stood out, maybe using bold, then the description underneath.
Read the whole thing through a couple of times. Checked for typos, made sure the categories made sense, tweaked a few descriptions. It looked pretty solid. Felt good to get it all down and organized. It’s just a straightforward list, really, but going through the process makes you appreciate how much thought goes into a real restaurant menu.
