UAE dining gets high-tech with iPads

You might not have encountered them just yet, but if you eat out regularly, the likelihood is that you'll be presented with one in the near future. Interactive iPad menus began appearing in restaurants in the US in 2010 and in the past year or so the trend has started to take hold in the UAE. For the uninitiated, the iPad's touch-screen allows customers to scroll through the menu, click on and enlarge photographs of specific dishes and call for service. It then depends on the restaurant whether you swipe a button to wirelessly transmit your order to the kitchen, or place it the old-fashioned way with a member of staff. While this may well be a clever technological development, does it take away from the romance and ritual of perusing a traditional restaurant menu? And after a day spent staring at our computer screens, do we really want to be doing this in our downtime? Alan Doyle is the marketing manger for Blue House, a Dubai company that provides market-specific applications for the iPad and iPhone. Blue House developed the interactive uTouchMenu solution for the iPad in late 2010. Doyle says that after a relatively slow start, the concept is starting to catch on. The Farm restaurant in Al Barari, Dubai, already uses the uTouchMenu and Blue House is working on solutions for a number of major hotel chains in the city. According to Doyle, this development has numerous benefits for the restaurant. "First and foremost, the digital menu allows the restaurant to interactively up-sell and cross-sell other items on the menu such as wine, fruit juices, side dishes or even shisha," he says. Other advantages, he adds, include the ability to make instant alterations to the menu, potentially increase revenue with a promotions section and boost customer loyalty by implementing a system that recognises repeat visitors and provides offers tailored to their preferences. Since opening last November, it's safe to say that Jumeirah at Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi has wholeheartedly embraced the iPad. Tablet menus are used at the hotel's signature restaurants Quest and Li Beirut, as well as Ray's Bar, and they will also be in place at the Japanese restaurant scheduled to open soon, Tori No Su. Beyond the food and beverage experience, the hotel offers free iPads for use in its conference centres, executive lounges, limousines and in a number of its suites. Doris Greif, the general manager of the hotel, says that one of the greatest advantages of the iPad menu is the increased choice it affords the customer. "The iPads provide the option for guests to really delve into the history, background, philosophy and gastronomic artistry involved in what they are eating or drinking. A full investigation into each can be undertaken, or alternatively guests can easily choose a limited search or even forego the iPad completely and rely on their own preferences or lean on the knowledge and suggestions of our experienced sommeliers and waiters," she explains. The introduction of iPad menus is likely to signal a decrease in the number of staff needed to man the floor and help the restaurant cut costs. However, relying too heavily on them could lead to a drop in customer-service levels, as it's often the expertise or knowledge of a member of staff that makes a meal truly memorable. David West, an Abu Dhabi resident who has eaten at both 55&5th The Grill at the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort (where the beverage menu is on the iPad) and at Quest in Etihad Towers, says that while he did appreciate the concept, he still prefers the more traditional approach.