Trend watch

Trend watch: could secret menus crack the UK?

By Daniel Woolfson

- Last updated on GMT

Trend watch: could secret menus crack the UK?

Related tags Restaurant Menu Fast food

It may sound ridiculous, but creating outrageous dishes that you don’t actually tell anyone about could help create brand loyalty and drive profits.

America’s fast food chains were the first to clock on to the benefits of these “secret menu” items.

When customers realised they could potentially turn their gastronomic fantasies into reality, beastly offerings such as the “Monster Mac” – a big mac filled with a whopping eight beef patties – began being ordered then surreptitiously catalogued and reviewed by users of prominent secret menu resource www.hackthemenu.com​. The movement hasn’t stopped growing.

Some other notable and popular secret menu offerings have included Starbucks’ neuron-shattering “Liquid Cocaine”, which consists of four espresso shots, four pumps of white chocolate syrup, ice and milk and KFC’s “Triple Down”, a club sandwich with deep fried chicken pieces instead of bread and a calorific filling of bacon and cheese.

Whilst fast food joints may seem better suited to using secret menus for promotion due to their prominence in public awareness, food-based pubs could use similar techniques to treat in-the-know customers to a unique dining experience.

“The advantage of [secret menus] is that it drives customers to join a ‘club’,” says Peter Backman, managing director of Horizons. “The advantage of offering a product to members of a ‘club’ is that customers feel exclusive and at the same time operators gain greater access to them.

“I can definitely see it working for independent operators: for independents, offering special secret products can help build a club whereas for larger chains it’s a way of expanding an already existing one.”

Some UK outlets have already begun offering secret items, often requiring a secret code from prospective customers.

At the Dorsia in London, a secret arugula ceasar salad can be ordered by asking a waiter or waitress if they’ve read American Psycho. In the novel, Dorsia is an exclusive NY eatery where psychotic protagonist Patrick Bateman repeatedly fails to get a booking.

At Italian restaurant Antico, also in London, diners can get their hands on a serving of Campari ice-cream by asking a waiter if he has “cold balls” (no joke).

So whilst this method of ordering does risk making you look like a bit of an oddball, the results can be delicious.

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