A while back when we were on vacation in FL, my wife, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and I went to a Japanese steak house (why we were going to a steak house instead of a fish place is a whole other topic). We had the grandparents watching the kids and were looking forward to a nice evening out. Amy even wore this smokin' hot dress...wait...that's another blog as well.
On the menu, they advertised that every meal came with a salad, soup, the main course, and dessert. All was going just fine...the salad was the typical ginger salad that you get at such a place. The soup was good...the brothy, onion soup that we all love and expect. The teriyaki steak wasn't the best that i'd ever had...but it was edible and certainly as advertised.
After we finished the main course, they brought the dessert...if you want to call it that. It was actually an orange slice in a bowl with a
The thing that is incredibly stupid is that if the restaurant hadn't mentioned a dessert on it's menu, I would've never even missed it. Not only could they save themselves money on oranges, but they could also have kept their reputation in tact. It's a marketing principle that is pretty fundamental:If you're going to make a promise, you'd better deliver.
Or, as Seth Godin puts it, it's best to under promise and over deliver (with some degree of moderation). The price I paid for the steak wasn't excessive...it didn't need a dessert with it. I didn't go to the restaurant looking for a meal with dessert included. But, once they offered a dessert with the meal, they should've come through with something big. If they wanted to bring me an orange...don't mention dessert, fruit, a surprise, or anything...just bring it out as an over delivery. If you're going to say a dessert is included, go big...make it a 3-layer chocolate cake with a scoop of ice cream and caramel drizzle with a cherry on top (note: i don't like cherries, but you get the point)...make it remarkable.
Who knows, perhaps they know what they're doing...they got me to write an entire post about it. But I refuse to tell you the name of the place. For one, I don't remember it...but if I did I wouldn't dignify them by mentioning it here. I'm not angry...just dumbfounded.
2 comments:
No... it wasn't a mint leaf. it was one CHERRY that we got with our slice of orange. the funniest part was that your "dessert" bowl had an orange & the cherry stem... but NO CHERRY! i about peed in my dress laughing so hard about it. i think someone ate the cherry between the kitchen & our table.
seriously... if you advertise dessert.. you could at least bring out a cookie or some sherbet. an orange slice & a cherry (or stem) does NOT constitute dessert!!!!!
I think you should email the blog about it to the restaurant...If you ever come back to IA guess what I am making for dessert!
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