Sydney restaurant replaces menus with iPads

[Shayla]

THE iPad is already a tasty product among gadget lovers, but a North Sydney restaurant has become the first in Australia to replace their printed menus with Apple's new touch screen device.

Global Mundo Tapas in the North Sydney Rydges Hotel yesterday introduced a custom-made iPad application which allows customers to browse the virtual pages of the menu with a sweep of their finger.

Diners can peruse the dishes and see a picture of what the dish looks like along with tasting notes before compiling their order and sending it wirelessly to the kitchen.

The iPad menu can also suggest the best wines to go with certain dishes and suggest the best food pairings.

When ordering steak, users can even specify how they'd like the meat cooked and which sauce they'd prefer.

It will even ask them if they'd like fries with that.

Mundo's iPad menu app can also help keep track of stock levels so if certain dishes and wines sell out they will automatically disappear off the on-screen menu.

Craig Simpson, Rydges area general manager, says the new iPad platform will enhance the dining experience.

"We have something that presents really well, sells our food really well and is absolutely dynamic," he said.

Mr Simpson said the iPad menu would eventually make it possible to order food based on the weather or even match dishes to a person's mood.

While the waiters and waitresses of the restaurant will still be required to take the food from the kitchen to the tables, the iPad will mean they will have to work a little harder for their tips.

Source : News.com.au

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

ohh yum may have to pop over later this week and try it out :)

[primexx]

nice idea

[Archstroke]

It makes me wonder whether things like the App store and web browser are locked down?

[PsyOpWarlord]

Interesting approach. I like how it updates the menu with inventory and places the order. It would be neat if there was enough of them so at least one could always be at each table with WiFi for surfing the net and news.

Only downside is preventing their theft (but a simple RFID chip in the iPads an a detector at the door would solve that, and the possibly of them being dropped or broken by customers.

[eangulus]

Don't quite understand why they have to work harder for their tips.

Here in Australia it is not customary to give tips like it is in the US.

[Billus]

Hmm, can't say I'm a big fan of this. I like the personal touch when I go out to a restaurant. It seems to me that a waiter or waitress will only need to grab the iPads and ask if there are any questions. I'm guessing that the meal is fully described on the menu.

[Xerxes]

Nice idea but how they gonna stop people stealing the iPads? they aren't cheap to replace and relying on good faith of the customer is a huge risk!

[Raa]

Next time i'm down that way i'll have a look.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I never tip here in Australia. I might say 'keep the change' but never would I give anyone more then they need.

[Growled Member]

Sounds like a neat idea to me. The iPad is going to take over the world.

[Evolution]

Hopefully the machines are durable enough to at least last for a year.

[nub]

I wonder what would happen if I "accidentally" broke it.

[DavidM]

I wonder what would happen if I "accidentally" broke it.

Good question, and are they durable enough to be dropped/knocked off the table? I know I wouldn't want to drop my laptop off a table more than once.

[Shayla]

Wonder who rate this topic 1 star?

Probably iPad fanboys :shifty:

[mokthraka]

Good question, and are they durable enough to be dropped/knocked off the table? I know I wouldn't want to drop my laptop off a table more than once.

if its anything like the Iphone it is, I have dropped my phone in the middle of the street, a good 4 foot drop. I think I dropped my Iphone like 20 times, still works fine.

[primexx]

Interesting approach. I like how it updates the menu with inventory and places the order. It would be neat if there was enough of them so at least one could always be at each table with WiFi for surfing the net and news.

Only downside is preventing their theft (but a simple RFID chip in the iPads an a detector at the door would solve that, and the possibly of them being dropped or broken by customers.

if they did leave one at each table, they could just chain it down, maybe even weld the cable into the aluminum casing?

Nice idea but how they gonna stop people stealing the iPads? they aren't cheap to replace and relying on good faith of the customer is a huge risk!

they could count how many they bring to & back.

Wonder who rate this topic 1 star?

Probably iPad fanboys :shifty:

lol =p

the iPad: it's about as useful as a glorified menu XD

if its anything like the Iphone it is, I have dropped my phone in the middle of the street, a good 4 foot drop. I think I dropped my Iphone like 20 times, still works fine.

yea but this thing is so much larger = pressure distribution is totally different.

[Nightwind Hawk]

Wow.... kind of scary though... they really are getting rid of the waiters! I suppose a few iPad's is always going to cost less than hiring extra workers...

[sujmano]

don't pay tips in aust

[The_Observer]

Don't quite understand why they have to work harder for their tips.

Here in Australia it is not customary to give tips like it is in the US.

yea and the same in NZ!!!!

[M_Lyons10]

Hm... Interesting idea, but with the cost of these things, I'm a little surprised a restaurant would give them to its patrons... I mean, if one got broken... Or stolen... ? I can appreciate that it likely is a great menu, but it would have to be a heck of a lot cheaper for me to make that particular gamble...

[carmatic]

Mundo's iPad menu app can also help keep track of stock levels so if certain dishes and wines sell out they will automatically disappear off the on-screen menu

i've been waiting for a feature exactly like this

the number of times when i ordered a meal , just to wait 5 minutes for the waiter/waitress to come back from the kitchen and tell me they havent got any left...

imho in commercial settings they should use a specially customized ipad, not the plain common variety which everyone else has... i think it should at the very least be waterproof against spills in the restaurant, next thing would probably to be putting their own logo at the back of the device... maybe it wont really look like an ipad anymore, it would probably have one of those 'phone protector' things with the rubbery grip that goes all around the edges, but it would be an off the shelf solution which should still give good value...

[TrueMonolith]

Hm... Interesting idea, but with the cost of these things, I'm a little surprised a restaurant would give them to its patrons... I mean, if one got broken... Or stolen... ? I can appreciate that it likely is a great menu, but it would have to be a heck of a lot cheaper for me to make that particular gamble...

They're probably insured.

Its also North Sydney....which is a much more affluent end of town. I've been to this particular restaurant before as well (i think i'll have to pay another visit sometime soon). The Banzai Potato's are amazing (if they still serve those).

[e-berlin.org]

Great idea. I hate annoying waitresses sooo much.

[Singh400]

Can't believe I am saying this, but this sorta rocks...