Menu Evaluation Of Kong's Kitchen, Adelaide South Australia

Aesthetic factors of Chef's Special

Question:

Discuss about the Evaluating of the Menu Kong’s Kitchen.

In the assignment, I aim to reflect on the food menu of a specific Chinese restaurant, Kong’s Kitchen at Adelaide in South Australia. In order to evaluate the restaurant’s menu, I have considered certain measures like aesthetic factors, sustainability, management decisions and onsite food service menu planning. The Kong’s Kitchen at Adelaide in South Australia is noted for scrumptious palette of Chinese foods. The restaurant is popular for authentic Chinese dishes like Chinese Chef’s special, Cold Dishes, Stir-Fried and Steamed dishes. Speaking briefly, Kong’s Kitchen is an embodiment of ‘mini China’ in Australia (Kong's Kitchen, 2017).

The Chef’s Special includes a delectable ‘mini spicy hotpot’ that is mainly essential for dinner. The Mini Spicy Hotpot contains exotic ingredients like sliced pork belly, beef, chicken giblet, sliced beef, fish tafu, fish balls, seafood sticks, beef tripe, kongfu potato, cauliflower, needle mushroom, cabbage, bok choy, tofu, wide vermicelli, black fungus and cucumber. The mini spicy hotpot is accompanied by sesamine oil or dry chilli powder.

As far as the aesthetic factors are concerned, the mini spicy hotpot is a delectable mix of exotic ingredients that give a consistent mould to the dish. The cabbage, wide vermicelli, black fungus, cucumber, cauliflower and other magnificent ingredients give a nice veggie touch to the dish. At the same time, beef slices, chicken giblet and needle mushroom give a consistent shape to the dishes. The Kong’s Kitchen restaurant uses specific spices and condiments like sesamine oil and dry chilli powder that give an extravagant look to the particular dish (Altinay et al., 2015).

There are three variants of menus such as static, single use and cycle. As far as Chef’s Special is concerned, it falls under a ‘cycle’ segment. The ‘cycle’ menu is defined as an array of menus that provide varied items each day on a weekly or monthly basis. The Chef’s Special of Kong’s Kitchen comes under the ‘cycle’ section. The chef’s special is not always the same every day (Walker, 2016). In the above section, I have evaluated the ‘mini spicy hotpot’ that falls under the category of Chef’s Special, Kong’s Kitchen at Adelaide in South Australia.

As far as ‘my pyramid’ is concerned, the ‘mini spicy hotpot’ of Chef’s Special does not fit the bill. The meal is nutritious and very delectable. However, the meal does not contain composite nutrients such as fruits, whole grains and dairy products. The ‘mini spicy hotpot’ is a blend of inclusive and exclusive dish. It contains protein-rich vegetables that stimulate the taste buds of the food lovers.

As far as the sustainability factor is concerned, the ‘mini spicy hotpot’ sets a wonderful paradigm. In order to produce the dish, the chef uses locally grown vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber and potatoes. With these vegetables, they make bok choy salad. At the same time, they use other seasoned items like vermicelli and black fungus to bring stability in the dish. The chef also uses fresh chicken, beef slices and fish gathered from the nearby markets (Calhoun & Douglas, 2015). With the help of these ingredients, the chef maintains ‘sustainability’ in the specific dish.

Categories of Menu

This segment mainly contains appetizers that soothe the taste buds before a heavy supper. Spicy and sour shredded potatoes and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar are the main highlights of this section. In this segment, ‘Vegetables and Soups’ menu is largely static, inasmuch the same items are offered every day. This menu can be the speciality of the Kong’s Kitchen. The Chinese restaurants like Kong’s Kitchen are popular for these kinds of appetizers and heavy Asian meals. At the same time, the static menu has been the set thing for many restaurants.

As far as aesthetic factors are concerned, the dishes those fall under the category of ‘Vegetables and Soups’ maintain these factors. The dishes have flavour, consistency and brilliant texture. The Chinese restaurants have dishes that manifest extravagant texture, consistency and rich flavour (Calhoun & Douglas, 2015).

As far as sustainability is concerned, the dishes those fall under the category of ‘Vegetables and Soups’ have composite elements. The dishes are prepared with the help of locally-grown vegetables like potatoes, cabbages, lettuce and vermicelli. In addition, some exotic herbs have been used while preparing the appetizers. Chinese cabbage and red chillies are the ‘seasoned food’, as they are cultivated during winter. Kong’s’ Kitchen does not use processed food or any harmful chemicals. Vinegar and soya sauce are used in preparing the appetizers, which are not detrimental to health (Kong's Kitchen, 2017). The section ‘Vegetables and Soups’ replaces ‘meat’ with ‘fresh and exotic vegetables’ that are healthy and nutritious for people of all ages.

The Kong’s Kitchen has a segment ‘Rice and Snacks’ that includes many scrumptious dishes like Kong’s braised pork rice, fried rice with eggs and shrimps, fried rice with fish and black beans. The snack section contains vinegar and chilly chips, stir-fried pork, cold spicy chicken and deep-fried meat and vegetables (Kong's Kitchen, 2017).  It is indispensable to analyze the section with the help of various factors like types of menus, aesthetic factors and sustainability factors. In this segment, ‘Rice and Snacks’ is the reflection of static menu. The reason is this section is the characteristic of many speciality restaurants. The Chinese Kong’s Kitchen is not an exception in this regard.

As far as the aesthetic factors are concerned, these dishes have all the necessary aesthetic elements. The dishes prepared under the category of ‘Rice and Snacks’ maintain rich flavour, consistency and shape (Bartkus et al., 2016).  The Kong’s Kitchen uses fresh and leafy vegetable, exotic herbs, smoked spices and fresh meat that give a nice mould to the dishes. Therefore, these dishes have all the composite factors like richness, consistency, flavour and texture that make the section an excellent one.

As far as the sustainability factors are concerned, the dishes those prepared under the category of ‘Rice and Snacks’ maintain the sustainability aspect. These dishes are prepared with the help of locally grown vegetables like leafy cabbage, pickled vegetables, black beans, juicy tomatoes and red chillies. These vegetables are locally grown items and are mostly seasoned items (Kong's Kitchen, 2017).  In this section, sustainable sea foods like shrimps and exotic sea fishes are baked and presented. At the same time, pork and chicken are used in this category. This section mainly contains chicken and pork items.

In this segment, Management Decision is given much priority for all the restaurants. Therefore, the Chinese restaurant Kong’s Kitchen is not an exception in this regard. The management decisions encapsulate food cost, production capabilities, and types of services and availability of foods (Mok et al., 2013). The food cost is within the reach of the target customers. The school and college going students are the target customers of Kong’s Kitchen, which is a speciality Chinese restaurant at Adelaide in South Australia. For instance, the dishes those prepared under the section of ‘Rice and Snacks’ range between $8 and $10. Therefore, these dishes are pocket friendly for the customers. The Kong’s Kitchen has plenty of resources both in terms of man-labour and machine (Kong's Kitchen, 2017). At the same time, there is no dearth of exotic and fresh vegetables, meat, chicken and pork. At the same time, they have the arrangements for cold drinks and beverages like ice tea (Kong's Kitchen, 2017). Therefore, the production capabilities and types of foods are the essential factors in this segment.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Kong’s Kitchen is a Chinese speciality restaurant. It is a nice take-away, fast Chinese eatery that serves pocket-friendly dishes. The service of the restaurant is standard and they love to serve people of all generations and communities. However, the students are the target customers of this restaurant. This food chain serves quality food with a low pocket pinch.

It is recommended that the restaurant upgrades some of the sections like ‘Vegetables and Soups’, ‘Rice and Snacks’ in the coming time. It is advisable for them to include some other lip-smacking dishes to attract the students to the hilt. At the same time, they can also experiment with exotic herbs and spices for spawning a melange of Chinese and continental fare.

References

Altinay, L., Paraskevas, A., & Jang, S. S. (2015). Planning research in hospitality and tourism. Routledge.

Bartkus, K., Reeve, D., Allred, S., & Lee, Y. (2016). The Desired Characteristics of Hospitality/Tourism Management Employees: A Review of Research Quality.

Buhalis, D., & Crotts, J. (2013). Global alliances in tourism and hospitality management. Routledge.

Calhoun, J., & Douglas, A. (2015). An Analysis of Hospitality and Tourism Research: Learning Organization’s (LO) Influence. Handbook of research on global hospitality and tourism management, 359.

Kong's Kitchen. (2017). [online] Available at: https://www.zomato.com/auckland/kongs-kitchen-onehunga/menu [Accessed 13 Apr. 2017].

Mok, C., Sparks, B., & Kadampully, J. (2013). Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. Routledge.

Walker, J. R. (2016). Introduction to hospitality. Pearson Higher Ed.