Mouthing Off

Stop tech taking over in restaurants. I want a physical menu and real people – you can’t replace the human touch

The advance of tech into the restaurant sector with things like QR code menus and robot waiters can be frustrating, and AI like Chat GPT could make it worse

But what technology can’t do yet is taste – maybe ChatGPT could create something based on restaurant dishes it has processed, but it can’t compute flavours yet

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The advance of AI into the catering sector continues, with robot chefs and waiters, but Andrew Sun believes they can’t replace the human touch, especially in higher-end restaurants. Photo: Shutterstock

Andrew Sun has dabbled in many shades of the media spectrum for 25 years, from college radio, TV, print and online columnist to starting film festivals, managing music labels and authoring food books.

Published: 4:45pm, 20 Apr 2023

If there’s such a thing as tech-shaming, I feel I’ve been experiencing it in restaurants.

When I sit down to eat now I’m as likely to be told to scan a QR code as handed a physical menu to order my food. If I ask for a proper menu, it is usually met with a patronising look from the waiter as he fetches a laminated hard copy.

Usually, it’s young Gen-Z part-timers who just can’t hide their disgust. Their face says, “I’m busy enough, boomer, can’t you just use your stupid smartphone?”

Call me a Luddite but I prefer to read a real menu in my hands than scroll down to the day’s special on my mobile. I like being able to see the whole board at a glance instead of flipping back and forth, up and down, to compare the appetisers and mains.

A robot waiter at the Restaurant & Bar Hong Kong x Gourmet Asia event at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

I don’t want to have to click on another page to see the drinks and desserts list. My eyes are tired enough looking at a screen all day. Plus, it’s very easy to get interrupted from my ordering by new notifications, or a particularly chatty WhatsApp thread dinging nonstop. I just don’t want to concentrate that hard for my dinner.