- Should a dim sum board show the piece count?
- Always, and beside the name rather than in a note. Har gow four pieces and har gow three pieces are different prices, and a board that hides the count moves the question to the counter, which is the slowest place to answer it during yum cha. It is also what makes two dishes at different prices look consistent rather than arbitrary.
- Is a light board a mistake for a restaurant?
- Not indoors. A pale board with dark type reads as calm and is easier to hold a lot of small type on, which suits a list where every line carries a count and a price. The two conditions are real contrast, meaning near black on cream rather than grey, and no direct daylight on the panel. In a window, go dark.
- How many dishes belong on one screen?
- Four to six lines per slide, and a second slide if the list is longer. The instinct with dim sum is to put the whole trolley on the wall, and the result is type nobody reads from a table. A loop lets you carry twelve dishes as two readable screens instead of one unreadable one, and each screen holds for long enough to be read.
- Can we show a set menu and the a la carte list together?
- On separate slides, yes. Putting them on one screen makes the customer compare a bundle to a price list in a single glance, which nobody does well. The set gets a slide with its price and what is in it; the list gets its own. They are one loop apart, which is a few seconds, and both stay readable.
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