Restaurants Uncut

The ‘eating-out’ industry of Pakistan has seen an exponential rise in the last couple of years in spite of bone-crushing recession and all the doomsday hoopla. Moolah ceases to be an issue for the denizens of this part of the world when it comes to food. People love eating out. Period.

But it’s not a new trend by any stretch of the imagination. Pakistanis have always been into this habit big time since God knows when. Whether it’s the lack of entertainment options or something else hasn’t been unearthed as yet but one thing is crystal clear, this industry is going to be the biggest earner and possibly a big contributor to the GDP in the days to come. And yet, it has not attracted the attention of MNCs, TV/radio channels or big shot marketers. Nor is the industry marketing-savvy. Yes, there are notable exceptions, like Dawn News is providing some ‘food for thought’ with the program ‘For the Love of Food’ which aims exclusively on this industry.

But by and large, the industry hasn’t been put in the limelight by the electronic media. Brandasy.com has tried to cover it to some extent, only to realize that an industry of this size requires an entire site dedicated to it and not just one category on a branding website. Hence the birth of Restaurants Uncut, a website which is a comprehensive review guide of the restaurants, cafes, ice cream parlors, ‘dhabas’, ‘thelas’, anything that sells an edible item. All reviews are categorized according to the cuisine (French, Italian, Pakistani, fast food), price range (Rs.100 over Rs.1000), area (from Clifton to Buffer Zone) and special offers. Initially, only the eateries of Karachi are going to be covered, hence the categorization according to area and not city. But later on, other cities’ specialties are going to be put to the sword as well.

That’s the consumer’s part.

It doesn’t stop there. It then goes on to provide an in-depth analysis of the food joint from a marketer’s point of view, what it is doing right or wrong, what more it could do and whether it should just close shop or continue to press on. No subtleties here.

There’s going to be a ‘Consumerater’ at the end of each review, which would tell the prospective customer at a glance whether to indulge in a particular joint or not.

The site would develop with time and consumer feedback whether a particular review correctly guided the person or not, and what more information can be divulged to aid the visitor in making a better eating-out decision.