What’s for lunch? Value-driven mix, 48-minute express menus
What are we having for lunch?” It’s a recurring question that comes up at home, in the office, or just about anywhere. And the answer to where to have lunch isn’t as straightforward as it seems. After all, consumers have many factors to consider, such as choices, preferences, and convenience, among others, that make the journey to reaching a decision extra tedious.
At the top of the list is choice overload, which, based on research, sums up the process in one statement: “the more options, the harder it is to choose.”
Chasing the lunch crowd
In Metro Manila, there seems to be no letting up with more and more restaurants opening today. But that’s just one part of the equation. Cravings and dietary restrictions also influence decisions. There is also the challenge of limited resources based on location, as well as the need to find value-for-money offerings.
On the foodservice industry side, midday is a crucial period for restaurants, given that a high volume of lunch crowd drives daypart traffic and sales. Fast casual, fast food chains, carinderias, and street food stalls are generally patronized by Filipinos for convenience, affordability, and home-style cooking. Even grocery stores now offer relatively affordable, grab-and-go, rice-based meals.
In contrast, premium casual and casual dining restaurants face increased competition in attracting midday customers due to certain factors such as price sensitivity (due to a slowdown in discretionary spending) and time constraints (limited break time).
But how are some casual dining restaurants adapting to the challenge and engaging the lunch crowd? By leaning into value and speed with fixed-price, express lunch combos, streamlining lunchtime a la carte offerings, and doubling down on the in-house experience—“a key driver of business at lunch.”
48-minute lunch express menu
Leveraging the value-for-money strategy, the new lunch express menu at Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill at Newport World Resorts leans hard into midday indulgence, business lunches, and social catch-ups—the kind that conjures ’70s leisure lunches.
Only this time, it’s all packed into 48 minutes without ever feeling rushed or sloppy.
Available from Mondays to Fridays between 12 and 5 p.m., the menu features new starters, mains, and desserts recreating a modern British dining experience. Key customer draws include a watermelon salad for starters, a couple of valuable meaty mains (braised New Zealand lamb shoulder with smoked mashed potato and slow-roasted pork belly with sweet potato purée), and desserts that deliver a luxurious finish to the meal—salted peanut butter mousse and a house-made cannoli.
While designed to target a broad range of customers—from time-sensitive diners and value seekers to affluent socializers and high-income consumers—the 48-minute lunch express menu also serves as an attractive entry point into the Gordon Ramsay ecosystem for new diners.
Further emphasizing premium meals at good value, the 48-minute lunch express menu is available at P1,488 for a choice of any two dishes and P2,488 for a choice of any three dishes and a complimentary drink.
Weekday menu du jour in BGC
Drawing inspiration from Parisian wine bistros, Bistrot Le Coucou redefines the French experience even more with a value-driven, four-course lunch menu tailored for the corporate crowd and employees keen on treating themselves on weekdays.
The four-course menu—priced at P1,880+ per person and available Monday to Friday from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.—embodies Carlo Lorenzana’s vision and Spanish chef Luis Martinez’s take on French bistro cuisine in a format that celebrates relaxed, unhurried meals, if customers choose to.
But while lazing away a couple of stylish hours in the beautiful, sun-drenched space isn’t the usual lunchtime routine for most, Bistrot Le Coucou’s menu is functionally designed to provide guests with an experience that can power anyone throughout the day.
The menu includes a starter, salad, main course, and dessert, with options to customize the first three courses. What to order? Start with a French onion soup, flavorful and classic for a reason. Or opt for the sautéed clams in white wine.
The salads are standard fare: ratatouille and salad niçoise. But the daily specials are streamlined for a more premium reimagining of familiar products. The brawny, boneless chicken thigh braised in cognac and white wine, garnished with mushrooms and bacon, and served on mashed potatoes, works exceedingly well in filling up appetites.
So does the pan-seared salmon au riesling, before ending the meal with popular salted caramel beignets.
Customer (satisfaction) is always right
Two important takeaways from Bistrot Le Coucou’s menu du jour focus on the constant pursuit of reemphasizing customer satisfaction. First, similar to Gordon Ramsay’s express menu, is customization and beverage upgrades; second, the high-value experience is seen—not just in plating and presentation, but also in the portions matching their à la carte counterparts.
As these two restaurants remind us, luring the noon clientele comes down to packaging the quality experience that respects their time and price sensitivity.
