Sydney restaurant replaces menus with iPads

THE iPad's already a tasty treat for tech lovers, but now it will let you order tasty treats as well.

Florence Sandford, Renate Ruge, Margarita Peker and Lisa Perkovic (left to right) order on the iPad menu. Picture: Ross Schultz

THE iPad is already a tasty product among gadget lovers, but a North Sydney restaurant has become the first in Australia to replace their printed menus with Apple's new touch screen device.

Global Mundo Tapas in the North Sydney Rydges Hotel yesterday introduced a custom-made iPad application which allows customers to browse the virtual pages of the menu with a sweep of their finger.

Diners can peruse the dishes and see a picture of what the dish looks like along with tasting notes before compiling their order and sending it wirelessly to the kitchen.

The iPad menu can also suggest the best wines to go with certain dishes and suggest the best food pairings.

When ordering steak, users can even specify how they'd like the meat cooked and which sauce they'd prefer.

It will even ask them if they'd like fries with that.

Mundo's iPad menu app can also help keep track of stock levels so if certain dishes and wines sell out they will automatically disappear off the on-screen menu.

Craig Simpson, Rydges area general manager, says the new iPad platform will enhance the dining experience.

"We have something that presents really well, sells our food really well and is absolutely dynamic," he said.

Mr Simpson said the iPad menu would eventually make it possible to order food based on the weather or even match dishes to a person's mood.

While the waiters and waitresses of the restaurant will still be required to take the food from the kitchen to the tables, the iPad will mean they will have to work a little harder for their tips.