Our team recommends
Source A: A recommendation with a person behind it — an original cafe-owner proposal
Customers often ask our staff what they would recommend. I would like to add a small section to the menu where willing team members can name a favourite drink or dish and explain what they enjoy about it. The invitation could make choosing more interesting than reading another list of ingredients, especially for somebody visiting for the first time.
A useful recommendation should describe an experience rather than declare one item the winner. An assistant might explain that a dish has a strong flavour they enjoy or that a particular drink suits the sort of break they prefer. Another person's favourite could be entirely different. Showing that variety might give customers a way to identify what appeals to them without asking the busiest member of staff to make every decision on their behalf.
Staff contributions would be voluntary, and wording would need checking with them before it appeared. We should decide how names are used and allow somebody to change a comment when their preference or role changes. The menu must not turn a casual conversation into a permanent public statement which an employee has forgotten agreeing to supply.
We also need accurate practical information. A personal recommendation does not replace the normal description of the item or the cafe's process for discussing individual requirements. The section should make choice easier without implying that a favourite suits everybody. We could begin with a few short comments and ask customers whether they helped. The purpose is to give the menu a human voice, not pretend that popularity is an ingredient or that customers must share our tastes to enjoy the visit. Keeping the section small would leave the main menu clear for people who simply want to choose without another conversation.
Source B: Whose favourite is being sold? — an original cafe-employee response
I like helping customers choose, but I would want the recommendation section to remain honest about its purpose. A cafe is selling food. If staff are encouraged to favour the item the business wants to promote, a personal comment could become a sales instruction wearing somebody's name. The menu should not claim an independent preference when the answer was effectively supplied in advance.
Even a genuine favourite has limits. I may enjoy something a customer dislikes, and I may have tried only part of the menu. Please do not imply that one sentence represents an expert judgement on every alternative. A useful comment gives a reason which the customer can weigh, rather than using an employee's friendly presence as a substitute for information.
The invitation could also create work at the counter. Customers may ask to speak to the named person, challenge the recommendation or expect them to explain details beyond what the comment says. Staff need to know how the section will be presented and what support is available. Declining to appear should not become evidence that somebody lacks enthusiasm for the job.
I would support a small section with genuinely willing contributors, accurate descriptions and a clear explanation that preferences vary. Let people approve the exact words and ask for them to be removed without a difficult conversation. Keep ordinary choices equally easy to find, and do not hide other information behind personal praise. Ask customers what the comments helped them decide and ask staff whether the arrangement affected their work. A lively menu could be welcome, provided the people whose voices it borrows retain a real choice about what they are saying.
Write a letter to the cafe owner evaluating the staff-recommendation proposal and recommending how it should be introduced.
Use your own words and base your response on both sources. In your response:
Write about 250 to 350 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 25 marks for writing.
60 exam-style questions on CIE IGCSE English Language 5.2.3 Question 1(b) directed writing task. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.