Comment 4 for bug 762291

I don't think there's anything like launcher applets yet - maybe we'll see these in the future? It is possible to add functionality to launcher items; there's an explanation for the Home folder icon here:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/35024/how-to-add-my-favorite-places-as-a-quicklist-in-my-homes-icon-in-unity

It might serve as an example that can be adapted. If you really need a main menu I suppose you could run a small instance of Docky or AWN (with a main menu applet and nothing else). There's probably a screenlets applet too, although there isn't one in the base pack of applets.