How to read a menu in any language

Each guide covers how menus are laid out in that food culture, the words for cooking methods and ingredients in the local script, the allergens that hide in the cuisine, phrases to explain an allergy or diet, and how ordering, tipping and paying work.

  • Japanese日本語Japanese menus mix kanji, hiragana and katakana, but a few dozen characters (肉 meat, 魚 fish, 焼 grilled, 揚 fried) cover most dishes. Prices include tax by law, tipping isn’t done, and izakaya often add a small otōshi cover charge.
  • Chinese中文A Chinese dish name usually tells you the cooking method, the main ingredient and the cut, so a few dozen characters (炒 stir-fried, 鸡 chicken, 丁 diced) go a long way. Mainland China uses simplified characters, Taiwan and Hong Kong traditional.
  • Korean한국어Hangul is a phonetic alphabet you can learn to sound out in an afternoon, and Korean dish names end with the cooking method (구이 grilled, 찌개 stew, 볶음 stir-fried). Prices include tax, side dishes are free, and you don't tip.
  • ThaiไทยThai dish names are built from a cooking word, a main ingredient and sometimes a sauce (ผัด phat stir-fried + กะเพรา holy basil + หมู pork). Fish sauce and shrimp paste are in most savoury food, and upscale bills may add 10% service and 7% VAT.
  • VietnameseTiếng ViệtVietnamese uses the Latin alphabet, so a dish name reads like a recipe: noodle or rice type, then meat, then cooking method (bún chả, cơm gà nướng). Fish sauce is in nearly everything, and North and South use different words for pork, peanut and sesame.
  • Hindiहिन्दीIndian menus are mostly Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi words in English letters. Learn the cooking terms, the veg and non-veg marks, and where ghee, cashew paste, mustard and wheat-cut hing hide, and you can order almost anywhere.
  • ArabicالعربيةArabic menus run right to left and follow a set pattern: cold mezze, hot mezze, salads, grills, then sweets. Learn about 20 words and where sesame, pine nuts, pistachio, wheat and dairy hide, and you can order across the region.
  • TurkishTürkçeTurkish menus use the Latin alphabet plus six extra letters, and follow a fixed order from soups and meze to grills and sweets. Learn the cooking words and where butter, yoghurt, pistachio, sesame and bulgur hide, and you can order anywhere.
  • GreekΕλληνικάGreek menus are split into starters, salads, cooked dishes and grills, with fish sold by the kilo. Learn the alphabet's false friends, a few cooking words, and where egg-lemon, fish roe, flour and nuts hide, and you can order in any taverna.
  • ItalianItalianoAn Italian menu runs in courses: antipasti, primi (pasta and risotto), secondi (meat or fish), contorni (sides ordered separately) and dolci. You choose two or three, not all of them, and a per-person coperto usually appears on the bill.
  • FrenchFrançaisOn a French menu the entrée is the starter and the plat is the main. A menu or formule is a fixed-price set of courses, prices already include service, and butter, mustard, wine and cream run through sauces you can't see.
  • SpanishEspañolSpanish menus split into small tapas, shared raciones and plated courses (primeros, segundos, postres). At weekday lunch the fixed-price menú del día is the best value, and dinner rarely starts before 21:00.
  • PortuguesePortuguêsPortuguese menus list soups, fish and meat dishes, often in full (dose) or half (meia dose) portions. The bread, olives and pâtés that arrive unasked are the couvert: you pay for what you eat, so send back anything you don't want.
  • GermanDeutschGerman menus run Vorspeisen, Suppen, Hauptgerichte, Beilagen and Nachspeisen, with numbers or letters beside dishes that point to additive and allergen footnotes. Prices include service, and you tip by naming the total as you pay.

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Read the next menu in your language

Foodglot translates the whole menu from one photo, shows each dish and flags anything that clashes with your diet or allergies. Free, no signup to scan.

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