Menu translations gone wrong
 

I've seen enough over the years, but never thought of a receptacle for them. Here. I'll start, as seen today:

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As a Spanish Spanish speaker I find the Argentinian term for etrecot seems just as…. Argentinian as the literal translation sounds in English.

I’m just not used to seeing entrecot or ojo de costilla (lit eye of rib) described as “ojo de bife” , but that’s a me issue, the translation is absolutely accurate. It’s translating a very specific term used in a specific part of the world. What I don’t understand is why “rib eye” would be correct and “steak eye” considered wrong, they’re both weird.

Bife de chorizo, that’s a term that REALLY throws me.

Well yes, the translation is as accurate as can be. But this is La Argentina, where the Mexican word for dulce de leche when used here would either get you a slap on the face, arrested, or greeted with delight if you ask for a taste of someone's.

Probably my favo(u)rite menu translation gone wrong was on a (pm)UA flight from BRU to the USA where the English and Walloon portions of the menu were the same (with what seemed to be proper translations) and the Flemish portion of the menu had completely different items :D , none of which were actually served.

I just learned something new… err, thanks???

:D

I’m still curious what “Strange taste” is - Sheraton Chongqing club lounge.

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Not a mistranslation, but I found this in Copenhagen in 2014 and of course had to do the conversion, 360g is 12.7 ounces, so 3/4 of a pound, which does sound like something we would do in the US.

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Did you like it?

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Unfortunately, I did not try it - though, based on the rather obvious descriptions of the other 5, I could have used process of elimination.

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Chinese menus are often a hoot!

There was one place many many moons ago (not sure if they're still around as I rarely head to that part of town) that sold Porn Buns... this was before translate apps were a thing. And apparently spell checkers.

Not necessarily a translation but I always laugh at the play on words:
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Greece
 

Wish I still had the photo. In the window of a restaurant in Athens: "Sea Foot".

A bakery in Taipei had this:

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Hubby who is currently in Thailand assured me that he did not order the Smile with a Cartilage Smile. 😃

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This is a grocery receipt so not a menu item, but hopefully it is allowed. Hubby sent from Thailand. He said that "Chuen made an appointment with the frozen monk" is a bag of frozen spinach.

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I hate to ruin the mystery, but they're seasoned fava beans (I think, without a photo to confirm). In the context of the other items on the list, the best comparison to make would probably be wasabi peas or those peanuts with the seasoned crispy batter.

One of my favorites from a trip to Shanghai a few years back (I believe its just a mis-spelling of carp). The brown sauce is just icing on the cake.

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Probably related to this...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

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How blone would you like your ale?

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I suppose it is better than the flabby part of the chicken :eek:
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DL One lounge @ LAX. Even the server was embarrassed!

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I suspect the Autocorrect-using menu writer and proofreader, if any, spoke only one language and had never been east of the Mississippi (or California). :o

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I don't want to get to know the empanada, no matter what it may be filled with.

Is 2000 the price or the calorie count?

The price. I doubt they're more than 400 c/u.

Dear Diary:

I wonder what your butter tastes like.
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A number of years ago, a restaurant in Granada, Spain, had a bilingual menu with such gems as Calves Lever and Brian Omelet, the latter presumably made with the brains of an unspecified animal.

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That reminds me of the sign up sheet for a work potluck where someone wrote that they were bringing Doug nuts. The person handing me the sheet asked if anyone had talked to Doug about it.

Poor Edd has been Bonvoyed! :eek:
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It's not a menu translation, but I get the chuckle every time I see it in our grocery sore. I wonder how it tastes? :)

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One way to find out...

David

Obviously, it tastes like cock - I’m not sure how much more clear the label could be ;-)

The label can definitely be more clear, here’s the label on a packet I picked up recently that proves this:
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I think it is just a typo . We used to go to a local Chinese buffet where they had "bule carb". (Blue crab). We still call it that.

Seoul restaurant
 

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The shape of the bottle kind of gives it away too.

It was long before cell phone cameras so no proof but I still remember a lovely afternoon in Athens. My wife and I sat down at an outdoor table for mezze and one of the offerings on the printed menu was "Mead's Balls". Capitalized and with the apostophe.

To this day I don't know if it was meant for the entertainment of us tourists.