Trouble reading Hamburg menus/Favorite restaurants

Some restaurants which receive a lot of tourists (but not most restaurants) will have tourist menus with English (for instance, those around the main squares of bigger cities may have such menus). If I were you I would acquire a phrasebook for tourist menus - I have an very old one somewhere put out by Berlitz and would give you the title but I can't seem to find it at present. But it covers most European countries - maybe you can find a second-hand one on Amazon if it's out of print .

Excuse the Arabic type at the end of this message - my computer keys spat it out and I can't seem to delete it.هخرث

IMHO restaurants without translated menus are generally much better. Just get a small menu translator (Berlitz has one - or at least did) and it will not only translate specific words (chicken is fine- but what part and what have they done to it) but also describes many dishes.

And we've found that most waiter can give a description of dishes if you want more info.

The trouble with the menus in English is that they are usually for the standard fare, and might not include the daily/seasonal specials.

In Hamburg, the restaurant waiters should have no problem translating the menu into English. You can also try translating the menu now by using the free babelfish altavista translator.

When I went to Hamburg, there happened to be a carnival taking place in the city's main square. We attended the carnival and enjoyed the local fare. You could also see what you were getting. I would suggest being open to what happens to avaible when you get there.

Basically, you will come across a lot of different types of sausages with different names. You will probably see schnizel on the menu which is like a boneless pork chop.

Many Hamburg restaurants will have English translations on their menus, but to be on the safe side, pick up a Marling Menu Master or similar menu translator.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Parlament (formerly called the Ratsweinkeller), the restaurant underneath the Rathaus.

Hamburg is an awesome city. Be sure to take a harbor tour; it's amazing!

I too would suggest a good menu translator. They can be very helpful even if you speak a little German like I do. There are just so many variations on menus.

And as others have said, sometimes you can get an English translation of a German menu but I find they can be even more confusing depending on the skill of the translator!

If neither of these things are available to you, you might inquire if someone on the staff speaks some English. They might be able to help you.

Is a menu translator electronic, or is it in book form?

Mine is in book form. I think I found it at one of the large bookstores but you might be able to find one on Amazon.

Just be aware of "Labskaus", a Hamburg specialty
(Just kidding, but you should know that it is edible, regardless of the look of the dish)

Hamburg is an international, proverbial Anglophil city with many visitors from overseas. I would be surprised if any restaurant of some quality hired waiters that could not at least communicate at a fair level in English.
That does not necessarily apply to each and every Italian or Greek restaurant in a residential area, though.

To be on the safe side: Get the German translation of those things you really hate. Not all menus simply list dishes by their ingredients or list any ingredient or spice. So if you hated liver or bell pepper it would be good to know at least those words.

>>ordering what I thought was a pepperoni pizza for my daughter. When the pizza arrived, it was topped with red bell peppers.<<

Just the reverse happened to me when I ordered a pepperoni pizza at Pizza Hut in Tucson. Since in Europe "pepperoni" are chiles, I was greatly disappointed when I got a pizza covered with sausage.

Coming to Hamburg:

As other have said, most waiters will speak English. Many restaurants will have English menus, although they might be not on display. Does a translator help? Here some Hamburg specialties:

- Labskaus. It is a traditional sailor's dish. It consists of potatoes mashed with red beet, onion and corned beef and it served with marinated herring and a fried egg.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Labskaus.jpg

- Aalsuppe. A sweet-and-sour stew consisting of eel, vegetables and fruit.

- Hummersuppe: Lobster soup.

- Scholle Finkenwerder Art. Plaice with fried bacon bits.

- Birnen, Bohnen und Speck. A stew made of pear, beans and bacon.

- Rote Grütze. Red fruit jelly, served with vanilla custard.

Here some recommendable restaurants which are typical for Hamburg:

Old Commercial Room - right close to the "Michel". They make Hamburg's best Labskaus, but they also serve turbot in lobster sauce. A favourite spot for celebrities. Cozy atmosphere. www.oldcommercialroom.de

Fischereihafen Restaurant. A Hamburg institution. Fresh fish, prepared in a more traditional style. Expensive. http://www.fischereihafenrestaurant.de/

Fischküche. Fischereihafen's little sister. Less formal, less expensive, equally fresh fish, easier to find. http://www.die-fischkueche.de/

Birnen, Bohnen und Speck, yum.

hausfrau's recommendation of Parliament is very good. another recommendation is Schlachterborse if you want good steaks.

I don't think I'll be ordering Labskaus! LOL

Traveler1959, I like the European version of pepperoni pizza better, don't you? Thanks for the restaurant suggestions. I went to the Old Commercial site & was actually able to download a menu in English!

If you are in the most touristed areas, then there will be either an English translation or someone around who can get by in English. Away from such areas you would be very lucky to find someone who speaks English well enough to translate the menu for you. So have some sort of food-related translation book or device handy if you plan to wander off the beaten tourist paths.

Marling Menu Masters are slim little books; easy to slip into a purse. They have been around a long time (I think the German one was first published in 1970) but I bought mine at Borders a few years ago, so I think they are still around.

hausfrau, still available as of six months ago. useful!

I would agree with Marlings Menu Master - small, easy to carry, does a good job of explaining things. Still, there are a lot of things, usually regional specialties, that are not in it.

As for Schnitzel. Usually, it is pork cut from the "Oberschwalen", the equivalent of top round. You won't find it in this country as it is all made into ham. When I make it in this country, I make it from pork loin, but somehow the German Schnitzel is better.

Don't worry about the language, they will be able to help you at the restaurant. I guess having an English menu translation on the website is slightly tacky. But you will be fine.
A few remarks regarding earlier valuable comments:

Aalsuppe is a sweet and sour soup that contains eel only for the benefit of the tourist. Eel is considered a delicacy and the soup originally was leftover food and a pauper's dish. In local dialect it was labelled Aal soup to indicate that it included "all" kinds of stuff. Ignorant Germans from outside the city could not understand that and expected to get eel. In general I think it is very much an acquired taste and is best avoided.

Rote Gruetze on the other hand is a simple, but unbelievably delicious classic. It consists of red berries of all kinds, but if it includes strawberries you will know it was prepared by someone from another region who doesn't have a clue about what he is doing. Originally berries used to be mashed, but these days most restaurants serve it with the fruit still intact, which gives it a slightly different texture than the original, but still good.
You can have it with vanilla sauce as suggested, but the classic Hamburg way would be to serve it with plain milk and liquid single cream.

I just posted a list of Restaurants that I find worthy of visiting on another thread, which you may want to take a look at:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/hamburg-germany-where-to-stay-what-to-see-what-to-do.cfm

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Is the Birnen, Bohnen und Speck a regional speciality? It sounds awesome but I have never seen it in Bavaria when visiting. Sounds YUMMY!!