French Menus - How to Read?
 

Does anyone have a good web site on reading/interperting French Menus? I searched on menus here but basically came up with restaurant suggestions and trip reports. If you know of a good thread title, that would also be appreciated. Thank you.

If you are going to Paris you most likely will see menu in English and other languages. We were impressed with menu ‘books’ some restaurants had.

You might want to pick up a Berlitz phrase book. The section with food items is very useful. The other sections are also helpful as they not only provide the translation but the phonetic pronunciation (which in France is half the battle.)<BR><BR>I find that the problem is not identifying the main ingrediant - beouf/beef, canard/duck, lapin/rabbit, but the preparation and secondary ingrediants.<BR><BR><BR>

Buy yourself a Maerling Menu Master.<BR>They are small, fit in your pocket, are divided into food catagories (appetizers, drinks etc) and are a really big help.<BR>Have fun, bon appetit!

I second the Maerling Menu Master (I'd been trying to remember the name of the one I borrowed). It is very small and translates a particular menu item not just the broad word such as fish. Tells you what fish it is if you're not familiar with the type of fish.<BR><BR>I hope I'm correct on this little booklet - I one I had was about 3 inches by 2 inches.

Yes-it is red white and blue also:)

Or you can download this glossary for free:<BR>http://www.intimatefrance.com/glossary.html

If the menu is translated to English, you probably don't want to eat there, as it will be a tourist trap with bad food for inflated prices intended for Americans who can't deal with French menus.

Where are you writing from Nige?

Alice! Thank you so much for the link to the glossary! It will be a great help!

Charles<BR>if it is important to you, I am writing at this moment from my hotel room, on my laptop in NYC.

Thanks! I will have to look for the Menu Master. Alice, I will have to study that Good Glossary. It is very detailed. Don't think I could take it to a restaurant with me though. I need to look around that Intimate France site as well. Looks interesting.

what ([email protected]), Jacques Cagna had a menu in Japanese too, 10 years ago. I guess Japanese used to be rich and good customers as well as Americans. He liked sushi and we ate some take-out sushi from nearby Japanese restaurant Tsukiji more than once. When in a hurry, he even ate a fast-food hamburger. <BR>

Take a look at a little book called "Eating and Drinking" in Paris. It's easier to handle than the Marling Menu Master, I think. And it works for all of France, not just Paris.

Maerling Menu Master is not about restaurants in Paris-it translates the dishes into English. Why would it be different in the rest of France?

The Patricia Wells book on Paris has pages of menu item translations. I paid particular attention to those items I did not want to sample; otherwise I was happy to get something of a surprise. Just no brains, trotters, or those other small round things.....

The best menu translation guide that I have ever seen is "The A-Z of French Food - A Descriptive Bilingual Glossary" published by Scribo Editions, 37, rue du Chemin Vert, 75527, paris cedex 11, tel, 43 38 26 00. This slim pocket-size volume is not only packed with culinary terms, it is well-organized and easy to use. Once I had this book, I never looked at my Marling Menu-Master again.<BR><BR>The only bad thing about "The A-Z Guide" is that it does not appaer to be available in the United States.I bought my copy at the W.H. Smith English-language bookstore on the rue de Rivoli in Paris. I don't recall the price but it was not much, and well worth every franc.<BR>

I just printed out the intimate france guide..I'll do as someone else suggested and memorize the things I cannot abide.. anything else or any style is fine! <BR><BR><BR>Jacque cagna eats hamburgers...Julia Child says macdonalds have the worlds best fries! So what exactly are you trying to get across to us?<BR>

What does it matter in what language a fine restaurant has it's menu printed? <BR>English, Japanese or Kurd..it's all about convenience for the patron.

Anon, <BR><BR>What the previous posters meant was that when a restaurant owner feels the need to print menus in various languages, it can mean that it catters for tourists. And restaurants which cater for tourists tend to be overpriced and of dubious quality.<BR><BR>However, there are many places which have an english menu for convenience but aren't necessarily tourist-restaurants. Also, costly (and good) restaurants are likely to have a menu printed in various languages.<BR><BR><BR>The point is that by avoiding restaurants with menus in foreign languages, you're certain to avoid the tourist-traps. But you'll pass on other, perfectly respectable restaurants too.