Reading a Chinese menu

Let’s continue the theme, talk about eating in a Chinese restaurant and use a cartoon. How many of you have struggled in a Chinese restaurant when the menu is in Chinese only? Today’s post will help you at least identify different categories of food in a menu.

In some Chinese restaurants you will find the food divided into two categories:

热菜 (rè cài): hot dishes

冷菜 (lěng cài): cold dishes

But most likely they will be divided into:

荤菜 (hūn cài): meat dishes

蔬菜 (shū cài): vegetable dishes

And some other food categories on a menu

汤 (tāng): soup

饮料 (yǐnliào): beverages

甜品 (tiánpǐn): dessert

And if you care about how the food is cooked

炒 (chǎo): fried

烤 (kǎo): roasted

蒸 (zhēng): steamed

煮 (zhǔ): boiled

And if you are like me, you will go for the:

特别推荐 (tèbié tuījiàn): specialty

你有什么特别推荐？

(Nǐ yǒu shénme tèbié tuījiàn?)

Do you have any special recommendation?