This is especially useful if you specifically want to order a certain type of meat, or if you’re a vegetarian (like me!) and you want to avoid these! 鱼 (yú): fish More specifically, you might find these characters on a menu: This can be a big help in narrowing the options down. If you dislike egg, avoid anything with 鸡蛋. Just recognizing these few main characters can help you narrow down your options considerably.įor example if you like noodles, you need to be looking for 面 or 面条. Unlike English (where you wouldn’t be able to read a menu without knowing the specific names for each type of food), a lot of food groups share the same character, which means that you don’t need to learn every ingredient to decide on a dish. Let’s talk about some of the most basic food characters, these are the ones you’ll find on almost any menu.
#Bei jing chinese restaurant menu how to#
Chinese Menus – On the left, most items are only a few RMB each, indicating that these are small side dishes, not main dishes! How to Read a Chinese Menu – FInd the Basic/Comfort Characters The prices can clue you into the size of dish.įor example, don’t choose something that’s only 2 RMB from a menu where there’s a whole list of dishes for 20-30 RMB. This can be helpful if you’re a complete beginner and have absolutely no clue what anything on the menu means (except the numbers!) Play How to Read a Chinese Menu – Check out those pricesĪnother basic tip is to quickly scan the prices on the menu. It can be linked to your foreign bankcard using the steps in this video. If you’re ever ordering food for delivery, through Meituan (美团) or Eleme (饿了么), menus online also generally have pictures.īONUS – Alipay is a life saver for foreigners in China because it means you can benefit from all the cashless things here like coffee at Luckin’ and the aforementioned Meituan.
This can take a lot of pressure off you, especially if you can’t communicate with the waiter or waitress very well. So you can choose your food based on looks instead of characters. Not only is it super quick and convenient, these types of order forms generally have pictures! Even if you don’t have an online wallet set up, you can still scan just to see the menu.
You can scan from WeChat or Alipay, and then order and pay on your phone. In my experience, lots of restaurants have this kind of code.
#Bei jing chinese restaurant menu code#
Of course, not every restaurant has this, but pictures can be super helpful.Ĭhinese Menus – This is a Meituan online menuĪdditionally, check to see if your restaurant has QR code you can scan and order from. This is one of the most basic tips, but if you’re at a total loss, try to find a restaurant that has Chinese menus with pictures! These tips should help you make educated guesses about what you order, so you’ll be sure to end up with something that suits you! Chinese Menus – You might be confronted with a menu like this on your first day in China! How to Read a Chinese Menu – Find a Chinese Menu with Pictures In this blog, I’ll teach you some of the basics of reading a Chinese menu. They probably look nothing like what you’ve seen in your beginner textbooks!įortunately, you don’t need to be able to read every single character on the menu to order something you like. If you’re a beginner Chinese student, a Chinese food menu can be extremely intimidating.
Well fear no more – we are here to help with our complete guide on reading Chinese menus… and to show you we are serious, here is an ultimate cheat sheet to get you going.ĭownload it, save it, use it! Chinese Menu – Cheat Sheet You’re more likely to run into this sort of situation while eating at smaller, local restaurants (which also happen to have some of the cheapest and most delicious foods!) You sit down in a restaurant, you’re handed a menu, and everything is Chinese! Not a word of English to be found. Play Discover what it’s like to be a Veggie in Chinaīut have you ever run into this situation? Or maybe you haven’t arrived in China yet, but you could see this happening!