Restaurant & Menu Guides
Practical guides to ordering, reading menus, and eating well at restaurants around the world — from Korean BBQ to French prix fixe to Hanoi street stalls. Each guide answers the specific question you have when you open the menu.
Dish guides: what to order
First-timer recommendations, dish introductions, and ordering strategies for specific cuisines and restaurant types.
- What should I order at a Korean restaurant if I've never had Korean food?
- What should I order at dim sum the first time?
- What should I order at a Vietnamese restaurant besides pho?
- What should I order at a Thai restaurant the first time?
- What should I order at a Sichuan restaurant?
- What should I order at an izakaya?
- What should I order at an Indian restaurant the first time if I don't like spicy food?
- What should I order at an Ethiopian restaurant, and how do you eat injera?
- Which Korean dishes are not spicy?
- What is banchan, and are Korean side dishes free refills?
- What is tteokbokki and what does it taste like?
- What is mapo tofu and what does it taste like?
- How do you eat xiao long bao (soup dumplings) without burning your mouth?
- What is omakase and how do you order it the first time?
- How do you order hot pot for the first time (broth, ingredients, sauce bar)?
- How do you order at a Korean BBQ restaurant, and can you go alone?
- What to eat in Hanoi: a dish guide to northern Vietnamese food
- What to order at a Flushing Chinese restaurant
Allergy and dietary guides
How to navigate specific cuisines with common dietary restrictions: gluten, shellfish, peanuts, vegetarian, vegan, and halal.
- Which Chinese dishes look vegetarian but contain lard, oyster sauce or meat stock?
- Is pho gluten-free?
- Is Korean food gluten-free, and which dishes are safest?
- How do you order food that isn't spicy in Thailand?
- How do you eat vegetarian in Japan when dashi is in everything?
- How do you eat vegetarian in Korea when kimchi and stews have fish or meat broth?
- How do you tell a restaurant in Japan about a shellfish or egg allergy?
- How do you eat gluten-free in Japan, and is Japanese soy sauce gluten-free?
- How do you avoid pork and find halal food in Japan and Korea?
- Is Vietnamese food safe with a shellfish allergy (fish sauce vs shrimp paste)?
- Can you eat Thai food with a peanut allergy, and which dishes should you avoid?
- How do you say "I'm allergic to nuts" in Spanish, Italian and French at a restaurant?
Menu vocabulary and terms
How to read menus, decode dish names, and understand pricing and format terms across different cuisines.
- How do you use a ramen ticket machine in Japan with no English?
- What do the words on a pho menu mean (tái, chín, nạm, gầu, bò viên)?
- How do you read a Korean menu (인분, 공기밥, 사리 and common dish words)?
- How do you read a Thai menu (common words for meats, cooking styles, spice)?
- How do you read a Vietnamese menu (bò, gà, bún, cơm, nướng, chiên)?
- What do 税込, 税抜, 時価 and お通し mean on a Japanese menu?
- What's the difference between nigiri, sashimi, maki and temaki, and what should a beginner order?
- What do the yakitori names mean (tsukune, negima, kawa, shio vs tare)?
- What are the Korean BBQ cuts on the menu (samgyeopsal, galbi, chadolbagi)?
- What do taco names mean in Mexico (al pastor, suadero, tripa, campechano)?
- What is the menú del día in Spain and what does it include?
- What do formule, menu and prix fixe mean on a French menu?
- Do you have to order antipasto, primo and secondo at an Italian restaurant?
Ordering etiquette and customs
How to navigate restaurant formats, dining customs, and sharing conventions.
- How many dishes should you order at a Chinese restaurant for a group?
- What is kaiseki, and how is it different from omakase?
- How do you order tapas in Spain?
Travel ordering guides
How to order food in a country when you don't read the local language, plus guides to specific destinations.
- How do I order food in Japan if I don't speak Japanese?
- How to order food in China without speaking Chinese
- How to order Vietnamese street food: pho stalls, banh mi, bun bo Hue
- How to order at a Taiwan night market: stinky tofu, oyster omelette, bubble tea
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