Menu roulette

[Mattg]

One of my favourite travel games to play is what I call "menu roulette". This is when you're in a country where you don't speak the language, and therefore can't understand restaurant menus. So, you randomly point to a few things on the menu and hope for the best.

Some of the best meals I've ever had have been surprises ordered in this way. I have also accidentally ordered a few very ordinary dishes over the years, but most of the time I've been very happy with whatever has come out of the kitchen - even if I wasn't always sure what it was made from.

Does anyone else play menu roulette? If so, care to share a great (or otherwise) meal you've unknowingly ordered?

 

[RooFlyer]

Not any more, but in my ill-spent youth I did a few times.

Went with some mates out to have a meal in Hong Kong. We decided to be brave and just plunged into a non-touristy area with small eateries, chose a place and sat down. Menus only in local script, so ordered by pointing. I tried my luck with the waiter, asking what it was. Something like 'half chicken' was the reply.

And that's what it was - half a chicken. Exactly. Half a small bird, without feathers, but with everything else intact, from one leg with claws sticking up, to the comb on the head and one eye staring out. Um... and the innards. Cooked, but leaving little to the imagination.

I think the waiter/cook was having a little laugh at the expense of the guilous

 

[Denali]

When we were in Japan we went to a restaurant without wait staff and you ordered via a tablet and a panel in the wall would open and a hand with plate would reach through and deliver your meal/s.

Having no idea, we picked a few things that looked good and hoped for the best - still memorable as a fun time, stil no idea what we ate. We didnt plan to go to this restaurant and had no idea about no staff, just found it when walking around some side streets.

When we went to Chengdu China, the wait staff tried to be helpful. We went for hot pot one day and pointed at something that looked like meat on another table but she waved her hand no and shook her head with a polite giggle so no [whatever the hell it was] for us.

 

[Daver6]

I use the three country rule when travelling to ensure I don't get an atrocious meal. Essentially you must avoid crossing three international boundaries when dining out. For example, in Germany going to a French restaurant and ordering an Italian dish is a sure recipte for a bad meal

 

[Steady]

I did this recently in HKG a few times in a similar fashion to RF but struck it lucky each time. First one had an indication of what we were going to get with pictures - didn't get a photo of the meal but it was good

Next two go together - menu and dishes received




I did it in a back street in PEK and ended up with a bowl of fresh green and dried red chilli with chicken bones - the red chilli was like eating plastic - any mighty hot

 

[Ewing]

One of my favourite things to do when travelling is to just ask for something that the chef wants to make. ie: "Surprise me".

I have had some phenomenal meals this way and often you get a dish that's not even on the menu because you've let the chef have some fun.

In Paris I accidentally stumbled upon an amazing little wine and tapas bar (quite literally - I tripped over my shoelace and stopped outside to tie up my laces) and liked the look of it so walked in. I recognised some of the ingredients on the menu, but my French is pretty bad and the bartender spoke perfect English so I just asked for enough of his favourite dishes to fill me up.

It filled up with locals and I had an amazing afternoon drinking wine, chatting to people, and just ordering another little plate of "something" when I was feeling peckish.

Amusingly the more I'm enjoying myself the less photos I take, so all I have is one photo of the view from my perch at the bar:

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

On my first trip overseas I had an overnight in Seoul courtesy of Asiana. Luckily enough for me, a good friend was also there visiting South Korea and Japan.

We went to a local restaurant and pointed at the menu. The dish comes out, chicken and vegetables. My friend is about to tuck in when the waitress runs over and stops him, being very assertive in Korean. Pops a butane canister in and cooks the dish in front of him.

It was a great experience and thankfully my friend managed to avoid a nasty bout of vomiting because of his impatience.

 

[trooper]

Estonia was great for that...once you got out in the countryside... marvellous looking language... (and no I didn't have the "Beef-burger"..thst would have been cheating!!!)

 

[kiwitripper64]

In Japan with the family and we were in a small restaurant. We could not make out the menu and tehy could not translate. We pointed to an item, said "chicken" and the reply was Hai. We repeated this and all responses Hai. We all enjoyed the meals but 2 were definitely not chicken.
Another restaurant and I saw squid. hmmmm, qantas do great salt and pepper squid, squid is good. This was shiokara, smelly, slimey, cold fermented squid. Evidently even among Japanese it is an acquired taste. The staff were very polite, but couldnt stop laughing after they brought it to the table.