Adventurous Eating: Weird Menus From Around the World
by Paula Mitchell Bentley on 29/11/08 at 5:23 am
No one wants to eat meat loaf every single night for dinner, but some of these restaurant menus take adventurous to a whole new level. Check out some of the strange and wacky menu items listed here.
Eating in a foreign country can sometimes be a real adventure. Eating down the street can sometimes be as well. They say that it’s healthiest to eat a little bit of everything but I’m not sure anyone would want to eat what some of these menus are offering.

Um, “Vegetarian chicken”? Does this mean that the chicken was a vegetarian and that means vegetarians can eat it? I think that they may have missed the point of the word vegetarian on this menu.

This menu found in Ningbo, China sounds really delicious until you get to the “Pig’s fore shank with strange flavor”. What exactly do they mean by strange?

This menu has “Strange flavored chicken” as a house suggestion! I’m not sure that I’m daring enough to give it a try.

How about some grilled spam? I’ve heard that it is a local delicacy in some Hawaiian cultures but I’m just not sure about it. I’m sure that they probably would feel the same way about eatting bison, which really isn’t that uncommon where I live in Canada.

This Italian menu offers pizzas with coocked arm and hard harm. Also, a rocket. I’m not sure I really feel like eating arms and rockets tonight dear. Maybe a Hawaiian. Pizza that is, not person.

I thought that eating salads was supposed to be good for you! Salad with cancerous necks does not sound delicious or healthy to me.

This random “Will I ever see you again” message just makes me laugh. That’s what they offer for sweets. I wonder if whoever it was meant for ever saw it.

Here’s a picture of an edible menu by Chef Cantu of Moto Restaurant in Chicago, IL, USA. Takes “weird menus” to a whole new level. Sort of James Bondish as well…when you’re done ordering, eat this message.

I thought that Winnie the Pooh liked honey. Who knew that what he really likes is a fried slice of meat? Miscellaneous meat, I guess. I hope it’s not bear.

Yikes! I can’t believe how cheap they’re selling kids for at this restaurant. Maybe I should pick up an extra couple of them. Definitely easier than pregnancy!

This menu seems pretty normal until you read — short ends, long ends or burnt end on bun. I’m not sure what exactly it is that they’re selling the ends of… And then, of course, there’s the 4 boner plate. Maybe that’s what they’re selling the ends of!
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52 Comments
Debra.
Nov 29th, 2008
I wonder where on earth do you dig up some of this stuff. Your articles are so weirdly interesting. Good article again, Paula.
Gordon G
Nov 29th, 2008
I agree with Debra.. where do you dig this stuff up at..lol.
Great as always Paula.
JK Kristie
Nov 29th, 2008
LOL! Had a good laugh. Made me feel good. Thanks!
Sotiris
Nov 29th, 2008
hehe nice article. Enjoyed it a lot. I was impressed about the vegeterian chicken!
I have writen an article about a weird Greek menu too
Thanks for sharing!
eddiego65
Nov 29th, 2008
Impressive and funny article!
MJPatrick
Nov 29th, 2008
What?…pizza al crudo(crudo in Iloko dialect in the Philippines means petrol)…what is the other one ’salad with cancerous neck’ no, they are only joking to their costumer lol…Thanks for the laugh.
Will Gray
Nov 29th, 2008
Very, very cool!
C Jordan
Nov 29th, 2008
I think after that,Paula, I’ll take some sanwiches.
Liane Schmidt
Nov 29th, 2008
This is such a cute, entertaining article – haha – *:)
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Sam
Nov 29th, 2008
Rocket is another name for arugula, actually.
Cute, though.
Lilith
Nov 29th, 2008
Um… Paula in arugala is known as rocket, so while the coocked arm is a little unusual rocket isn’t. And in the East textured vegetable protein is often named after the meat it is flavoured to resemble. So the Vegetarian Chicken, beaf and pork are probably are
Paula Mitchell Bentley
Nov 29th, 2008
Oh, I’m so glad you guys were able to explain at least a couple of these to me! Thanks for all the comments.
Rocket
Nov 29th, 2008
Rocket is roquette and arugula, a type of lettuce from Italy and England.
Jasin
Nov 30th, 2008
Lol, great article.
R J Evans
Nov 30th, 2008
Fortunately, I have never eaten in any of these restaurants….! Great article!
Jackie Stroud Painter
Nov 30th, 2008
Greart article!
Nelson Doyle
Nov 30th, 2008
Very funny article. I have seen misprinted menus and typos, but some of these were purposely put on those menus, just plain weird.
God Bless,
Nelson Doyle
Rebecca
Nov 30th, 2008
The last picture is of a very popular barbecue restaurant in Kansas City. Short or long end is in reference to a slab of ribs (in other words, do you want enough for 1 or 2 people or several people). Burnt ends are my favorite; they’re the ends on a brisket and are actually very tender pieces of meat. Definitely try them some time. The 4 boner plate, I’m not exactly for sure what that is (I grew up in Kansas City, so I should know my way around barbecue), so I’m thinking it’s photoshopped.
lvleph
Nov 30th, 2008
Vegetarian Chicken means a chicken alternative.
E. Michael Martin
Nov 30th, 2008
Most of these seem to be due to mistranslations or misspellings. I was hoping to see some truly weird foods, not pictures of poorly designed menus.
As for the ends, I can only assumes they mean “tips” which are the leftovers from cutting steaks. I may be wrong.
Mea
Dec 1st, 2008
Aww, it’s all fun until you start poking fun at the Hawaiians and Spam. XD Spam musubi is freaky that it’s as good as it is. The first time I saw it I thought ‘man, no one would buy that…’ Oh, but they do.
While hardly considered a delicacy here, you can find it with stuff like the corn dogs and pizza sticks at gas stations and grocery stores at the deli. …Everywhere.
Marz
Dec 1st, 2008
And if you noticed….the price list on the first menu …Vegetarian Chicken. All dishes cost the same…9.50!!!
Good work Paula.
Alpha001
Dec 1st, 2008
Wow, I actually have a Gates BBQ near where I live with a menu exactly like that and I never noticed before. *shrug*
nobert soloria bermosa
Dec 1st, 2008
funny,but it will be better to ask a local folk who can speak English about this weird menus,
Mike Heyworth
Dec 1st, 2008
I had a proper good laugh at this one – thanks!
s hayes
Dec 1st, 2008
Great article , very funny stuff, I am a master at cooking “strange flavour” sauce myself!
Jocy
Dec 1st, 2008
I had vegetarian meat meal from a Chinese takeaway where I’m from. It was tofu flavoured so it tastes like chicken, beef or pork.
Lisa Clayton Williams
Dec 1st, 2008
This was hilarious!!
Ben B
Dec 1st, 2008
Hi I’m from England and reading the rocket comment i wanted to ask if you had that in America? It is a very common small herb.
evan
Dec 1st, 2008
vegetarian meats are like soy protien, not actual meat, theyre really good too
Tim
Dec 1st, 2008
Rocket is an herb. Asians often misuse the word “strange” when they intend something more like “unique”. Funny; mostly ‘Engrish’ take-downs, though.
FrankiiDoodle
Dec 1st, 2008
What’s wrong with Spam? Not only has it inspired a musical that has run/is running on both the West End and Broadway, but it can also inspire vikings to sing (please see clip for further details.) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ODshB09FQ8w
Nzie
Dec 1st, 2008
Haha! Lots of fun. As a recently-minted ESL teacher, I am all too familiar with these sorts of errors. Thanks for the post.
Stephanie
Dec 1st, 2008
GATES BBQ!!! KANSAS CITY BABY!!! We know good BBQ boners!
Joshua Miguel
Dec 2nd, 2008
I like the vegetarian chicken. lol
Amit Goyal
Dec 2nd, 2008
Hilarious! Aweosme article!In fact, I liked it so much that I blogged it!
http://webonasia.blogspot.com/2008/12/adventurous-eating-weird-menus-from.html
Kudos!
Paula Mitchell Bentley
Dec 2nd, 2008
Thanks so much everyone for all the explanations and great comments. Thanks especially to you Amit Goyal for blogging the article. It is really appreciated!!!
Melody Arcamo Lagrimas
Dec 3rd, 2008
Hilarious and interesting!
Mari
Dec 3rd, 2008
The 4 boner plate at Gates is like a sample platter. You get 4 types of BBQ and two sides if I remember correctly. If you can get over the embarrassment of saying it’s name aloud, it’s actually really good.
catsayslawl
Dec 3rd, 2008
“Salad with cancerous necks” is just a translation problem… In fact, in reality it means a salad made of the living creature inside the shells on the beach… I live in Romania, and I know what it means….
robinabo
Dec 3rd, 2008
Very nice article. I’ve seen several hundred spelling mistakes in my restaurant travels but never actually thought of making it into an article.
beta
Dec 3rd, 2008
nice article=D
Ruby Hawk
Dec 3rd, 2008
Some weird food you have here. The veggie chicken is made from soy. We are vegeterian and eat it often. It doesn’t taste like chicken but it is good and full of protein. an interesting article. Take care,Ruby
Iskandar Dzulkarnain
Dec 3rd, 2008
Liked it. Great menus too. I wonder how rocket tastes like.
Anna Ski
Dec 4th, 2008
Great article, weird menus!
Lost in Arizona
Dec 4th, 2008
Lol, I’m laughing about the spam menu. They have a restaurant in Maui that actually specializes in an upside down cake with spam in it. It’s considered a delicacy, and the people love it there. But quite frankly, it’s difficult to get that stuff down..lol! Although, interestingly enough, the spam a la’ California roll, isn’t too bad, lol! Take care.
Rana Sinha
Dec 5th, 2008
Some weird stuff. Is “Rocket” the British english version of Rucola or Arugula?
Dani
Dec 5th, 2008
Since when is a different culture’s food weird? I don’t really find it that funny
Terran
Dec 7th, 2008
Yeah the first one isn’t really that strange, there’s a Chinese restaurant i frequent that reads just like that and it’s all tofu/tvp flavored/cut like whatever it’s supposed to represent.
Trygeania
Dec 28th, 2008
How interesting. This article is going to make me take a second look at menus when I go out to eat.
Milligan
Dec 30th, 2008
“Strange flavor” or “strange taste” is a flavouring use in the Szechuan province of China. Guai-wei ji is the name for “chicken with strange taste” and it is a literal translation. It has all five flavours (sweet, salty, sour, bitter and “umami”). The umami flavor is provided by Szechuan peppercorns, which are really the seeds of the prickly ash tree and until a couple of years ago were banned in the U.S. (they potentially carried a plant disease that could not be sterilized until recently). Guai-wei ji certainly tastes strange, the first time I tried it I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, and kept tasting small pieces until the entire order was gone. Then I ordered more for takeout. If you run across it on a menu, try some.
olessia
Jun 8th, 2009
Cancerous neeks.. is actually translated wrong.. the actual name should be “craw fish neeks”
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