Spelling on Menus

[EcclesCake]

I know I can be a bit of a food fascist and have unreasonably high expectations on occasion.

But.....am I the only person who takes the view when reading a menu, that if they can't spell it they can't cook it?

I am sick to death of being offered Ceasar salad, place instead of plaice, etc. I wouldn't mind if I was heading off to the local Harvester but some of these mistakes are occurring in Michelin starred restaurants.

[lacmag3]

I don't care too much about poor spelling, but what bugs is the way they describe food, even simple items. Their philosophy seems to be. "why describe it in 2 words when 12 words will do". You know the sort of thing..."prairie reared, summer harvested, tender basted, pan fried, hand-diced, beer battered, crispy coated, etc etc" when they mean a chicken nugget.

[237SJ]

lowering the tone a bit but...In the 80s when I worked in an office a faux Chinese menu landed on my desk. It had a list of fictitious Chinese dishes (spelled phonetically) with their descriptions alongside. The descriptions were VERY rude. I worked in a big male-dominated company and I was the only one who the men would risk giving the menu to because they thought the other girls would get all prim and proper about it. I have seen the menu in my later job when someone passed it to me. Does anyone remember that? These days something like would pass around on the internet like wildfire.

[mike11111]

Pan-fried has to be the most ludicrous. I await with bated breath the alternative method of frying.

[mike11111]

Not only do I remember that menu but I believe I've got a copy somewhere. The only one I can remember off hand is bol ox (meatballs).

[237SJ]

I`d love to get a copy of that again. It was hilarious. The only one I can remember is the Cream Squirts!

[mike11111]

Here's some for starters. I'll see if I can dig out the main courses.
http://www.asianjoke....nese/chinese_menu.htm

[237SJ]

I`ve printed those off (just in case someone takes offence and it disappears).

[rojash]

mike11111 guessed correctly that the Aborigine was Aubergine.

Someone pointed out the error to Lambrini (the owner of the taverna), and she was in total panic. We told her to leave it as was, because we thought the tourists would find it quaint. She insisted on correcting it: "Supposing a passing Aborigine sees it and is offended?".

I've yet to come across an Aborigine in Greece.

[Old_Geezer]

Probably not the chef who write and proofreads the menus. Admittedly not a good impression, but one should go by the reputation of the food.

[heathfield]

Un-bate your breath, Mike. There's pan-fried, but there's also stir-fried and deep-fried.

[mike11111]

Pray tell, in what receptacle are these stir-fried and deep-fried delicacies prepared?

[joko]

but the person who writes the signs and make sthe menus is not usually the chef...

[bednobs]

in a wok or deep fat fryer mike!

[joko]

the only time i have been really irked by a mistake on a menu is when, as a veggie, i was scanning for the (V) next to things...and found every bit of fish or seafood with one beside it!

i know some people foolishly believe fish and seafood is veggie - why or how they can think it, i dont know...but for a restaurant to get it so wrong as to print it on their menus, was a surprise.

i too didnt have much trust in them and didnt order food.

[sunflower68]

AAArgh!! (sp?) it drives me nuts too Eccles and I do sometimes correct with a pen. I know sometimes people find spelling hard and that is fine but how the heck they get things through to the stage of printing off with errors is beyond me.
I am helping my bloke out with some CV's he needs to read through for a job he has going and I have to say poor spelling is a major turn-off whilst reading through them.

[EcclesCake]

I'm loving the aborigine/aubergine error - I'd probably let that one pass for the comedy value!

Joko - where I used to work the coffee shop staff thought Quiche Lorraine was vegetarian! Admittedly I did struggle to find any bacon in it many a time.

I'm not having a go at people who are dyslexic or simply bad at spelling it's more frustration at a lack of attention to detail and an apparent blind faith in spell checkers.

Maybe my 'can't spell, can't cook' comment was harsh and in reality not meant literally, it doesn't change the fact that there are far too many Ceasar salads being served around the country!

[LDC134]

One our our fun hobbies is to look for spelling mistakes - we have found great ones on menus in Cambodia, including 'lamp shop' (lamb chop), 'fried crap' (fried crap) and coke, listed within the drinks section as 'cock' !
We also had a sandwich shop in Portsmouth, which had on all the outside signs 'quaility food at it's best' (sadly, they have changed it now!)

[milly143]

LOL Mike111, your comment about pan fried made me laugh. That's exactly what my Dad says. If it isn't fried in a pan what is it fried in?

He also gets cross about tomatoes on the vine - what else did they come from?

And a jue (not sure on spelling) is just sauce/gravy.

Oh and the way people use the word 'Entree' in reference to a starter.

I'll wait until we've watched tonights come dine with me where he will pick up on another 10 annoyances.

[LDC134]

whoops just noticed my own typo 'fried crap' (fried crab)
(hangs head in shame)

[mike11111]

Obviously bednobs considers woks and deep-fat fryers to be totally different entities from pans. Irrespective of their shape, at the end of the day they are all pans.