The thing I enjoy most in restaurants is when they spell things wrong on the menu to hilarious effect (not depressing - eg "herbal tea's".)
This weekend I spotted "smocked salmon" and "asparagus mouse".
If you spot any such marvels, please send them to me, or post them below.
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Me too! Friends often joke that I should carry a red pen with me at all times thanks to my ability to spot a spelling error at twenty paces-- this it what comes from having two teachers as parents.
ReplyDeleteA classic love-to-hate error is the "desert menu". Like you're being ordered to refuse any of the puddings on offer.
I'm afraid errant apostrophes leave me with a feeling of pure hatred -- no love there!
I've got a cracking photo of a big sign reading "WAFLLES" in GIANT writing, although this was in Greece so more charming in a "Engrish" kind of way? Let me know if you want me to email it!
yes that is v funny - please email to esther dot walker at gmail dot com x
ReplyDeleteI always thought "pumkin" was cute on menus.
ReplyDeleteVat's Wine Bar on Lamb's Conduit Street used to serve something (fish?) with "a wig of leaks"
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI saw a menu in Spain for grilled squik and then sworkfish - maybe it was just that the 'd' button was missing on their computer!
I love your blog and Giles' columns (I have even bought his book), though my very basic cooking skills means I haven't actually cooked anything from your blog. But I did vote for you on the Guardian website.
Eliza
Eliza that's SO funny, I love it. Sworkfish!
ReplyDeleteThank you for buying Giles' book - I hope it keeps you entertained for an hour or two.
Cooking is totally overrated and not neccessary to be a visitor here. Come again soon xx
My favourite menu fail is one my Dad spotted (can't remember where, sorry, but I think it was in the UK): Grilled Steam (I believe they meant steak......)
ReplyDeleteAnne-Marie
oh i LOVE these. I think my all time favourite, in an Israeli restaurant, is "chocolate moose"
ReplyDeleteSmocked Salmon and Asparagus Mouse sound like two brilliant cartoon superheros! It conjures up a lovely image in my head....but that might say more about me than anything else. I look forward to 'The Further Adventures of Smocked Salmon and Asparagus Mouse' coming out on DVD, their continuing fight to save the culinary world from grammitical errors...[insert dramatic theme music] :)
ReplyDeleteThe one that sticks out in my memory was a little place in Cornwall where the chalk board outside a cafe said beef buggers. I laughed, but didn't have the heart to tell them.
ReplyDeleteI was almost tempted to order the Vanilla Pancetta on a pudding list on Scilly (I'm too scared to write dessert list now in case I spell it incorrectly). I think they meant pannacotta.
ReplyDeleteI ate at a restaurant in Milan this April whose English menu included a dish called "Find the Grid" and several salads containing "Insidious Web". The latter turned out to be octopus.
ReplyDeleteOoh I love these. I remember a menu in Spain that boasted a dish of 'you inhabit baby with pretty'. NO IDEA what it was, far too scared to order it.
ReplyDeletei am sending you via email a photo of a menu from a restaurant in Zurich - the dish was "Soft Shell Crab" but they replaced the final "B" with a "P". I didnt try it
ReplyDelete"Lion to the Iron"
ReplyDeleteI sort of want to explain how we worked out what it was, but also want you to try and guess...
In Padstow a menu board boasted of a pud called 'MELON-OMA'. I think it was trying to come up with something like 'MELON-TASTIC' but instead inventing the least appealing pud ever ...
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely photo of a restaurant in Greece with 'squits' on the menu....
ReplyDeleteIn our house, if someone wants to know if you want a drink you are asked "would you like a beverang" due to a menu mistake we came across in Vietnam. It was 5 years ago now and its not like there weren't plenty of other ones but it's just stuck somehow.
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