I previously wrote about what to do when you are picking a restaurant and don’t speak the language. I outlined rules such as looking for photos and where the locals are eating. While some of these apply, what happens if you are in a new city and are at a restaurant where there are no photos, no one speaks English and you have four options to pick from? I suggest you keep an open mind.
Don’t think too hard about the list, most likely you will have no idea what you are getting. Don’t order the most expensive thing on the list, why waste the money if you don’t know if you like it, but don’t order the cheapest thing because this probably won’t taste the best either. Go for a mid range price. You can also attempt to ask the person what they recommend, by pointing at the list and shrugging, but if that doesn’t work, here is what you should do:
First, point at the meal you have blindly chosen:
Let them know you only want 1 order for yourself:
Then smile big which says: “Yes, I have no idea what I just ordered but I am trusting you as my waitress to bring me something delicious.”
You will most likely end up with something like this: mystery meat, in a questionable broth with overly chewy noodles. Traveling is about the experience…so dig in and plan on making a beeline the closest bakery in the case that it leaves a foul tasting flavor in your mouth.
Don’t forget to take a photo of the menu or sign and do a google search of what exactly you ate.
At first, Google translate told us we ate: “Fathers and Big Wheels”. On texture, I’d say it was pretty close. 
Refining the translation gave us: “Tree Bologna and Bread Soup”
Still unsure. Let’s just say I wont be ordering “bánh canh chả lớn” again.
Laugh out loud funny. Thanks for the post. I’ll be doing a lot of this in the near future, I imagine.
You will! But I’m sure what you get will be much more delicious.
It didn’t look good at all… But if your stomach didn’t ache later, it was worth the story.
We started feeling pretty queasy by the end of the meal because the weird chewy noodles were so chewy it made you nauseated… Definitely worth the story though.
haha love how google translated it — as long as you don’t have any dietary restrictions your ordering method definitely works!
Yea, I think the first Google translation is probably closer to what it really was.
That soup looks kind of tasty! I tend to scope out what other people around me are eating and point at that.
Looks can be deceiving… We usually try the “check out what other people are eating” too, but we failed this time!