...for a host(ess) or server to provide us with the 'English menu' when eating at a restaurant in a foreign country. Some travelers might experience a twinge of embarrassment or feeling of shortcoming for (1) being identified as non-natives so quickly, and (2) for admitting to themselves that they in fact would be much better off with a translated menu.
Others* would be ashamed by visiting a restaurant that even offers an English menu, as that would be seen as a 'touristy' spot or otherwise not sufficiently 'authentic.'
In all cases, I believe that the servers value accuracy (i.e. you are ordering what you actually want to eat) well above an 'endearing' attempt to use the local language menu, fraught with pointing, exaggerated smiling, umm-ing, and hatchet-job forays into pronunciation.
In short, I'm thankful for English menus (or menus that also contain English translations), and certainly don't expect them to be 100% error free-- that is part of the charm. Some make you wonder though-- comical misinterpretation or cultural exposé? Decide for yourself..
Copenhagen: I must admit that it makes perfect sense-- with the sheer multitude of organ meat at their disposal, veterinarians can afford to be discerning when it comes to midnight snacks. Whether it's raiding the fridge or the walk-in freezer (read: pet morgue), when hunger calls, Danish vets know how to answer.
[This may further reinforce the linkage between pâté and cat food as discussed in the previous post.]
Sofia: Just not something you expect to see on a menu. Granny's "Nervous" Meatballs for Beer begs a handful of questions. Is Granny nervous? Are the meatballs nervous? Does Granny have balls but she's not supposed to and that's why she's nervous? Are the meatballs pro-beer, but underage and nervous about being caught? I think the English translation only further muddied the waters in this case.
Bucharest: Sadly, one of the more posh places we've eaten at on the road-- but highly refined, genteel folks can be the closet-freakish type sometimes. For those who don't know, the Urban Dictionary may have the most commonly understood 'recipe' for truffle butter.
Aldeburgh: Corn on the Knob just sounds painful. Admittedly, this is not a translated version-- but every so often you will see something grotesquely uncivilized on a British menu**.
Plovdiv: Eek.. Few restaurant menu items will raise one's eyebrow quicker than the word 'Cannibal.' I think (hope) they were going for 'Carnivore'-- as it appears to be a plate full of different types of meat. Even if that was exactly what you wanted to order, would you ask for it by name?
I was also confused by the second menu item here-- particularly the "Eat it at once" command statement. Is that a threat? Is the English menu missing the "...or else [see above]" part?
Again, I'm always thankful for an English menu, but whether it was the translator or the Bulgarian-English dictionary itself, someone dropped the ball. Nonetheless, perhaps the most disturbing item on this menu (not pictured above) was towards the bottom***.
* d-bags
** like this one, at a roadside chippy in Llandybie, Wales:
*** We can all reasonably agree that the 'Cannibal's Plate' was merely an error in translation; the same cannot be said for this:
Man, that's just cold blooded.
Have a heart. Specifically, mine.