China Menu app for iPhone and iPad

4.4 ( 6054 ratings )

Travel Education
Developer: Prairiedogg International Ltd.

4.99 USD

Current version: 1.4, last update: 7 years ago
First release : 21 Sep 2009
App size: 3.52 Mb

China Menu helps you order incredible meals in China, without needing to speak a word of Chinese. Check out a video of China Menu in action at: chinabites.com/iphone

Check out what hungry travelers are saying about China Menu:

"Thanks for ChinaMenu! It helped me a lot choosing deleciuos food while cycling three months in this great country."

- Christian Trabold, China, Mar. 2010

"The girls in the restaurant have laughed mightily when I pull out my iphone, but Im definitely eating better now!"

- Lina, Beijing- Dec. 2009

China Menu is a comprehensive guide to eating out in almost any restaurant on your next trip to China. Whet your appetite by browsing over 260 gorgeous photographs of mouth watering Chinese favorites such as Kung Pao Chicken and Mapo Tofu. Learn about table etiquette and local eating customs by browsing over 60 translated situations youre likely to encounter while dining out in China. Alert the waiter to your individual meal preferences with a handy translation function.

China Menu gives you the freedom to break out of the "tourist-only" restaurants and experience the depth and breadth of Chinese cuisine usually only available to locals. Select any dish you like, ask for a recommendation, or make a request - with a single click, your order will be translated into large, friendly Chinese characters that you can hold up for your waiter to read.

Features include:

- 260 dish photos with descriptions and 1-click order translation

- Customize your order on the fly with alternatives and variations

- 70+ common requests with 1-click translation

- Translates your meal preferences (no MSG, vegetarian, etc.)

- Extensive, topical commentary on dining out in China

- Chinese character and pinyin romanization for all translations

- Based on close to three years of original research and photography from the China focused foodie website www.chinabites.com

Experience China fully, one bite at a time with China Menu!

Pros and cons of China Menu app for iPhone and iPad

China Menu app good for

This is a indispensable tool for non-Chinese speakers visiting Chinese restaurants. The interface is slick, easy to use. Plus its fun to browse through all the dishes, images, descriptions. Great app!

Since I downloaded this app I have used it almost every single day. Not only do I use it to help me decide where to go, but the "conversations" section has enabled me to expand my range of choices at some restaurants that arent even included with the app. Initially I wished there was coverage of more dishes of each type, but it looks like the content will continue to expand, and for now there is way more than I can get to. This is a MUST HAVE for anyone traveling to or living in China.

This is the most useful app Ive seen for eating out in China. From locating and getting to restaurants, to ordering dishes to your exact specifications, to negotiating the handling of the check -- this guide enables you to do it all, without requiring you to know Chinese.

This is a great idea for an app, and it is well done. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is that the menu is fairly limited. I live in Beijing, and there are many very popular dishes here that arent in the app. If the creators make an update to include a larger variety of dishes, I will glady change my rating to 5 stars!

I wish Id had this application when I first came to China. Its a handy reference for popular dishes, a convenient tool for ordering, and a culinary culture guide all in one. The dietary preferences feature could literally be life saver for some people. Set your dietary preferences (no meat, no MSG, no nuts, etc.) with a few simple touches, then hold up the results to a Chinese-speaking waiter, and you can be sure youve communicated the intended message. Very cool. The updated conversations section is great. I also sometimes use the developers ChinaBites website to find good restaurants in Beijing.

Exploring food is one of my favorite parts of travel but when I was in Beijing I couldnt eat anywhere that didnt cater to tourists unless I was hanging out with friends who were fluent in Mandarin. China Menu would have made it possible to explore restaurants much more independently. It would have also allowed me to learn on the fly what the specialty dishes of the various regional cuisines are. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to eat well in China but doesnt speak Chinese.

Some bad moments

Id be happy if it were free, but I feel cheated for paying $5. If the creators of this app are making money, they need to invest a lot more effort to make it what it should be. Under the coffee cattegory theres no latte or flavourings or anything but just the word "coffee" -- this will only confuse a waitress in china since there are so many coffee choices now. Under soft drinks it doesnt have coke, sprite, diet, fanta, etc; only "soda". When are you ever going to just order "soda"?! And why arent the ubiquitous staples like yu Xiang qie zi or ma la dou Fu included under Sichuan cuisine? I could go on and on. MAKE THIS APP FREE OR MAKE IT TRULY USEFUL!!!

Cant believe this is $5 dollars. Even as a free app I would expect more frequent updates. I can go on and on about the missing dishes that needed to be added. PLEASE UPDATE!!

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