Tasting the local cuisine is usually a holiday highlight for travellers.
Unfortunately – especially if you’re attempting to order in a foreign language – there’s always the potential for things to go a little pear-shaped on the dining front. As Reddit users have been revealing.
They served up their worst ordering mishaps while on holiday after ‘H20h20everywhere’ asked: ‘What were some of your ordering mistakes when eating abroad?’
From pickled chicken feet to a sausage made of pig ‘guts’, travellers have revealed the meals they’ll always remember. But not for the right reasons.
Germany
Reddit users have been sharing their worst ordering mistakes abroad – receiving pickled chicken feet and even a sausage made of guts (stock image)
Many of the food setbacks revealed on the thread happened in Germany.
‘Pjashawaii’ writes: ‘My wife and a friend travelled to Berlin and as price conscious tourists do, looked for the cheaper things on the menu. She ordered “kalbshirn” – and when the plate came there was a huge mound of food. Translation – calf’s brain.’
‘Floweringfungus’ ordered ‘meersfruchte’, thinking it was fruit. But a giant tray of seafood arrived – fruit of the sea.
And ‘Prustage’ recalls an associate mistaking small print for a dish.
He comments: ‘He cast his eyes over the menu, pointed to some text at the bottom of the page, then proudly announced that he would like to order the ‘Mehrwertsteuer’, which he said seemed quite reasonable at only €17 (£14.36). Mehrwertsteuer is German for Value Added Tax, which at the time was 17 per cent.’
Thailand
One disappointed traveller accidentally bought seaweed flavour Pringles in Thailand, thinking they were sour cream and onion
Thailand was the scene of a couple of menu surprises.
‘CraftFamiliar5243’ writes: ‘We were in Thailand at a bar with an American cover band. The menu had pictures, loosely translated into English. We ordered “chicken tendons”, which we thought were mistranslated chicken tenders. It was fried chicken tendons.’
Deep-fried chicken tendons – not tenders – are a popular street food snack in Thailand.
‘Mlibed’, meanwhile, discovered that green cans of Pringles in Thailand indicate a more exotic flavour.
They write: ‘Backpacking through Thailand and stopped at a snack stand. Saw a green can of Pringles and thought “oh sour cream and onion”. I was ready for a taste of home. They were seaweed Pringles.’
USA
In the USA, ‘Ganesha811’ says they offended their in-laws with their ‘crazy’ order, explaining: ‘I went to a New Jersey bagel shop with my Jerseysite girlfriend and her family. I ordered a bagel with pork roll and cream cheese – not way out of line I would have thought. And they almost refused to give it to me. My girlfriend’s family said it was a crazy order. I still don’t really understand why.’
User ‘fraxbo’ explains: ‘In the U.S northeast, cream cheese is either served on a bagel on its own, with smoked salmon, or potentially with some vegetable/herbs. It is never served with meat of any sort.’
Hong Kong
One customer was surprised when their jar of kimchi turned out to be pickled chicken feet (stock photo)
A purchase at a traditional Hong Kong diner left one customer shocked.
‘Briennethebeauty10’ says: ‘In Hong Kong, we ate at a traditional cha chaan teng (diner). At the counter, they have homemade stuff for sale. There was a plastic container for their homemade kimchi. When I got home to my surprise, it wasn’t kimchi. It was chilled spicy pickled chicken feet.’
France
Andouillette sausage (pictured above, stock image) is made from pigs’ intestine and isn’t the same as andouille, a smoked sausage that’s a Cajun speciality
In France, one particular ordering nightmare left several travellers haunted.
‘Zrgardne’ writes: ‘Andouille is a delicious garlicky smoked sausage common in Louisiana. Andouillette is a sausage in France of [pig] guts stuffed inside guts. And as delicious as it sounds.’
‘Quesabirria’ tried it too, recalling: ‘It was awful. I tried mustards, still awful. Tried to force myself to eat it. I did what I could. The taste stuck with me for several days, ruining all my meals for that time.’
South Korea
A mistake in a South Korean supermarket left one person with enough alcohol to kill a horse.
‘Therebbie’ says: ‘In Korea, a friend [spied] a big bottle of water. It was six litres. He spoke no Korean, but pointed and bought it. Only after opening it, did we realise it was Soju.’
Soju is an alcoholic drink that can have an alcohol content as high as 53 per cent.
Japan
One Redditor visited Japan and ordered what they thought was fish sashimi. It turned out to be raw chicken (above, stock image)
A photo on a menu tricked one tourist in Japan into ordering a controversial delicacy.
‘Sahmizad’ says: ‘Was in Tokyo, in a restaurant with only a Japanese menu. I spotted an item that looked like fish and ordered it, thinking it was fish sashimi on rice. Out came raw chicken slices on rice. Turns out it’s a shop that specialises in it.’
Known as ‘torisashi‘, it is a Japanese delicacy made from raw bite-sized pieces of chicken.
Peru
Guinea pig is a major delicacy in Ecuador and Peru, as some intrepid Redditors discovered
User ’35mmistoobig’ recalls a trip to Peru and eating what many would regard as a cute pet.
They comment: ‘Ate a guinea pig in Cuzco. I thought it would just be meat, but nah that thing had the head on still.’
‘Butterbleek’ replies: ‘Guinea Pig. Major delicacy in Ecuador and Peru. We ordered one as a reward for skiing Ecuador’s Cotopaxi [volcano]. I came so close to hurling. Still had remnant hair. Eyeballs and teeth.’