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Sampling local cuisine is often a vacation highlight for travelers.
Unfortunately, especially if you try to order in a foreign language, there’s always the chance that things will go a little awry on the dining front. As Reddit users have been revealing.
They recounted their worst ordering mishaps while on vacation after ‘H20h20everywhere’ asked, “What were some of your ordering mistakes when eating abroad?”
From pickled chicken feet to a sausage made from pig “guts,” travelers have revealed the meals they’ll always remember. But not for the right reasons.
Germany
Reddit users have been sharing their worst mistakes when ordering from abroad: receiving pickled chicken feet and even a sausage made from tripe (file image)
Many of the food mishaps revealed in the thread occurred in Germany.
‘Pjashawaii’ writes: ‘My wife and a friend traveled to Berlin and, as price-conscious tourists do, they looked for the cheapest things on the menu. He ordered “kalbshirn” and when the plate arrived there was a huge pile of food. Translation: calf brain.’
‘Floweringfungus’ asked for ‘meersfruchte’, thinking it was fruit. But a giant tray of seafood arrived.
And ‘Prustage’ remembers an associate who mistook the fine print for a plate.
He comments: “He glanced at the menu, pointed to some text at the bottom of the page and then proudly announced that he would like to order the ‘Mehrwertsteuer’, which he said looked quite reasonable at just €17 (£14.36). ). Mehrwertsteuer in German means Value Added Tax, which at that time was 17 percent.
Thailand
A disappointed traveler accidentally bought seaweed-flavored Pringles in Thailand, thinking they were sour cream and onion.
Thailand was the scene of a couple of surprises on the menu.
‘CraftFamiliar5243’ writes: ‘We were in Thailand in a bar with an American cover band. The menu had pictures, loosely translated into English. We ordered “chicken tendons”, which we thought were poorly translated chicken tenders. They were fried chicken tendons.
Fried chicken tendons, not tender ones, are a popular street food snack in Thailand.
‘Mlibed’, for its part, discovered that green Pringles cans in Thailand indicate a more exotic flavor.
They write: ‘Backpacking through Thailand and stopped at a snack stand. I saw a green can of Pringles and thought “oh, sour cream and onion.” I was ready to try home. They were seaweed Pringles.
USA
In the US, ‘Ganesha811’ says he offended his in-laws with his ‘crazy’ request, explaining: ‘I went to a bagel shop in New Jersey with my girlfriend from Jersey and her family. I ordered a bagel with pork roll and cream cheese; It wasn’t out of place, 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 northeastern US, cream cheese is served plain on a bagel, with smoked salmon, or potentially with some vegetables or herbs. It is never served with meat of any kind.
Hong Kong
A customer was shocked when his jar of kimchi turned out to be pickled chicken feet (file photo)
A purchase at a traditional Hong Kong restaurant left a customer shocked.
‘Briennethebeauty10’ says: ‘In Hong Kong, we ate at a traditional cha chaan teng (restaurant). At the counter they sell homemade things. There was a plastic container for their homemade kimchi. When I got home to my surprise, it wasn’t kimchi. They were pickled chicken legs, spicy and cold.
France
Andouillette sausage (pictured above, file image) is made from pig intestine and is not the same as andouille, a smoked sausage that is a Cajun specialty.
In France, one particular ordering nightmare left several travelers tormented.
‘Zrgardne’ writes: ‘Andouille is a delicious garlic-smoked sausage common in Louisiana. Andouillette is a sausage in France made of (pig) casings stuffed inside casings. And as delicious as it sounds.
‘Quesabirria’ also tried it and remembers: ‘It was horrible. Tried mustards, still horrible. I tried to force myself to eat it. I did what I could. The taste stuck with me for several days, ruining all my meals during that time.’
Andouille is a smoked sausage often used in Cajun cuisine, while andouillette is made from pork intestine and is rarely served outside of France.
South Korea
A mistake at 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 liters. He didn’t speak Korean, but he pointed it out and believed it. Only after opening it did we realize it was Soju.’
Soju is an alcoholic beverage that can have an alcohol content of up to 53 percent.
Japan
A Redditor visited Japan and ordered what he thought was fish sashimi. It turned out to be raw chicken (above, file image)
A photo on a menu tricked a tourist in Japan into ordering a controversial delicacy.
‘Sahmizad’ says: ‘I was in Tokyo, in a restaurant that only had a Japanese menu. I saw an item that looked like fish and ordered it, thinking it was fish sashimi with rice. Slices of raw chicken came out on rice. It turns out that it is a store specialized in it.
Known as ‘torisashi’, it is a Japanese delicacy made from bite-sized pieces of raw chicken.
Peru
Guinea pig is an important delicacy in Ecuador and Peru, as some intrepid Redditors discovered
User ’35mmistoobig’ remembers a trip to Peru and eating what many would consider a cute pet.
They comment: ‘I ate a guinea pig in Cuzco. I thought it would just be meat, but no, that thing still had its head on.
‘Butterbleek’ replies: ‘Guinea pig. Major delicacy in Ecuador and Peru. We ordered one as a reward for skiing the Cotopaxi (volcano) in Ecuador. I was so close to throwing up. He still had remnant hair. Eyeballs and teeth.
