menus in english

Do most restaraunts in Pairs have menus in English or do we just guess?

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Most of them have. Just don%26#39;t forget to ask for it.

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Kristy --

Don%26#39;t forget that what we call a menu the French call %26quot;la carte%26quot; as in %26quot;la carte Anglaise, s%26#39;il vous plait%26quot; - Anglaise being English, of course, and s%26#39;il vous plait being please.

What the French call %26quot;le menu%26quot; is a fixed-price meal, usually with two or three choices for two or three courses. This is generally the best value the establishment has to offer that day, whether for lunch or for dinner.

Either way, take a phrase book with you that has basic food items in it, so that you%26#39;re not too stressed to enjoy a good meal.

BTW, drink the house wine, it will go with the food, and will be cheaper than ordering from the wine list, or beer or Coca Cola. No place in France could survive with a bad house wine. Also, tap water is perfectly fine in Western Europe. Drink mineral water only if you prefer the flavour.

Bon voyage

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Kristy,

You might just guess and hope for the best. It might be fun and quite adventurous as the French don%26#39;t mind eating things that some Americans find objectionable. These dinning experiences could be the basis for delightful stories you could tell to your family and friends for many years to come.

Alternatively, you could purchase one of the many handy menu translation books available and avoid the possibility of a distasteful surprise. There are a lot of titles, you could visit your local book store or order online. This subject has been discussed on this forum before so if you try a quick search referencing menu/food guides and dictionaries, you should be able to locate a suitable title.

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Very high end establishments (such as Michelin, Gault et Millau starred places) are likely to have English menus. That%26#39;s understandable, given their reputation and their expected international clientele.

So in these cases, having an English menu available is not synonymous with a more, say, %26quot;casual%26quot; approach to the quality of food and service. On the other hand, it is very likely to be in run of the mill restaurants where non French menus grant these places a very obvious %26quot;tourist trap%26quot; label.

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I was in France from July 15th to the 21st. In my experience half of the restaurants I went to, would hand the French menu at first, when the servers saw me pull out my phrase book they would immediately hand me a menu in Spanish or English depending on what language I was speaking at the time. We noticed some restaurants had menus in different languages at a table near the entrance. Some servers spoke English/Spanish - very little - some didn%26#39;t speak any at all - not that we expected it. We knew only a few words in French. A coke or small bottle of Perrier water was 4 to 5 Euros. Read the menus posted outside the restaurants to get an idea of what they offer. I hope you have a good time in Paris. France has a lot of beautiful monuments, museums, etc.

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