MENU-PAAN: Menu Translator

Can't read the menu? Those days are over. Just photograph it. Advanced AI explains what each dish really is. 50 countries. Ordering, the bill, tipping. Free to try.

The trip you had been waiting for. The restaurant you had been looking forward to. And then the menu arrives, and you cannot read a word of it.

So you look for something that sounds vaguely familiar and order the safe option. The plate arrives, and it is not what you pictured. Then you glance at the next table, and their food looks far better than yours.

MENU-PAAN exists so that evening stops happening.

A TRANSLATION ON ITS OWN DOES NOT HELP Turn the Japanese dish "oyakodon" into English word for word and you get "parent-and-child rice bowl". Accurate, and completely useless. (It is chicken and egg simmered over rice, comfort food in the way a good pot pie is.) MENU-PAAN does not simply swap words. It tells you what the dish actually is: what goes into it, how it is cooked, and how people eat it where you are standing. Where it helps, it compares the dish to something you already know, "similar to mac and cheese", "like BBQ ribs", and shows a reference photo so you can see it before you commit.

JUST TAKE A PHOTO Point your camera at the menu and that is it. Printed menus, handwritten chalkboards, up to five photos in one go. Several advanced AI models work behind the scenes, one to read the writing, another to explain the food, and the app chooses the right one for you automatically. 50 countries and regions are covered.

NO MORE AGONISING OVER WHAT TO ORDER Local specialities and the restaurant's signature dishes are marked, and so are dishes likely to suit your taste. Tell the app which foods you would rather avoid, and anything likely to contain them gets a caution mark. You can also show the waiter a card in the local language: "I would rather not eat prawns."

FROM ORDERING TO THE BILL Build an order list and simply show it to the staff: every dish in the original language, the local language and yours. Ask for sharing plates or water, or say how you would like your meat cooked. Tell the app how many of you there are and roughly what you want to spend, and it will suggest a combination. Useful travel phrases in 17 languages come with pronunciation and can be read aloud. Prices are shown as an approximate figure in your own currency, with exchange rates refreshed every day. When the bill comes, you get a guide to local tax, service charges and what people usually tip.

WEAK SIGNAL? STILL FINE Menus you have already read stay on your device, so you can look back at them with no connection at all. Photograph the dishes you loved and keep them with your own notes. Share a translated menu with friends by QR code: they do not need the app, it opens in a browser. What you like and what you avoid stays with you and is never passed on.

WHO MADE IT A former diplomat who now runs restaurants. Four years at the Japanese Embassy in the United Kingdom, and one evening in London, defeated by a menu, he ordered fish and chips again. He is the fourth generation of a restaurant business founded 75 years ago, and he built this for everyone who has had that evening.

WHAT IT COSTS Try Lite (free) three times a day without an account. Sign up and Lite stays free every day, with three Pro (paid) readings included. There is no monthly charge. Packs are bought once and never expire. Launch pricing is on now; see the app for details.

GOOD FOR A first trip abroad. Street food and markets. Restaurants with no English menu. Travelling with children or parents. Business meals overseas.

Translations, explanations and caution marks are AI-generated reference information. We cannot guarantee that they are accurate. Always check with restaurant staff about ingredients and allergies.

Order the dish you actually wanted. Enjoy the trip.