A Chinese takeout menu assumes a vocabulary. Section headings, dish names and the small notes underneath them all carry information, and none of it is explained anywhere on the page. This is that explanation, in one place.
How the menu is put together
Before the individual words, the structure. Sections are organised on one of two axes: by cooking method (chop suey, egg foo young, sweet and sour) or by main protein (beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables). The same dish therefore appears in more than one place — chicken lo mein is filed under noodles, not under chicken.
Once you know which axis a section uses, a menu of nearly three hundred items becomes a much smaller set of dishes multiplied by a set of variations.
Noodles and rice
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lo mein | Soft wheat noodles, boiled then tossed with sauce |
| Chow mein | Wheat noodles fried in the wok; drier, often served with rice |
| Mei fun | Thin rice noodles, stir fried and light |
| Chow fun | Wide flat rice noodles (not on every menu) |
| Fried rice | Rice stir fried with egg and a protein, ordered separately |
| White rice | Plain steamed rice, included with most entrée sections |
The comparison of lo mein and chow mein and the guide to mei fun cover those in detail.
Cooking methods and dish types
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Chop suey | Meat and vegetables in a light sauce over rice; no noodles |
| Egg foo young | A thick egg patty with a filling, served with gravy and rice |
| Moo shu | Shredded stir fry with egg, traditionally eaten wrapped in thin pancakes |
| Sweet and sour | Battered pieces with a sweet, tangy sauce, often served separately |
| Moo goo gai pan | Cantonese for mushrooms and sliced chicken; a light, pale-sauced stir fry |
| Lobster sauce | A pale savoury sauce, usually egg-finished; does not normally contain lobster |
| Black bean sauce | Built on fermented black beans; deep, salty and savoury |
Words that signal heat
This is the group most worth memorising, because several of them do not sound like heat warnings.
- Szechuan — chilli, often with a tingling, numbing quality.
- Hunan — a more direct, dry chilli heat.
- Kung Po — chilli-forward, traditionally made with peanuts.
- Ma Po — a Sichuan tofu dish, characteristically hot.
- Garlic sauce — savoury and garlicky, and usually spicier than it sounds.
- Curry — aromatic spicing, with heat that varies.
Dishes are also marked spicy on the menu itself, and that marking beats the dish’s reputation every time. The guide to what those words mean covers the differences.
Words about size and combination
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Small / large | Roughly one serving versus roughly two |
| House special | Made with more than one protein rather than a single one |
| Combination / dinner special | An entrée bundled with a starch and a side |
| Lunch special | A smaller bundled plate, available only during a fixed midday window |
| Family size | A large-format portion for feeding a group |
| Triple delight / four season | Combination dishes with several proteins |
Two of these are worth reading properly: the guide to what house special means and the one on dinner specials and combination plates.
The small notes under section headings
These are easy to skip and carry the most practical information on the page.
- “Served with white rice” — rice is included; do not order it again.
- “Served with pork fried rice and egg roll or soup” — a bundled plate; the sides are already covered.
- “Soft noodles” — describing the lo mein section.
- “With white rice” on chow mein — a noodle dish that also arrives with rice, which surprises people.
Terms that describe the protein
A few words in dish names refer to the ingredient rather than the method, and they are worth knowing because they are not always obvious in English.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Roast pork | Pork marinated and roasted before it goes into the dish |
| Gai | Chicken, as in moo goo gai pan |
| Bean curd | Tofu |
| Snow peas | Flat pea pods, eaten whole |
| Bamboo shoots | Pale, crunchy shoots used in stir fries and soups |
| Water chestnut | A crisp, mild vegetable that stays crunchy when cooked |
Why dishes are numbered
Order codes, not rankings. Numbering exists so an order can be taken quickly and accurately by phone or across a counter, which matters when a menu contains a dozen items whose names differ by one word. Ordering by number is normal and usually appreciated.
Putting it together
Read a dish name as a set of parts. “Chicken Szechuan Style (Lg)” is protein, style and portion — chicken, chilli-based Sichuan preparation, large size. “House Special Mei Fun” is variation and starch — several proteins, thin rice noodles.
Almost every item on the menu decodes this way, which is why the vocabulary is worth twenty minutes once rather than guesswork every time.
Where to go next
If you are ordering for the first time, the beginner’s guide is the place to start. For quantities, see how much to order per person, and for choosing a protein, the guide to beef, chicken, pork or seafood.
The full menu is organised into the sections described above.
Sauce names are the other half of the vocabulary. They cut across every section rather than sitting in one, so they are worth learning separately — the guide to Chinese sauces explains what brown, white, garlic and black bean sauce each are.
The length of the menu is less daunting once you notice how much of it repeats — why Chinese menus run so long sets out the pattern and the fastest way to read one.
If you would rather browse than look something up, every guide on this site is arranged there by the decision you are making rather than by the date it was written.
A note on the vocabulary
Most of these terms are transliterations of Cantonese, which reflects where the earliest Chinese restaurants in the United States came from. That is why the spellings vary so much between menus — there was never a single standard. The background on American Chinese cuisine covers how that vocabulary settled.
Frequently asked questions
What do the numbers next to Chinese menu items mean?
They are order codes, nothing more. Numbering makes it faster and less error-prone to take an order by phone or across a counter, particularly for dishes with similar names.
What does “small” and “large” mean on a Chinese menu?
A small is roughly one person’s serving and a large is closer to two. It is a portion size rather than a container size, and the gap is bigger than the words suggest.
Which menu words mean a dish is spicy?
Szechuan, Hunan, Kung Po, Ma Po, curry and garlic sauce are the reliable signals. Dishes are also marked spicy on the menu itself, which is the better guide.
What does “served with white rice” mean?
That the dish arrives with a portion of plain steamed rice included, so you do not need to order rice separately. Noodle dishes do not carry this note, because the noodles are the dish.
The bottom line
Sections tell you the method or the protein. Dish names tell you the variation. The small notes tell you what else arrives. Learn the six words that mean chilli and the rest of the menu opens up.
Every section described here is on the current menu.
Browse the full menu