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Chinese restaurant menu: takeout and shared dishes

Chinese restaurant menus may group dishes by protein, cooking method or region, with rice, noodles and combination meals listed separately. Region matters: Shunde is one of the cradles of Cantonese cuisine and Chengdu is the centre of Sichuan cuisine, and both are UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy[1][2]. Check whether each price buys a shared dish or an individual meal.

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Typical menu

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Examples vary by restaurant. Confirm ingredients, portions and dietary needs with staff.

Starters and dim sum

  • Jiaozi — Crescent dumplings, boiled (soft and slippery) or pan-fried (crisp base), often filled with pork and cabbage or chives; usually sold by count and dipped in vinegar or soy sauce.
  • Spring rolls — Thin wrappers fried until crackly around shredded vegetables, sometimes with pork or shrimp; light and easy to share alongside other dishes.
  • Siu mai — Open-topped steamed dumplings from the Cantonese dim sum repertoire, often pork and shrimp; juicy and savory, usually several to a basket.
  • Hot and sour soup — A thickened broth, tangy from vinegar and warm from white pepper more than chili, with tofu, mushroom and often egg ribbons; check the bowl size and whether pork is added.

Shared dishes and staples

  • Mapo tofu — Soft tofu in a red chili-bean sauce, often with minced meat; Sichuan pepper adds a tingling, numbing sensation[3]. Usually hot, and best with plain rice.
  • Kung pao chicken — Diced chicken stir-fried with dried chilies and peanuts in a glossy, slightly sweet-sour sauce; heat varies, and the whole dried chilies are usually left aside rather than eaten.
  • Char siu — Cantonese barbecued pork with a sweet, sticky, reddish glaze; sold as a sliced meat plate, over rice or inside buns, so check which format the price covers.
  • Fried rice — Rice stir-fried in a wok with egg, scallion and a chosen protein; a full plate can be a meal or a shared staple, so you may not need plain rice as well.

How to order on your first visit

For two sharing, try two contrasting dishes and a vegetable, with rice sized to appetite. For takeout, check whether a combination already includes rice, soup or a roll before adding extras.

Different menu styles

Cantonese menus may emphasize dim sum and roast meats; Sichuan menus may distinguish chili heat from peppercorn numbness. Szechuan on a takeout menu does not describe every Chinese dish.

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What to order

  • Peking duck — lacquered roast duck carved tableside, wrapped in thin pancakes
  • Xiaolongbao — Shanghai soup dumplings filled with pork and hot broth
  • Mapo tofu — the Sichuan classic of silken tofu in numbing-spicy sauce
  • Char siu — Cantonese barbecued pork with a sweet lacquered edge
  • Hand-pulled noodles (lamian) — northern wheat noodles in beef broth or stir-fried

23 menus

Frequently asked questions

What are the main regional Chinese cuisines?

The traditional list names eight: Cantonese, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, and Shandong. Cantonese (dim sum, roasts) and Sichuan (málà heat) are the two most represented on menus abroad.

Why do Chinese menus abroad differ from food in China?

Many overseas standards — General Tso’s chicken, chop suey, fortune cookies — were invented abroad. Restaurants often keep two repertoires; the regional specialties are usually where the kitchen’s identity lives.

How do I order well from a long Chinese menu?

Order for the table rather than one dish each: for example a roast or braise, a stir-fry, a vegetable and a staple such as rice or noodles. Mix cooking methods and heat levels, and ask which dishes are house specialties.

What background helps when reading a Chinese menu?

Chinese cuisine is not one kitchen but at least eight great regional traditions, from delicate Cantonese steaming to fiery Sichuan málà, hearty northern wheat cooking (noodles, dumplings) and the sweet-savory braises of the east. Shared foundations are wok cooking over high heat, soy sauce, rice and wheat staples, and the balance of texture as much as flavor. The scale has institutional recognition too: China counts multiple UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy, beginning with Chengdu in 2010.[2]

Related guides

Sources

  1. UNESCO. Shunde | Creative Cities Network. Accessed
  2. UNESCO. Chengdu | Creative Cities Network. Accessed
  3. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Food vibrations: Asian spice sets lips trembling. Accessed
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