No More Chickens Without a Sex Life

There will be no more Stewed Pork in Brown Sauce or Chickens without a Sex Life! In preparation for the Olympics, the government has just released a list of suggested Chinese dish translations. The mew model menu offers more readily understandable English translations of dishes that previously went by names such as Lion's Head or Saliva Chicken. Too bad for that, I really enjoyed reading all the Chinglish dish names, my favorite being Steamed Crap and Noodles of Fornication. Take a look at this New York Times article or this story over at Slate for a more in-depth analysis of the new translated menu.

Another piece of useful information to help diners navigate Beijing's restaurants is the upcoming release of the Miele Guide. Similar to the Michelin tire company, Miele is a German manufacturer of premium home cooking appliances who've teamed up with Ate Media to produce the Miele Guide. The guide aims to be Asia's "first independent restaurant guide" akin to the Zagat Guide in the US and the Michelin Guide in Europe. According to their website, the guide will rank and profile the best restaurants in major cities of 16 Asian countries.

Four rounds of voting will take place with an initial input by 84 of Asia's most influential restaurant critics. Public online voting is taking place now until the end of July 2008. You can vote in three languages, simplified Chinese, Japanese, and English. The Miele Guide's in-house editors will then visit all the top-ranked restaurants anonymously to verify the voting results in the final stage of judging. Miele also plans to include publish and offer voting in Korean and Thai next year. The guide will be released at the end of October 2008, five months after the release of the Zagat Guide.

Links and Sources
NetEase: Image of 清蒸童子鸡 - Steamed Spring Chicken or Chicken without a Sex Life
City Scene: Another Helping of Stewed Big Cock? Yes Please (Mar 2007)
City Scene: Scenester (Oct 2007)