The Taiwan Table app · Private beta Know every dish on the menu (almost) ==================================== Take a photo of a menu in Taiwan and the app tells you what each dish is, how to say it, and what goes into it. [Join the beta](#join)Free to download, for Android and iPhone. ![The app's menu view: a photographed stir-fry menu with English names such as Three-cup squid, Salt and pepper shrimp and Moon shrimp cake laid over the printed lines.](/images/app/menu-view.webp) A real menu, read by the app. Two lines from a menu --------------------- We use Google Translate on menus here all the time, and it helps. But a lot of Taiwanese dish names are nicknames or old sayings, and a word by word reading doesn't always tell you what will arrive. This is what it gave us on a menu we photographed recently, next to what the app says. 口水雞 Google Translate “Saliva chicken” What it is ### Mouth-watering chicken kǒushuǐjī Cold poached chicken in a numbing, spicy chili oil sauce with garlic and Sichuan peppercorn, usually ordered as a starter. The name is about your mouth watering. 五更腸旺 Google Translate “Wugeng changwang” What it is ### Pork intestine and duck blood hot pot wǔgēng chángwàng Pork intestine and cubes of duck blood braised in chili bean paste, kept bubbling over a small burner at the table. Pork Blood How it works ------------ ![The same stir-fry menu in the app with the English labels switched off, showing only the printed Chinese: 三杯鐵板類, 鐵板豆腐, 三杯中卷 and their prices.](/images/app/menu-original.webp) The menu as printed. ![After tapping 三杯中卷: the dish's characters, its pinyin sānbēi zhōngjuǎn, the English name Three-cup squid, a description, and that it usually contains shellfish, gluten and garlic or onion.](/images/app/menu-dish.webp) After tapping 三杯中卷. 1. 1**Photograph the menu.** English names show up over the printed lines. The reading happens on your phone, so it works without a signal. 2. 2**Tap a dish.** See what it is, how to say it, and a card with the characters to show staff. 3. 3**Check for allergens.** Dishes are marked when they usually contain peanuts, shellfish, fish, egg or gluten, and when they contain pork or blood. That's based on typical recipes, and dairy, sesame and tree nuts aren't covered yet, so always check with staff. 4. 4**Get a second look.** When you have a signal, you can send the dishes the app couldn't read, or isn't sure about, to AI to check. Cards to show staff ------------------- Pick what you can't eat, such as a peanut or shellfish allergy, no gluten, no pork or beef, vegetarian, vegan, no blood or no alcohol. The app puts it all on one card in Chinese, full screen, to show across the counter, including the hidden ingredients like lard, bone broth, dried shrimp and peanut powder. ![The app's Dietary cards screen, headed What you can't eat, with Peanut allergy and Shellfish allergy ticked in a list of allergies and diets.](/images/app/dietary-picker.webp) Tick what applies. ![The finished card in large Chinese: 我對花生嚴重過敏，一點點都不能吃 (I have a severe peanut allergy and cannot eat even a little), a shellfish line that names dried shrimp, oyster sauce and XO sauce, and 請問哪些菜我可以吃？謝謝！ (Which dishes can I eat? Thank you!).](/images/app/staff-card.webp) The card you show staff. Also in the app --------------- ![The app's home screen in the evening: a search box, a Photograph a menu button, and a night market card suggesting fried noodles, sesame oil chicken soup and shaved ice.](/images/app/home.webp) Every dish, to browse Look dishes up before you go, by category or by the kind of place you're eating at, from night markets and breakfast shops to hot pot. Search works in English, Chinese characters or pinyin. Places near you Every restaurant and night market on The Taiwan Table, sorted by how far away it is, with a map when you're online, and a button to open any of them in Google Maps. Our reviews and guides Everything we've written, ready to read offline. Join the beta ------------- We are inviting testers in small groups. Android testers join through Google Play and iPhone testers through Apple’s TestFlight. The app is free to download. Menu scans are free during the beta. After that, scans will be a paid extra, and everything else in the app stays free. Your phone Android iPhone EmailUse the address on your Google account (Android) or your Apple ID (iPhone). That’s where the invite has to go. Join the beta Sending… Also send me The Taiwan Table newsletter We use this email for your invite, and for the newsletter if you tick the box.