Reading a Taiwanese Menu: Why 土豆 Means Peanuts, Not Potatoes
Even if you've studied some Chinese, a few menu words in Taiwan can trip you up — start with the ones that look the same but mean something else.
Published · Updated
"Isn't 土豆 potato?" Many food words on Taiwanese menus differ from mainland usage. In Taiwan, 土豆 means peanuts, and potato is 馬鈴薯. Here are the words you'll see most in restaurants, based on the cross-strait word table in Taiwan's Ministry of Education Concise Mandarin Dictionary and its Taiwanese Hokkien dictionary.
01 · Menu Words at a Glance
| Meaning | On a Taiwanese menu | Common on the mainland |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | 土豆·花生 | 花生·落花生 |
| Potato | 馬鈴薯 | 洋芋·土豆 |
| Potato chips | 洋芋片 | 薯片·土豆片 |
| Pineapple | 鳳梨 | 菠蘿 |
| Kiwi | 奇異果 | 獼猴桃 |
| Avocado | 酪梨 | 鱷梨 |
| Cabbage | 高麗菜 | 包心菜·圓白菜, etc. |
| Radish | 菜頭 | 蘿蔔 |
| Broccoli | 綠色花椰菜 | 西蘭花 |
02 · Meat, Fish, and Dairy
Fish Tuna is 鮪魚 (mainland 金槍魚·吞拿魚), salmon is 鮭魚 (三文魚), and tilapia is 吳郭魚 (羅非魚).
Dairy Drinking yogurt is 優酪乳 (mainland 酸奶), spoonable yogurt is 優格, and cheese is 起司 (乳酪·芝士).
Others Bacon is 培根 (mainland 煙肉), a lunch box is 便當 (盒飯), and Japanese-style steamed egg is 茶碗蒸 (蛋羹).
03 · Oysters Are 蚵仔, Radish Is 菜頭
蚵仔, common on Taiwanese menus, means oysters. It's read ô-á in Taiwanese, and the Ministry of Education's Taiwanese dictionary glosses it as 牡蠣 (oyster). The night-market classic 蚵仔煎 is an oyster omelette. 菜頭 means radish, so 菜頭粿 is radish cake. 豆花 stays 豆花 in Taiwan, while on the mainland it's also called 豆腐腦 or 豆腐花.
04 · Tips for Reading the Menu
The table shows typical usage Taiwan uses both 番茄 and 蕃茄 for tomato, and wording mixes by shop and generation.
Double-check 土豆 If you were expecting potatoes, look at the menu photo or point and ask.
Search in Traditional Chinese Taiwanese menus use traditional characters, so set your translation app to Traditional Chinese.
"The same characters can mean something different in Taiwan." — a summary of a traveler's post on food words across the strait.
Once you know the words, try ordering. Plan your route with the Taipei restaurant map, then open the menu at 天天利美食坊, one of our Taipei Taiwanese restaurants, where travelers enjoyed the braised pork rice, radish cake and oyster omelette.
Find Taipei Taiwanese restaurants on the map
Check Taipei restaurants for braised pork rice, oyster omelette and other Taiwanese dishes.