ENGLISH ONLY MENUS PUZZLE LOCALS, FOREIGNERS IN BULGARIAN SEA RESORTS
Restaurant menus written only in English have caused some trouble for Bulgarians across the country's Black Sea resorts, its Commission for Consumer Protection has alarmed.
Most tourists visiting the largest Bulgarian sea resorts are foreigners, but the "globalization" of the menus has apparently gone too far. Besides menus being incomprehensible for many Bulgarians, the Commission for Consumer Protection has alarmed that hotels have been illegally boosting their number of stars in order to attract more tourists.
Consumer protection teams are also checking out the quality of the alcohol sold in some of the resorts, the Dnevnik daily reports.
As for the menus, Bulgarians may not be the only ones facing a language barrier during the summer tourist season. A lot of the restaurants translate their menus too carelessly, which often results in absurd dish "titles".
"A constipated old man from Bansko" is an example of the Bulgarian "restaurant" English. "Bansko's old man" is a traditional delicacy in the country's southwestern ski resort of Bansko – and constipated is a homonym for "slightly roasted" in Bulgarian. The translator has obviously confused the dictionary entries.
"Cheese under cover" is the mysterious name received for a traditional cheese dish served under a lid.
"Sponges with forgeries" is how spiced mushrooms have been translated in a Bulgarian restaurant. One and the same word is used for "mushroom" and "sponge" in Bulgarian.
