Read a Japanese izakaya menu with your phone
KIKI’s menu scan reads an izakaya menu from a photo, shows the taste and rating of each sake, shochu and awamori on it, and translates the dishes. It is free for 10 menus a month.
It matches each drink to a catalogue of 20,000+ bottles and comes to iPhone and Android in early December 2026, for anyone visiting Japan who wants to order at an izakaya or sake bar with confidence.
Updated
What does the menu scan show?
From a photo of the menu you get these four things. The screens are examples, and the bottles are drawings of bottles that do not exist.
Every drink, matched to a real bottle
Each sake, shochu and awamori line is matched to a catalogue of 20,000+ bottles and shows the bottle, its taste, its rating and the foods it goes with. When a line names only a brand, the app says “brand only” and does not guess the bottle.
A taste map of the whole menu
Drinks with taste data are placed on two axes: dry to sweet and light to rich. Sake and shochu or awamori have separate maps because their scales differ. Once you rate bottles, your own taste zone appears on the map.
The food pages, translated
Each dish shows its name, an English name, a short description and the price. The “Contains” and “Likely contains” flags only dim dishes when you choose to avoid something. They are a guide, not a guarantee.
An order card to show the staff
Your chosen drinks and dishes appear in large Japanese with 「これをください」 (“this one, please”) and the quantity. Show the screen to the staff.
What else does it do?
- “Good value here”: the drinks on one menu are compared with each other and the better-value lines get a mark. It never calls a restaurant’s price too high.
- “On the menu”: tap a drink on the photographed page to check it. The page photo stays on your phone for a short time only.
- Menus abroad: it reads the currency of the page and shows prices as written, without converting them.
How do I use it?
- 1
Open the camera and choose Menu
Menu mode reads both the drinks pages and the food pages.
- 2
Photograph each page
A menu of several pages counts as one scan (up to 8 pages).
- 3
Tap Done
Two tabs, Drinks and Food, show the list, the taste map and the on-the-menu view.
- 4
Tap a drink to open the order card
Show your screen to the staff to order.
What does it cost?
The menu scan is free for 10 menus a month. Premium is ¥600 a month or ¥5,400 a year. The Travel Pass for visitors is planned as a 14-day pass (price: announced at launch).
| Free | Premium | Travel Pass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ¥0 | ¥600 a month or ¥5,400 a year | 14 days, announced at launch |
| Menu scans (drinks) | 10 a month | Up to 20 a day | Up to 20 a day |
| Food page translation | The first food page of each menu | All pages | All pages |
| Taste match % and dish-and-drink pairings | No | Yes | Yes |
The Travel Pass is a one-time purchase and does not renew. The price and the start of sales will be published here as soon as they are decided.
What it cannot do
- It cannot guarantee allergens or diets. The flags are guesses from the dish name. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff.
- “Good value here” compares the drinks on one menu. It does not judge whether the restaurant’s price is fair.
- Some lines may not be read: heavy handwriting or glare can defeat it. Unread lines show as brand only or not in the catalogue, and drinks missing from the catalogue are researched and added.
- Reading a menu needs an internet connection.
- The menu photo is sent to our server to be read and is not stored there.
Questions
Is there an app that reads a Japanese izakaya drinks menu and tells me which sake to order?
KIKI’s menu scan does that. Photograph the menu and each sake, shochu and awamori line shows its taste and rating, and the dishes are translated. It is free for 10 menus a month.
Does it translate the food menu?
Yes. Photograph the food pages and each dish shows its name, an English name, a short description and the price. Drinks and food pages of one menu are read together.
Can it tell me if a dish contains my allergen?
It cannot guarantee that. The “Contains” and “Likely contains” flags are guesses from the dish name. If you have an allergy, ask the staff before you order.
Does it work on handwritten or vertical menus?
It is built to read printed, handwritten, vertical and chalkboard menus, but messy handwriting or a photo with glare can make some lines unreadable.
How much does it cost?
The menu scan is free for 10 menus a month (a menu of several pages counts once). Premium is ¥600 a month or ¥5,400 a year, and the Travel Pass price is announced at launch.
Do I need an internet connection?
Yes. The menu is read on our server, so you need a connection.
Does “Good value here” mean the price is fair?
No. It compares the drinks on the same menu with each other. It never calls a restaurant’s price too high.
Does it work on menus outside Japan?
It reads the currency of the page and shows prices as written, without converting them.
Guides for the izakaya table
The words you meet when choosing drinks and dishes in an izakaya, explained.
- How to read a Japanese sake menuA sake menu line gives the brand first, then the grade (junmai, ginjo, daiginjo), often a serving in gō (180 ml) and a price. Here is how to read each word.
- How to order sake in an izakayaOrder sake by the serving (一合, 180 ml, or a glass), pick chilled or warm, and point at the line you want. Words, phrases and the serving sizes explained.
- Shochu and awamori on a Japanese menuThe words before 焼酎 tell you what it is made from, and ロック, 水割り, お湯割り and ソーダ割り tell you how it is served. A short guide to ordering shochu and awamori.
- Food words and allergies on an izakaya menuHow izakaya menus name dishes (cooking words and ingredients), which allergy words to know in Japanese, and why a dish name alone cannot tell you what is in it.
The screens are examples. The bottles are drawings and the numbers are made up.