Serious Eats
How-To: Order Chinese Food
The English translation of Chinese menus are sometimes straightforward (beef and broccoli, beef and snow peas, beef and [insert other vegetable]) but may also be very confusing and unintentionally obscene. To be on the safe side, brush up on your Chinese menu ordering skills at How to Order Chinese Food, where U.S. expat Ben Ross lists the the names of common Chinese characters with their English translations and gives their pronunciations in pinyin (numbers refer to tones). The dishes are helpfully organized by main ingredient and region of origin and most are accompanied by a photograph. The website is still in its infancy; if you have any suggestions, leave a comment on Ben's blog.
For a comprehensive guide to reading the characters on Chinese menus (not so much how to pronounce them), go to Mei Wah: How to Eat in Chinese.