This paper aims to explore the merits of a list of criteria to assess the translation of cultural references by applying them to unsatisfactory translations of cultural references found in the same corpus. The purpose is not so much to examine the quality of the translation as to evaluate the criteria themselves in terms of their practical usefulness to the translator: How effective are they in assessing the rendering of cultural references in the target text? Can they help to identify mistranslations? Can they fulfil a heuristic function and facilitate the discovery of solutions or assist the translator in other ways? Before applying the criteria to a corpus and assessing them, the author offers some methodological remarks concerning the conceptual framework, the corpus and the approach.