Ordering food and drink menu items

Ordering food and drink menu items

When ordering at a restaurant, the waiter and the customer use fixed sentence patterns. The waiter usually asks 「ご注文はお決まりですか(ごちゅうもんはおきまりですか, have you decided on your order?)」 or 「何にしますか(なににしますか, which one would you like?)」. The customer answers with 「〜をください」 or 「〜をお願いします(おねがいします, please order ~)」. After the order is recorded, the waiter says 「かしこまりました(kashikomarimashita, certainly, I understand)」, and if the order will take some time, the waiter says 「少々お待ちください(しょうしょうおまちください, please wait a moment)」。

「定食(ていしょく, set meal)」 is a complete meal package that usually includes rice, miso soup, and a main dish. Therefore, rice and soup do not need to be ordered separately when ordering 定食. The opposite is 「単品(たんぴん, single item)」, which means only one type of food without a package. For example, 「ハンバーガーを単品で」 means a hamburger only. To decline part of the package, 「〜はいりません(not needed ~)」 is used, for example 「サラダはいりません」。

「ランチセット(らんちせっと, lunch set)」 is also a package that already includes rice and soup. The waiter usually asks about the portion of rice. 「大盛り(おおもり, large portion)」 is a larger portion of rice, while 「少なめ(すくなめ, a small amount)」 is a reduced portion。

「日替わり定食(ひがわりていしょく, daily set meal)」 is a menu whose contents change every day. If the waiter says 「〜は売り切れです(〜はうりきれです, ~ is sold out)」, that item cannot be ordered and the customer must choose another. The same applies to goods in a shop, for example a clothing size that is sold out。

A 定食 often offers a choice of main dishes. The pattern 「AとBがございますが、どちらにしますか(AとBがございますが、どちらにしますか, we have A and B, which would you like?)」 is answered with 「Bでお願いします」 to choose B。

For drinks, 「飲み物は水でいいです(のみものはみずでいいです, water is fine for the drink)」 and 「水で大丈夫です(みずでだいじょうぶです, water is fine)」 are used to choose plain water. Other drinks that are often mentioned are 「お茶(おちゃ, tea)」 and 「紅茶(こうちゃ, black tea)」. The waiter usually asks 「お飲み物はいかがなさいますか(おのみものはいかがなさいますか, what would you like to drink?)」。

When choosing the temperature of a drink, 「温かいもの(あたたかいもの, something warm)」 and 「冷たいもの(つめたいもの, something cold)」 are used. The customer answers 「冷たいのをお願いします(つめたいのをおねがいします, please bring the cold one)」, using の in place of the drink noun. 「アイスコーヒー(あいすこーひー, iced coffee)」 is cold coffee, while 「ホットコーヒー(ほっとこーひー, hot coffee)」 is hot coffee。

「持ち帰り(もちかえり, takeout)」 means food to be taken home. The waiter asks 「店内でお召し上がりですか(てんないでおめしあがりですか, will you eat here?)」 to ask whether the food will be eaten on the premises. The customer can split the order, for example 「〜は持ち帰りで、ほかはここで食べます」 for part to be taken out and part to be eaten there。

To add to an order, 「〜も追加でお願いします(〜もついかでおねがいします, please add ~ as well)」 is used with 「追加(ついか, addition)」. The waiter asks 「ほかに何かございますか(ほかになにかございますか, anything else?)」. The customer closes the order with 「それだけです(that is all)」。

For drinks and french fries, sizes are expressed as 「Mサイズ(えむさいず, size M)」 and 「Lサイズ(えるさいず, size L)」. The customer answers 「Mサイズでお願いします」 if they want size M。

For spicy food such as curry, the level of spiciness is usually divided into 「普通(ふつう, regular)」, 「辛口(からくち, spicy)」, and 「激辛(げきから, very spicy)」. To decline spicy food, 「辛くないほうがいいです(からくないほうがいいです, it is better not to be spicy)」 is used. To say that one is not fond of spicy food, 「辛いものが苦手です(からいものがにがてです, I am not good with spicy food)」 is used, with 「苦手(にがて, not good at / dislike)」 as the key word for dislike。