Ordering food & drinks

Ordering food & drinks

Ordering (注文, ちゅうもん, order) is the conversation in which a customer chooses and orders food or drinks from the 店員(てんいん, waiter). In the exam, what is tested is the standard expressions of both sides and the order of service in a restaurant.

Expressions often used by the waiter:

• ご注文(ごちゅうもん, order)はお決まり(おきまり, already decided)ですか — a question asking whether the customer has decided on their order. A suitable answer is usually 「はい、〜をください」 or 「まだ決まっていません」.
• お持ち(おもち)します — humble form of 持つ(もつ, to carry), used by the waiter to say that they will bring something right away. Example: 「少々お待ちください。すぐお持ちします」(please wait a moment, I will bring it right away).
• かしこまりました — a sign that the waiter has accepted the order. This is more formal than 「わかりました」.

Patterns the customer uses to order or ask for something:

• 〜をください — a polite way to ask for an item. Example: 「コーヒーを一つください」(please give me one coffee). With 「もう一つ」 it means asking for one more.
• 〜ていただけませんか — a very polite request, meaning 'could you ...?'. Example: 「メニューを見せていただけませんか」(could you show me the menu?).
• 〜をもらえますか — asking for something in a more casual and direct way. Example: 「スプーンをもらえますか」(could I have a spoon?).
• 〜てもいいですか — asking permission to do something, not asking for an item. Example: 「席を移ってもいいですか」(may I move to another seat?). This form is not appropriate for asking the waiter for water or food.
• 〜ておきます — states an action the speaker does beforehand, not a request to another person.
• 〜いただきましたか — asks whether something has been received, so it is not a request sentence.

The waiter's answers to availability questions:

• 〜人ですが、今 席は ありますか — a question about seat availability for a number of people. For people, use 一人(ひとり), 二人(ふたり), 三人(さんにん), not 三つ(みっつ), which is used for objects. An appropriate answer: 「はい、あります。こちらへどうぞ」(yes, there are. Please come this way).
• 〜ものは ありますか — a question asking whether a menu item with a certain condition is available. The answer is 「はい、あります」 followed by an explanation of the condition. Example: 「甘いデザートはありますか」 → 「はい、あります。甘くありません」. Note the negative forms: 辛い(からい, spicy) → 辛くない(からくない) for the plain form and 辛くありません for the polite form.
• もう結構です(もうけっこうです, no more needed) — a polite refusal of an offer. This expression is not suitable for requests for water.

The order of service in a restaurant:

• セルフサービス(せるふさーびす, self-service) — customers take drinks themselves at the カウンター(konter, counter) before eating. So the first action after ordering food may be getting a drink.
• 会計(かいけい, payment)はレジで — payment is made at the レジ(kasir, cashier) after the meal is finished, not before eating.
• ごちそうさまでした and ありがとう、また来ます — expressions for leaving after eating. These expressions are not suitable as answers to questions about an order.

Ordering food & drinks

Conversations for ordering at a Japanese restaurant follow a fairly fixed pattern. The waiter usually opens with a question about the order, and then the customer replies by naming the menu item and the quantity. By recognizing this pattern, we can quickly understand the meaning of each utterance and the action being requested.

1. Asking about and answering orders

• ご注文(ごちゅうもん, order)はお決まりですか(おきまりですか, have you decided?) — the waiter's question to find out whether the customer has chosen a menu item. The usual answer is 「はい」 followed by the chosen item, for example 「はい、コーヒーをください」. If the customer has not decided yet, they can answer 「まだです(not yet)」.
• 〜にします(〜ni shimasu, I will choose ~) — used to state a decision to select something from several options. Example: 「じゃあ、サラダにします」 (then, I will choose the salad).
• どちらにしますか(dochira ni shimasu ka, which one will you choose?) — a question asking the customer to choose one of two things. The answer is simply to state the choice directly, for example 「〜をお願いします」.

2. Requesting and stating quantities