Reading a Chinese menu

Let’s continue the theme, talk about eating in a Chinese restaurant and use a cartoon. How many of you have struggled in a Chinese restaurant when the menu is in Chinese only? Today’s post will help you at least identify different categories of food in a menu.

In some Chinese restaurants you will find the food divided into two categories:

热菜 (rè cài): hot dishes

冷菜 (lěng cài): cold dishes

But most likely they will be divided into:

荤菜 (hūn cài): meat dishes

蔬菜 (shū cài): vegetable dishes

And some other food categories on a menu

汤 (tāng): soup

饮料 (yǐnliào): beverages

甜品 (tiánpǐn): dessert

And if you care about how the food is cooked

炒 (chǎo): fried

烤 (kǎo): roasted

蒸 (zhēng): steamed

煮 (zhǔ): boiled

And if you are like me, you will go for the:

特别推荐 (tèbié tuījiàn): specialty

你有什么特别推荐？

(Nǐ yǒu shénme tèbié tuījiàn?)

Do you have any special recommendation?

Eating out in China

Have you ever been to a Chinese restaurant and wanted to use some Chinese language? In this blog post we will learn basic Chinese which will enable you to order food in a Chinese restaurant.

First of all how do we say restaurant in Chinese language?

餐厅 (cāntīng)

饭馆 (fànguǎn)

Once you are in the restaurant

服务员 (fúwùyuán): waiter/waitress

菜单 (càidān): menu

点菜 (diǎn cài): to order food

上菜 (shàng cài): to serve food

慢慢吃 (màn man chī): Bon appétit (eat slowly)

请慢用 (qǐng màn yòng): please eat slowly

好吃 (hào chī): delicious; tasty

味道 (wèidào): taste; flavor

And after you are done eating

埋单 (máidān): to pay bill

一起付 (yīqǐ fù): pay together

分开付 (fēnkāi fù): pay separately

小费 (xiǎofèi): tip

Next time you go to a Chinese restaurant, try using these words. 慢慢吃!!!

球迷 (qiúmí)

对不起， 好久不写。最近我很忙。每天看足球， 没有时间。足球比赛结束了， 所以我会常写。

Duìbùqǐ, hǎo jiǔ bù xiě. Zuìjìn wǒ hěn máng. Měi tiān kàn zúqiú, méiyǒu shíjiān. Zúqiú bǐsài jiéshù le, suǒyǐ  wǒ huì cháng xiě.

Sorry I haven’t written in a long time. I was really busy these days. I was watching soccer everyday and had no time. The tournament is over now and I will write more often. 

Below are some useful sports related terms:

比赛 (bǐsài): game; competition; tournament

球赛 (qiúsài): match; ball game

球队 (qiú duì): team

球星 (qiúxīng): star player

球场 (qiúchǎng): field; court

球迷 (qiúmí): fan