Ordering a Meal Part 1 – Getting seated

Living or visiting Japan changes the way you think about food. It has a famous food culture that is very old. Life is centered around food. It seems almost every TV show has at least a small portion of it dedicated to watching celebrities eating a specialty dish. Complete with close ups of the various dishes being held in a pair of chopsticks.

Living or visiting Japan though, it’s very difficult to enjoy a proper meal if you can’t at least speak a few phrases. This is especially true if you want to visit places off the beaten path. Places without an English menu or any English speaking staff. I highly recommend this as it’s a great way to see and taste a Japan that most people never experience.

Let’s start with some basic phrases you will hear when you come into the restaurant.

いらっしゃいませ (Irasshaimase) Welcome.

何人様ですか？ (Nan-nin-sama desu ka) How many people?

At this point, you can simple hold up your hand with the number of people in your party. I usually say the number and hold up my fingers just so there isn’t any confusion.

一人です。 (Hitori-desu) 1 person
私だけです。。。(watashi-dake…) Just me..
二人です。 (Futari-desu) 2 people

Anything above two people follows regular Japanese numbers with the counter for humans （人, nin) attached to it. So, 三人 is san-nin and 四人 is yo-nin and so on.

Smoking ins restaurants is still quite common in Japan. At smaller shops (where you want to go) there probably isn’t a smoking and a non-smoking section. However, at the larger restaurants they will normally ask you one of the following:

喫煙ですか？　（Kitsuen desu-ka)? Smoking?

or

禁煙ですか？ （kinen desu-ka?） Non-smoking?

Again, hand signals can also be used here to help facilitate clear communication. If you forget what to say, simply make a small X with your fingers or with your arms and you should be taken to the non-smoking section.

Go to your seat. And We’ll get ordering a meal in Part 2.

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