Order a Meal – Part 2

We’ve been seated at our table and look at the menu. It all looks like giberish and there’s not photos. Quick. What do we do?

No matter what you do, if you can’t read the menu, you’re going to be in for a surprise. This is generally a good thing. But, this could prove to be problematic if you have allergies or are a picky eater.

Food

First, some vocabulary.

肉　にく niku (Meat. Generally means beef.)

牛肉 ぎゅうにく　gyuu-niku (Beef. The first character 牛 means cow. Look for it if you want or are trying to avoid beef dishes).

豚肉　ぶたにく　buta-niku (Pork. Again, 豚 means pig. Avoid or Eat as Requested [I recommend eating. Lots of it.])

鶏肉　とりにく　tori-niku (Chicken. Delicious. Delicious Chicken.)

魚　さかな　sakana (Fish. Fish allergies suck. Especially in Japan as many soups have a fish based broth.

ニンニク　nin-niku (Garlic. It’s in a lot more dishes than you think).

So you see something that might sound interesting, but you’re not sure if it has garlic in it. Normally I recommend eating anything and everything as it’s part of the experience. However, for whatever reason, you can’t. Let’s say an allergy (the only real excuse not to eat something at least once in my mind).

*point to the dish*
これにニンニクが入っていますか？
kore ni nin-niku ga haitte-imasu ka?
Is there any garlic in this?

You can replace the bolded part with any noun. The ones above are probably the most common.

Drinks

お酒　o-sake (Sake. Or Alchohol in general.)

ビール biiru (Beer.)

コーラ　koora (Cola.)

コーヒー koohii (Coffee.)

水　みず mizu (Water.)

Ordering your drinks is very simple. The waiter/waitress will ask you

お飲物いかがなさいますか？
o-nomimono ikaga naisai-masu ka?
What would you like to drink?

I want coffee, so I reply:

コーヒーお願いします。
koohii onegai-shimasu.
Coffee please.

Again, you can change the bolded part for any noun and it works.

Pointing at your menu in Japan seems to be fairly common when ordering. Especially as many places don’t give their dishes nice short names, but instead nice long descriptive ones.

If you can’t read the dish’s name, simply point and says

これお願いします。
kore onegi-shimasu.
This please.

This can also be used when shopping or anywhere really. You should be able to get your meal in proper Japanese and hopefully not be too surprised with what you get in return. Happy eats!