{"id":13888,"date":"2017-11-27T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T13:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=13888"},"modified":"2017-11-17T15:04:08","modified_gmt":"2017-11-17T19:04:08","slug":"chinese-restaurant-cheat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-restaurant-cheat-sheet\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Restaurant Cheat Sheet"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most overwhelming experiences for newcomers to China is walking into a local restaurant and seeing a menu full of nothing but Chinese characters<\/a>. I remember being terrified in my first few weeks in China every time I walked into such a place. How was I going to order? What if I ended up with a plate of chicken feet? Was I going to be laughed at for my pathetic chopstick skills, which I’d have to attempt since I didn’t even know how to ask for a fork? In an effort to save you the struggle, I’ve put together a Chinese restaurant cheat sheet to help you out.<\/p>\n

Restaurant Vocabulary<\/h2>\n
\"Chinese

Don’t be scared!<\/p><\/div>\n

First off, let’s learn some useful vocabulary that you’ll need in any Chinese restaurant. Here are 30 vocabulary words for going to a Chinese restaurant:<\/p>\n

\u996d\u5e97
\n\u9910\u5385
\n\u9910\u9986
\n\u83dc\u5355
\n\u7b77\u5b50
\n\u676f\u5b50
\n\u53c9\u5b50
\n\u5200\u5b50
\n\u7897
\n\u76d8\u5b50
\n\u9910\u5dfe\u7eb8
\n\u670d\u52a1\u5458
\n\u70b9\u83dc
\n\u7c73\u996d
\n\u9762\u6761
\n\u997a\u5b50
\n\u7092\u83dc
\n\u852c\u83dc
\n\u6c64
\n\u8089
\n\u9e21\u8089
\n\u725b\u8089
\n\u732a\u8089
\n\u9e2d\u8089
\n\u9c7c
\n\u867e
\n\u8783\u87f9
\n\u70b9\u5fc3
\n\u4e70\u5355
\n\u5e26\u8d70<\/div>
f\u00e0n di\u00e0n
\nc\u0101n t\u012bng
\nc\u0101n gu\u01cen
\nc\u00e0i d\u0101n
\nku\u00e0i zi
\nb\u0113i zi
\nch\u0101 zi
\nd\u0101o zi
\nw\u01cen
\np\u00e1n zi
\nc\u0101n j\u012bn zh\u01d0
\nf\u00fa w\u00f9 yu\u00e1n
\ndi\u01cen c\u00e0i
\nm\u01d0 f\u00e0n
\nmi\u00e0n ti\u00e1o
\nji\u01ceo zi
\nch\u01ceo c\u00e0i
\nsh\u016b c\u00e0i
\nt\u0101ng
\nr\u00f2u
\nj\u012b r\u00f2u
\nni\u00fa r\u00f2u
\nzh\u016b r\u00f2u
\ny\u0101 r\u00f2u
\ny\u00fa
\nxi\u0101
\np\u00e1ng xi\u00e8
\ndi\u01cen x\u012bn
\nm\u01cei d\u0101n
\nd\u00e0i z\u01d2u<\/div>
restaurant
\nrestaurant
\nrestaurant
\nmenu
\nchopsticks
\ncup
\nfork
\nknife
\nbowl
\nplate
\nnapkin
\nwaiter
\norder
\nrice
\nnoodles
\ndumplings
\nstir-fried dish
\nvegetables
\nsoup
\nmeat
\nchicken
\nbeef
\npork
\nduck
\nfish
\nshrimp
\ncrab
\ndessert
\npay the bill
\ntake away<\/div>
<\/div><\/p>\n

As you can see, there are a few different words for “restaurant” in Chinese. After over 6 years in China, I never figured out the difference. Use any one of those and you’ll be understood if you’re looking for a restaurant.<\/p>\n

How to Order<\/h2>\n
\"\"

Lots of choices!<\/p><\/div>\n

If the menu is all in Chinese, you can always give it a shot and ask them:<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u6709\u82f1\u6587\u83dc\u5355\u5417\uff1f
\nn\u01d0 y\u01d2u y\u012bng w\u00e9n c\u00e0i d\u0101n ma
\nDo you have an English menu?<\/h3>\n

If they do, you can get a little bit of help, but this will only happen in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Either way, you\u2019ll eventually need to call out:<\/p>\n

\u670d\u52a1\u5458\uff01\u70b9\u83dc\uff01
\nf\u00fa w\u00f9 yu\u00e1n! di\u01cen c\u00e0i!
\nWaiter! We\u2019d like to order!<\/h3>\n

In China, it is perfectly acceptable to yell across the restaurant at the top of your lungs to alert your waiter or waitress. Don\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t be offending anybody, and if you pull the polite, quiet order, you might not get noticed!<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re ready to order, here are a few phrases that can help you out:<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u4eec\u6709\u4ec0\u4e48\u7279\u8272\u83dc?
\nn\u01d0 men y\u01d2u sh\u00e9n me t\u00e8 s\u00e8 c\u00e0i
\nWhat is your specialty?<\/h3>\n

\u4f60\u53ef\u4ee5\u7ed9\u6211\u63a8\u8350\u4e00\u4e2a\u5417?
\nn\u01d0 k\u011b y\u01d0 g\u011bi w\u01d2 tu\u012b ji\u00e0n y\u012b g\u00e8 ma
\nCan you recommend something?<\/h3>\n

\u6211\u4e0d\u5403\u8089
\nw\u01d2 b\u00f9 ch\u012b r\u00f2u
\nI don\u2019t eat meat.<\/h3>\n

There’s lots of meat in the Chinese diet, but there are several options for being a vegetarian in China<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While you’re at it, you might as well learn some common Chinese dishes<\/a>. While the cuisine of China is very diverse, there are certain dishes that you see in restaurants all across the country.<\/p>\n

As there is a lot of spicy food in China, your waiter might ask you:<\/p>\n

\u4f60\u53ef\u4ee5\u5403\u8fa3\u7684\u5417\uff1f
\nn\u01d0 k\u011b y\u01d0 ch\u012b l\u00e0 de ma
\nCan you eat spicy (food?)<\/h3>\n

You can answer two different ways:<\/p>\n

\u53ef\u4ee5
\nk\u011b y\u01d0
\nYes, I can.<\/h3>\n

\u4e0d\u53ef\u4ee5
\nb\u00f9 k\u011b y\u01d0
\nNo, I can’t.<\/h3>\n

Not all Chinese food is spicy, and if you ever want to spice something up yourself, there’s usually a dish of chili oil<\/strong> (\u8fa3\u6912\u9171 – l\u00e0 ji\u0101o ji\u00e0ng) on the table.<\/p>\n

When everyone is full and it\u2019s time to go, you\u2019re ready to\u00a0get the bill<\/strong>\u00a0(\u4e70\u5355 \u2013 m\u01cei d\u0101n). You can either\u00a0treat your guest<\/strong>\u00a0(\u8bf7\u5ba2 \u2013 q\u01d0ng k\u00e8) or\u00a0go Dutch<\/strong>\u00a0(AA\u5236 \u2013 AA zh\u00ec) when it comes to paying up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

China is home to a vast array of different cuisines, and it would be a shame if you came all the way here and ended up eating McDonald\u2019s and KFC simply because you cannot communicate with restaurant staff or understand a menu. Study this cheat sheet back and forth and you’ll be ordering like a local in no time!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Chinese

One of the most overwhelming experiences for newcomers to China is walking into a local restaurant and seeing a menu full of nothing but Chinese characters. I remember being terrified in my first few weeks in China every time I walked into such a place. How was I going to order? What if I ended…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":13890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[127396,8119,292581,481630,481492,272811,272810,481631,481376],"class_list":["post-13888","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-chinese-cuisine","tag-chinese-food","tag-chinese-restaurant","tag-chinese-restaurant-cheat-sheet","tag-chinese-restaurant-vocabulary","tag-chinese-restaurants","tag-eating-out-in-china","tag-how-to-oder-in-chinese","tag-ordering-in-chinese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13888"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13893,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13888\/revisions\/13893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}