Lesson 057 At a Restaurant

Cam: Time again for Chinese Studio. Ni2 men2 hao3! Wo3 Shi4 Cam.
YJ: 我是YJ. Cam, do you remember you owe me a dinner?
Cam: Yeah. But as a prerequisite, you must teach me some useful Chinese that I can use at a restaurant.
YJ: Deal. 

Key Words of the Day    
restaurant, 饭馆 or饭店. 请拿菜单来, Please bring me the menu. 一只烤鸭, a roast duck, 一碗汤a bowl of soup, and一碗米饭a bowl of rice.

YJ: Restaurant in Chinese is 饭馆(fan4 guan3) or 饭店(fan4 dian4).
Cam: 饭馆(fan4 guan3).
YJ: Actually饭馆 and 饭店 only have a minor difference. 饭馆 is a kind of cheap or lower priced restaurant while 饭店(fan4 dian4) refers to expensive places.
Cam: So I’d better make it clear - I’ll invite you to a 饭馆(fan4 guan3).
YJ: Well, Thanks. 饭馆 is the place wher people usually eat out. Now listen to a conversation.

Conversation1:

YJ: 您好，请拿菜单来。Hello, menu please. 菜单, menu. 菜, c-ai, the fourth tone, means dish. 单, d-an, the first tone, means list. 菜单
Cam:菜单(cai4 dan1), menu. 
YJ: Qing means please.  拿 means to hold, take, or bring. Na lai together means to bring. 请拿菜单来。
Cam:请拿菜单来。(qing3 na2 cai4 dan1 lai2)

Conversation2 :

Cam: 现在点菜吗(xian4 zai4 dian3 cai4 ma)？May I take your order now? 现在(xian4 zai4), now.
YJ: 点菜. 点, d-i-an, the third tone, which means to ‘order’菜, dish, 点菜 specifically means to order in a restaurant. 现在点菜吗? May I take your order now?
Cam: xian zai dian cai ma?  May I take your order now? So YJ, what do you recommend?
YJ: How about 来一只烤鸭. 来, l-ai, the second tone, means to bring
Cam: So if you want to order a dish, you can use 来. For instance: 来一只烤鸭 (lai2 yi1 zhi1 kao3 ya1)? Please bring me a roast duck.
YJ: A roast duck一只烤鸭. 只, zh-i, first tone. 只 is a measure word inserted between a number and a noun. Here 一只烤鸭. One roast duck.
Cam: lai yi zhi kao ya. Please bring me a roast duck.  And we’d better also have a bowl of soup. How do you say that in Chinese?
YJ: 来一碗汤. 碗, w-an, the third tone. Actually 碗 means ‘bowl’.
Cam:  Wan – bowl.  And what is soup?
Yajie: 汤, soup. 汤，t-ang, first tone. 汤.来一碗汤.( lai3 yi1 wan3 tang1). Please bring me a bowl of soup.
Cam: 来一碗汤.( lai3 yi1 wan3 tang1). YJ, if we also want two bowls of rice, how do I say that? First, what is the Chinese word for rice?
Yajie:  Rice is mi fan.
Cam:  So two bowls of rice is liang wan mi fan.
Yajie:  Right. 两碗米饭(liang3 wan3 mi3 fan4).
 
Conversation3:

Key Words Reminder
restaurant, 饭馆 or饭店. 请拿菜单来, Please bring me the menu. 一只烤鸭, a roast duck, 一碗汤a bowl of soup, and一碗米饭a bowl of rice.