Bonus 03: “You have good taste!
About this lesson
Say you’re walking around in a Mandarin-speaking country. It’s lunchtime and your stomach is starting to growl, so you stumble into the nearest noodle shop. Fantastic! Everything is going so well until you take a look at the menu — and realize you can’t read most of the characters. What do you do?
Well, you know you have options. You could just take out your phone’s translation app, of course. Or you could point to another customer and say “I’ll have what they’re having.” But better yet, why not ask the boss for a recommendation? In this bonus dialogue, we’ll learn how to ask for recommendations, how to order food in a casual eatery, and how to talk about dietary restrictions. We’ll also learn the names for some delicious noodle dishes. I’m hungry!
Restaurants vs. Snack eateries
In the Mandarin-speaking world, there is generally a distinction between two types of dining establishments.
Restaurants (餐廳 cāntīng) range from fancy and expensive to casual and affordable, but in general, a restaurant is the kind of place you would go with a group, wait for the staff to seat you, and expect to be seated for at least an hour. Restaurants tend to have large tables — the classic shape is a round table that can seat upwards of eight people. Dishes are served in big portions, meant to be shared.
A “snack eatery” (小吃店 xiǎochī diàn) is more casual. You can walk in and find your own seat. Menus are often printed on pads of paper, and you write your order directly on the menu with a pencil. Unlike at restaurants, portions are mostly single servings, the service is fast, and the food is cheap. “Snack” is an enormous category, and the cuisines available vary widely by country and region. However, one type of snack place that is nearly universal is the noodle shop.
This dialogue takes place at a classic noodle shop.
Looking for more dining-related dialogues? Season 1, Episodes 12 - 15 are all about dining in a restaurant.
Recommended usage
Without any preparation, just listen to the dialogue once. See what words are familiar, and how much you can understand already. Don’t be discouraged if the answer is “almost nothing.” Even if you don’t understand many words, can you infer anything about the dialogue based on the tone of voice? What’s the emotional state of the characters? Can you make any guesses as to where they are?
After the first listen, it can be helpful to read through the transcript. This is provided below in Chinese characters, and also with a translation and pinyin beneath that. If you are learning the Chinese characters already, you might choose to read through the Chinese character-only version first.
Listen to the dialogue again, while simultaneously following along with the transcript. Pause and go back if you need to. See if you can connect a meaning to every sound being spoken.
Finally, listen to the dialogue a third time, this time without looking at the transcript. See how much of the meaning you can still connect to what you hear, even without looking at the text.
In the following days, continue listening to the dialogue, at least once per day. Continue this until you feel comfortable with the dialogue, or you feel yourself becoming bored. Then move on.
During these listening sessions, I encourage you to “shadow” the dialogue: imitating what you hear by speaking it out loud.
Enjoy!
Dialogue transcript (Chinese characters only)
B：歡迎光臨！
A：你好
B：都可以坐
A：好
B：菜單在桌上
A：呃... 老闆，請問一下！
B：嘿！
A：你有什麼推薦的嗎？
B：我們招牌是牛肉麵。你吃吃看。
A：可是我不能吃牛肉。
B：哦。我們的擔擔麵也不錯。
A：會辣嗎？我不敢吃辣。
B：不敢吃辣，也不能吃牛肉？
A：還是你有什麼其他可以推薦的嗎？
B：那你就吃麻醬麵吧。不會辣。
A：好，謝謝。
…
B：來，麻醬麵好了。
A：謝謝！
B：吃得還習慣嗎？
A：很好吃！
B：哈哈！你很懂吃！
Dialogue transcript (w/ pinyin and translation)
B：歡迎光臨！
Huānyíng guānglín!
Welcome!
A：你好
Nǐ hǎo
Hi.
B：都可以坐
Dōu kěyǐ zuò
You can sit anywhere
A：好
Hǎo
Ok.
B：菜單在桌上
Càidān zài zhuō shàng
Menus are on the table.
A：呃... 老闆，請問一下！
È... Lǎobǎn, qǐngwèn yīxià!
Uh… boss, excuse me!
B：嘿！
Hēi!
What’s up?
A：你有什麼推薦的嗎？
Nǐ yǒu shénme tuījiàn de ma?
Do you have a recommendation?
B：我們招牌是牛肉麵。你吃吃看。
Wǒmen zhāopái shì niúròu miàn. Nǐ chī chī kàn.
Our zhaopai* is beef noodles. Give it a try!
A：可是我不能吃牛肉。
Kěshì wǒ bùnéng chī niúròu.
But I can’t eat beef.
B：哦。我們的擔擔麵也不錯。
Ó. Wǒmen de dàn dàn miàn yě bùcuò.
Oh! Our dan dan noodles* are also good.
A：會辣嗎？我不敢吃辣。
Huì là ma? Wǒ bù gǎn chī là.
Is it spicy? I don’t eat spice*.
B：不敢吃辣，也不能吃牛肉？
Bù gǎn chī là, yě bùnéng chī niúròu?
You don’t eat spice, and you can’t eat beef?
A：還是你有什麼其他可以推薦的嗎？
Háishì nǐ yǒu shé me qítā kěyǐ tuījiàn de ma?
Or do you have anything else you can recommend?
B：那你就吃麻醬麵吧。不會辣。
Nà nǐ jiù chī májiàng miàn ba. Bù huì là.
Then try our majiang noodles*. They’re not spicy.
A：好，謝謝。
Hǎo, xièxiè
Ok, thanks.
B：來，麻醬麵好了。
Lái, májiàng miàn hǎole
Here, your majiang noodles are ready.
A：謝謝！
Xièxiè!
Thanks!
B：吃得還習慣嗎？
Chī dé hái xíguàn ma?
Do you like it?*
A：很好吃！
Hěn hào chī!
It’s delicious!
B：哈哈！你很懂吃！
Hāhā! Nǐ hěn dǒng chī!
Haha! You really have good taste.*
Notes (*):
zhāopái literally means “signboard” and refers to the dish or dishes that the eatery is most famous or well-known for.
dàn dàn miàn is a noodle dish typically made with chili oil, Sichuan pepper, scallions, and minced pork. It originated in Sichuan, China, but variations have spread all over the world.
Literally, wǒ bù gǎn chī là (我不敢吃辣) means “I don’t dare to eat spice.”
májiàng miàn is a dish of noodles tossed with sesame paste.
Literally, chī dé hái xíguàn ma? (吃得還習慣嗎) means something like “are you used to eating it?” or “can you get used to eating it?”
Literally, nǐ hěn dǒng chī (你很懂吃) means “you understand how to eat.”
Great work!
A HUGE thank you to current supporting members:
Nona Onea
Leo S.
Johannes Allwang
Rachael Auer
Fox
Anonymous
Ernon Schneeberger
This lesson exists thanks to their generous support.
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