The first thing to know when going to a restaurant in Japan is that you will usually be welcomed loudly when you enter the restaurant. When a customer enters a restaurant in Japan and the staff notice, they will call out in unison, "Irasshaimase" or "Irasshai, Irasshai". This is a greeting to mean 'Welcome, Come In".
First, its useful to know the words for different types of meals. Breakfast is 'chōshoku' or asagohan (which literally means morning rice or meal). Lunch is chūshoku or hirugohan (which means midday meal). You may also come across light meal/snack which is 'keishoku', supper = yūshoku and bangohan, which means evening meal.
To get started, ask for the menu - Please bring a menu = Menu o kudasai. In Japan, fixed price or set menus are usually the best value. A fixed price meal is 'teishoku'. If you are a vegetarian or don't eat certain foods then these phrases are handy: I'm a vegetarian = Bejitarian desu or I don't eat pork = Butaniku wa dame desu.
So now you are ready to order, the following words will give you some understanding of what the words for different types of food are:
Chicken = toriniku
Beef = gyūniku
Pork = butaniku
Mutton = yōniku
Fish =sakana
Ham = hamu
Sausage sosēji
Cheese chīzu
Eggs tamago
Salad sarada
What about a drink? Here are some basic drink words:
Coffee = kōhī
Green tea = ocha
Black tea = kōcha
Juice = jusu
Water = mizu
Beer = bīru
To ask for the bill, I would like to pay, please. = O-kanjo onegai shimasu. At the end of the meal, if it was very tasty, you call call out "Gochisōsama deshita" (which literally means 'Thanks for the feast', to the staff and they will all reply "Arigatō gozaimashita! (Thank-You very much). Going to a busy restaurant will surely be one of the most memorable experiences of a trip to Japan. - 30216
First, its useful to know the words for different types of meals. Breakfast is 'chōshoku' or asagohan (which literally means morning rice or meal). Lunch is chūshoku or hirugohan (which means midday meal). You may also come across light meal/snack which is 'keishoku', supper = yūshoku and bangohan, which means evening meal.
To get started, ask for the menu - Please bring a menu = Menu o kudasai. In Japan, fixed price or set menus are usually the best value. A fixed price meal is 'teishoku'. If you are a vegetarian or don't eat certain foods then these phrases are handy: I'm a vegetarian = Bejitarian desu or I don't eat pork = Butaniku wa dame desu.
So now you are ready to order, the following words will give you some understanding of what the words for different types of food are:
Chicken = toriniku
Beef = gyūniku
Pork = butaniku
Mutton = yōniku
Fish =sakana
Ham = hamu
Sausage sosēji
Cheese chīzu
Eggs tamago
Salad sarada
What about a drink? Here are some basic drink words:
Coffee = kōhī
Green tea = ocha
Black tea = kōcha
Juice = jusu
Water = mizu
Beer = bīru
To ask for the bill, I would like to pay, please. = O-kanjo onegai shimasu. At the end of the meal, if it was very tasty, you call call out "Gochisōsama deshita" (which literally means 'Thanks for the feast', to the staff and they will all reply "Arigatō gozaimashita! (Thank-You very much). Going to a busy restaurant will surely be one of the most memorable experiences of a trip to Japan. - 30216
About the Author:
Of course you have to know how to pronounce the language. To learn Japanese phrases and the correct pronunciation, visit http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com
