Chinese For Dummies (50 page)

I know it can be hard to choose what to eat from all the fantastic choices staring back at you from most any Chinese menu; after all, the Chinese perfected the art of cooking long before the French and Italians appeared on the scene. But when you finally hit on something you like, you have to figure out how to tell the waiter what you want to
chī
吃
(chir) (
eat
), whether you like spicy food, if you want to avoid
wèijīng
味精
(way-jeeng) (
MSG
), what kind of beer you want to
hē
喝
(huh) (
drink
), and that you want to know what kind of
náshǒu cài
拿手菜
(nah-show tsye) (
house specialty
) the restaurant has going today.

Here are some questions your waiter or waitress is likely to ask you:

Nǐmen yào hē diǎr shénme?
你们要喝点儿什么
? (
你們要喝點兒甚麼
?) (nee-men yaow huh dyar shummuh?) (
What would you like to drink?
)

Nǐmen yào shénme cài?
你们要什么菜
? (
你們要甚麼菜
?) (nee-men yaow shummuh tsye?) (
What would you like to order?
[Literally:
What kind of food would you like?
])

Yào jǐ píng píjiǔ?
要几瓶啤酒
? (
要幾瓶啤酒
?) (yaow jee peeng pee-jyoe?) (
How many bottles of beer do you want?
)

When addressing waiters or waitresses, you can call them by the same name:
fúwùyuán
服务员
(
服務員
) (foo-woo-ywan) (
service personnel
). In fact,
he, she,
and
it
all share the same Chinese word, too:
tā
他
/
她
/
它
(tah). Isn't that easy to remember? Here are some questions, requests, and statements that may come in handy:

Dà shīfu náshǒu cài shì shénme?
大师傅拿手菜是什么
? (
大師傅拿手菜是甚麼
?) (dah shir-foo nah-show tsye shir shummuh?) (
What's the chef's specialty?
)

Nǐ gěi wǒmen jièshào cài, hǎo ma?
你给我们介绍菜
,
好吗
? (
你給我們介紹菜
,
好嗎
?) (nee gay waw-men jyeh-shaow tsye how ma?) (
Can you recommend some dishes?
)

Nǐmen yǒu kuàngquán shuǐ ma?
你们有矿泉水吗
? (
你們有礦泉水嗎
?) (nee-men yo kwahng-chwan shway mah?) (
Do you have any mineral water?
)

Qǐng bǎ yǐnliào sòng lái.
请把饮料送来
. (
請把飲料送來
.) (cheeng bah yin-lyaow soong lye.) (
Please bring our drinks.
)

Qǐng bié fàng wèijīng, wǒ guòmǐn.
请别放味精
,
我过敏
.
(
請別放味精
,
我過敏
.) (cheeng byeh fahng way-jeeng, waw gwaw-meen.) (
Please don't use any MSG, I'm allergic.
)

Qǐng cā zhuōzi.
请擦桌子
. (
請擦桌子
.) (cheeng tsah jwaw-dzuh.) (
Please wipe off the table.
)

Qǐng gěi wǒ càidān.
请给我菜单
. (
請給我菜單
.) (cheeng gay waw tsye-dahn.) (
Please give me the menu.
)

Wǒ bù chī zhūròu.
我不吃猪肉
. (
我不吃豬肉
.) (waw boo chir joo-row.) (
I don't eat pork.
)