餐厅英文高级篇

菜与饭

中文的“菜”或“饭”的英文怎么说？既然已经在餐厅英文高级篇了，我们肯定不会说vegetable或rice。

“菜”或“饭”有两种翻译：course and dish。course包含dish。A 3-course meal has 3 courses, and each course may have more than one dish. ^[1]如果多个人一起吃饭，服务员默认确保所有人都在同一个course，不会一个人还在吃前菜时，给另一个吃得飞快的人上甜点了。

另外dish也指盛饭盛菜的碗，洗碗就叫do the dishes。最后，food也可以非正式地指菜和饭。

上菜

上菜，英文叫A server serves the dish/course。中文里说“菜太慢了”其实意思是菜被上得太慢了。所以英文里说

• The food is served too slow in Pizza hut. Pizza hut的菜（被上得）太慢了。
• The course is served too slow. 一道菜一道菜这样来，上得太慢了。
• The dish is served too slow. 我这一道韩国豆腐锅包含4个小菜，2个小菜来了，剩下的2个小菜怎么还不来？

除了served too slow，也可说The entree takes too much time.

慢还好，但菜不来是最急的。

我们的菜怎么还不来？” Can you check on our order? 初见似乎有歧义，因为check又指买单，但check on是个固定搭配，表示核实，见牛津高阶英汉双解字典第7版。

Can you check on our next course?

Can you speed up our order? https://kknews.cc/news/vnrbmy.html

上菜顺序

上菜顺序指的是哪道菜先上，哪道菜后上；不是比如先给长者，先给请客的人。

按照前文，上菜顺序的英文应当是sequence of courses，也可叫做sequence of dishes, sequence of menu, or sequence of menu courses。sequence of menu和sequence of courses有歧义，前者可能被误以为菜单上面菜的排列的前后顺序；course的意义就更多了，可能被理解为学校上课的先修课的顺序。但是在餐厅和特点语境下还是可以用的。

在美国等西方国家，（中高档餐厅的）上菜顺序默认按照俄罗斯风格(service in the Russian style)。俄罗斯风格要求服务员先上soup，再salad，再entree，最后咖啡等等。中国人对这个顺序最为困惑。

服务员可能会问你 Would you like it to be served at the beginning or at the end?

你可以要求bring it out whenever it’s ready。这样不指定顺序，不要等来等去的。中国人喜欢这个方式。^[2]

另一种上菜风格是service in the French style。服务员角度的法国风格是客人角度的family style，就是一大盘菜大家一起吃。跟中国大饭店吃饭差不多。

不要了，换一盘

这菜不行，叫厨房重做：send it back.

进到餐厅

一位
Party of one
也可以省略为one。

服务员可能问
Would you like a booth or a table or at the bar？
你要坐卡座、普通桌还是吧台？

服务员会给你一杯水，在美国不论夏天冬天，往往水里冰比水多。你可以说
a cup of water with no ice
也可以省略为water with no ice
这种说法似乎比without ice普遍。

服务员一般叫server，简洁明了。教科书里常见的用词waiter在美国不常见。
客人点菜叫order，或者place order。服务员记下客人点的菜，叫take your order。

餐巾纸叫tissue，初见觉得有点奇怪，跟人体组织是同一个词。napkin是桌巾，不是一次性的，paper napkin=tissue。napkin初见可能也有点奇怪，它比卫生巾（sanitary napkin）只少一个词。中国人一般会想要tissue。

点菜

叫服务员过来点菜
I’m ready to order.
I’m ready to place order.

主菜叫做entree，就是有主食的，带饭带面的，吃得饱的；不是前菜，不是小菜，不是中式餐厅那种大盘的菜。

点菜用语
I want …
I will have …
Can I have ..?

美国人坚持说用问句比较礼貌，但歧义性大，和can在其他地方的用法不一样。

中国人可能会想要确认某个菜有没有主食
Does it have rice?
Does it come with staple?（待确认）

你点过菜以后，另一个服务员又来帮你点菜。你说
I have placed order.
“I have ordered”比较少见。

吃饱

我吃饱了
I’m stuffed。stuffed是非正式用语，明确表示饱这个意思。
“I’m full”较常见，但语意严重依赖情境。

这道菜吃得饱吗？
Is this enough for me?

这里不够好，都是“吃饱”，英文有两种表达方式。还需优化。

买单

Can we have the check?

服务员给单子了，但不来收钱。

You can take the money. （注意，有人認爲”you can”這個詞組本身是不禮貌的。）

I am ready to settle the check.

付錢： This is $12.50 even. 這裡正好是12.50元。even是正好的意思。

如果你沒有正好的，服務員會找錢。你可以説no change （不用找了）。Note change is uncountable for this sence。完整説法是You can keep the change.

ChatGPT写的餐厅日记

**Diary Entry: A Night of Dining Hiccups**

I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner out tonight. It had been a long, busy week, and I thought a quiet meal at one of my favorite restaurants would be the perfect way to unwind. Little did I know, this evening would turn into a series of amusing, albeit slightly frustrating, hiccups.

—

**The Arrival**

It started off well enough. I walked into the restaurant and was greeted with a smile by the hostess, who led me to a cozy table by the window. As I sat down, I was feeling hopeful for a smooth evening. But then, I noticed the menu was a bit difficult to navigate. The print was small, and the items were arranged in a way that didn’t make much sense. After squinting for a few minutes, I finally settled on an appetizer and a main dish.

—

**The Order**

When the server came over to take my order, I felt a bit rushed. He had a smile on his face, but I could tell he was in a hurry. I told him what I wanted, but he didn’t seem to fully hear me. He repeated the order back wrong, which led to a confusing moment. “You want the spaghetti, right?” he asked. I replied, “No, I ordered the chicken parmigiana.” He nodded, but I still had a nagging feeling he hadn’t understood me properly. Oh well, I thought, I’ll just wait and see.

—

**The Wait**

The wait wasn’t too long, but every few minutes I felt like I was being ignored. I tried to catch the eye of the server to ask for some water, but he seemed preoccupied with other tables. Finally, when he came around again, I asked for water, and he apologized, saying he’d forgotten. It’s no big deal, I thought—just one of those things.

Then, as I waited, I overheard a conversation from the next table. A couple was discussing their meal, and the woman mentioned she had to send her dish back because it wasn’t cooked properly. That made me a little nervous.

—

**The Meal**

When my dish arrived, there was a bit of a mishap with the order. The chicken parmigiana was… not exactly what I had imagined. It was swimming in a sea of tomato sauce—too much, in fact. It was almost as if the kitchen had decided to “drown” the chicken rather than serve it in a neat, balanced way. The side of pasta that came with it was cold. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I just pushed the plate around a little, trying to make it look like I was eating.

—

**The Bill**

Finally, I decided I was ready to leave. I finished what I could of the meal and called the server over to ask for the check. But here’s where things took another turn. The server came up and, to my surprise, asked, “So, what would you like to order?” I blinked, a bit confused. Hadn’t I just eaten? “Oh, I think there’s been a mix-up,” I said. “I’m actually done with my meal. I was just asking for the check.”

After some brief confusion, he brought over the check and I placed my payment on the table. But then, I waited. And waited. And waited. The server walked past me several times, but he didn’t notice the money sitting on the table. At this point, I was a little frustrated, but I didn’t want to make a scene. So I politely called him over again, “Excuse me, could you please take my payment?” He nodded and took the money, but then there was the awkward pause again… no change.

Finally, I had to speak up, “I’ve already paid, just waiting for the change.”

—

**The Farewell**

After what felt like an eternity, the server returned with my change. I gave a smile and a small tip (considering all the hiccups, it wasn’t going to be a generous one), and made my way to the door.

It wasn’t the peaceful, relaxing dinner I had envisioned. In fact, it felt like a series of little obstacles at every turn. But as I walked out into the cool night air, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches. Not every meal is a flawless experience, but at least I got a story out of it.

本文原发表于2018年

References

1. . Course vs Dish: When To Use Each One? What To Consider. . 2023-07-?? [2025-09-03].↑
2. TheoryIllustrious330. why a lot of restaurants wait to serve all the food together rather than bring each one out whenever it's ready. . . 2022-08-11 [2025-09-03].↑