18.8 Vocabulary: Types of Cuisine

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We can add the word 菜 coi3 (‘cuisine’) or 嘢 je5 (‘thing’) after a place name (e.g., 法國 faat3 gwok3 ‘France’ and 日本 jat6 bun2 ‘Japan’) to refer to the type of cuisine or food from that place. The word 嘢 je5 literally means ‘thing’ and is more colloquial than 菜 coi3.

法國 + 菜
faat3 gwok3 + coi3
French + cuisine = French cuisine
日本 + 嘢
jat6 bun2 + je5 (more colloquial)
Japan + thing = Japanese cuisine or food (more colloquial)

We can also put 嘢 je5 after 素食 sou3 sik6 (‘vegetarian food’).

素食 + 嘢
sou3 sik6 + je5
vegetarian food + thing = vegetarian cuisine or food

We use the verb 食 sik6 (‘to eat’) with these words.

食法國菜
sik6 faat3 gwok3 coi3
to eat French cuisine
食日本嘢
sik6 jat6 bun2 je5
to eat Japanese cuisine or food

We can also use other ways to refer to different types of cuisine or food:

1.	去/食茶餐廳	heoi3 / sik6 caa4 caan1 teng1	to go to / eat at cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style café)
2.	去/食大排檔	heoi3 / sik6 daai6 paai4 dong3	to go to / eat at dai pai dong (a type of food stall in Hong Kong)
3.	去酒樓	heoi3 zau2 lau4	to go to a Chinese restaurant (usually referring to those that sell dim sum in the morning and afternoon, and offer more fine dining in the evening)
3.	去茶樓	heoi3 caa4 lau4
4.	去cafe	heoi3 cafe	to go to a cafe
5.	去酒吧	heoi3 zau2 baa1	to go to a bar
6.	飲茶	jam2 caa4	to yum cha (to have dim sum, literally ‘to drink tea’)
7.	打冷	daa2 laang1	to have Teochew or Chaozhou cuisine
8.	打邊爐	daa2 bin1 lou4	to have hotpot
9.	食韓燒	sik6 hon4 siu1	to have Korean BBQ
10.	食自助餐	sik6 zi6 zo6 caan1	to have a buffet (usually in a hotel)
11.	食放題	sik6 fong3 tai4	to have an all-you-can-eat meal (especially a Japanese one)
12.	食齋	sik6 zaai1	to have Buddhist vegetarian food Note: 食齋 sik6 zaai1 can also mean ‘to be on a Buddhist vegetarian diet’.
13.	食素食嘢	sik6 sou3 sik6 je5	to have vegetarian food Note: 食素 sik6 sou3 can also mean ‘to be on a vegetarian diet’. 食素食嘢 sik6 sou3 sik6 je5 is usually only used to refer to the choice for one specific meal.
13.	食素	sik6 sou3
14.	食西餐	sik6 sai1 caan1	to have a Western meal (usually meaning to eat steak or pasta)
15.	食壽司	sik6 sau6 si1	to eat sushi
16.	食拉麵	sik6 laai1 min6	to eat ramen
17.	食pizza	sik6 pizza	to eat pizza
18.	鋸扒	goe3 paa2	to eat steak (literally ‘to saw steak’)

We can also put a restaurant name after the verb 食 sik6 to mean ‘to eat at’.

食 + 麥當勞 / 麥記 / M記
sik6 + mak6 dong1 lou4 / mak6 gei3 / M gei3
to eat at McDonald’s
麥記 mak6 gei3 and M記 M gei3 are nicknames for McDonald’s. 記 gei3 is a common suffix for shop names in the past.
食 + KFC
sik6 + KFC
to eat at KFC