21.10 Vocabulary: Type of Restaurants

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We can add the word 餐廳 caan1 teng1 (‘restaurant’) or 嘢 je5 (‘thing’) after a place name (e.g. 法國 faat3 gwok3 ‘France’ and日本 jat6 bun2 ‘Japan’) to refer to a restaurant that serves the place’s cuisine or food. The word 嘢 je5 literally means ‘thing’ and is more colloquial than 餐廳 caan1 teng1.

法國 + 餐廳
faat3 gwok3 + caan1 teng1
French + restaurant = French restaurant
日本 + 嘢
jat6 bun2 + je5
Japan + thing = Japanese restaurant (more colloquial)

We can also put 餐廳 caan1 teng1 or 嘢 je5 after 素食 sou3 sik6 (‘vegetarian food’).

素食 + 餐廳
sou3 sik6 + caan1 teng1
vegetarian + restaurant = vegetarian restaurant
素食 + 嘢
sou3 sik6 + je5
vegetarian + thing = vegetarian restaurant (more colloquial)

Here are some other common types of restaurants in Hong Kong:

1.	茶餐廳	caa4 caan1 teng1	cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style café)
2.	大排檔	daai6 paai4 dong3	dai pai dong (a type of food stall in Hong Kong)
3.	酒樓	zau2 lau4	Chinese restaurant (usually referring to those that sell dim sum in the morning and afternoon, and offer more fine dining in the evening)
3.	茶樓	caa4 lau4
4.	cafe	ka6 fei1	cafe
5.	酒吧	zau2 baa1	bar

It is also common to refer to a restaurant by the type of food they serve. Here are some common examples:

6.	打冷	daa2 laang1	to have Teochew or Chaozhou cuisine
7.	打邊爐	daa2 bin1 lou4	to have hotpot
8.	韓燒	hon4 siu1	Korean BBQ
9.	自助餐	zi6 zo6 caan1	a buffet (usually in a hotel)
10.	放題	fong3 tai4	an all-you-can-eat meal (especially a Japanese one)
11.	齋	zaai1	Buddhist vegetarian food
12.	西餐	sai1 caan1	Western meal (usually meaning to eat steak or pasta)
13.	壽司	sau6 si1	sushi
14.	拉麵	laai1 min6	ramen
15.	pizza	pi1 saa4	pizza
16.	鋸扒	goe3 paa2	to eat steak (literally ‘to saw steak’)