Ordering Food II
In restaurants like cha chaan teng, we don’t usually choose and order food together with other people. Instead, each of us will choose and order our own food individually. Before calling the server, we usually ask if everyone is ready to order.
Route A: Yes
Route B: No
- We can replace 叫 giu3 (‘to order’) with 嗌 aai3 (‘to order’).
Route A: Yes
Route B: No
When everyone is ready to order the food, we can get the server’s attention by saying:
Sometimes the server will ask if we have ordered food. If we haven’t, they will take our order.
Route A: Yes
Route B: No
If we need more time to choose the food, we can answer:
When the server takes an order, they will usually start with the food. To speed up the ordering process, we are often expected to provide all the necessary information ourselves so that the server doesn’t need to ask any further questions. Therefore, if you need to choose something for your meal set, try to indicate all your choices in one go!
- We usually use the verb 轉 zyun3 (‘to change to’) instead of 跟 gan1 (‘to be served with’) if we need to pay extra for a choice.
The server will usually ask us in turn if we have more than one person.
After taking order for the food, the server will continue with the drinks.
- 飲 jam2 (‘to drink’) is a verb. 嘢飲 je5 jam2 (‘drink’) is a noun.
The server will usually ask us in turn if we have more than one person.
If we order the same drink as the last person, we can say:
- We need to add 係 hai6 (‘to be’) after 都 dou1 (‘too’) if the sentence doesn’t have a verb.
We can simply increase the quantity of that drink too.
If you order a drink different from the last person, we can order it as usual.
If we are charged additionally for the drink, the server will usually say this instead:
We can make special requirements in our order. Here are some common ones:
Here are some common additional questions the server may ask:
To order takeaway food, we can say this after entering the restaurant:
For fast food shops, we usually order food at the counter near the entrance. The server will sometimes ask if we want to dine in or take out.
To speed up the ordering process, we can indicate whether we want to dine in or take out in one go.
Culture
In cha chaan teng, the servers are often used to doing everything fast. They usually expect you to order your food immediately after entering the restaurant, especially during peak hours. Also, they tend to speak in shorter sentences, as if they want to say as few words as possible! Sometimes they may sound less polite, but it’s simply the culture. Don’t feel disrespected!