Japanese Conversation - Ordering dishes and drinks at the restaurant (2024)

FAQs

How do you order food in Japanese conversation? ›

Ordering a single dish or drink item in Japanese is quite simple. All you need to do is use the phrase "ください" (kudasai) or "お願いします" (onegaishimasu) along with the name of the item you want to order.

Kudasai literally means "please give me". This is commonly used when ordering a dish or a drink, or when buying something at a store. Koohii o kudasai means "May I have (a cup of) coffee, please?". O is a particle which follows the object in a sentence and therefore is called the object marker. object.

All teas came from China. 茶 is the kanji word for "Cha" or Tea. If you want a tea, you say "Ocha o Kudasai." Water is 水 mizu. If you want a whter, you can say "Omizu o Kudasai."

Upon entering a restaurant, customers are greeted with the expression "irasshaimase" meaning "welcome, please come in". The waiter or waitress will ask you how many people are in your party and then lead you to your table. Only in rare cases are customers expected to seat themselves.

Both "kudasai“ and "onegai shimasu" are used when making a request for items. "Kudasai" follows the object and the particle "o", like “mizu o kudasai.” "Onegai shimasu" can be replaced with "kudasai" when you want an object. It sounds a little more polite than using 'kudasai'.

Ordering food and drinks in Japanese

All you need to do is say the name of the item you wish to order, followed by “kudasai”, or “please”.

Hence, the phrase “beer, please” uttered to a host offering drinks would be translated as “biru kudasai.” But “kudasai” does not literally mean “please.” It means “give to me.” Nonetheless, “biru kudasi” does not translate literally as “give me a beer,” which could sound rude in some contexts, because “kudasai” is the ...

Kankoku (韓国/かんこく) is the Japanese transliteration of Hanguk (한국/韓國), the de facto official short name of South Korea in the Korean language.

-ja nai -じゃない is the negative form of -da -だ (verb to be) Examples of phrases: Sou-da そうだ = that's it. Sou-ja nai そうじゃない = that's not it.

Konnichiwa – こんにちは

Meaning: Hello. Pronunciation: koh-nee-chee-wah. About: This is probably the most common way to say hello in Japanese. Konnichiwa is used broadly throughout the day and is what you'll usually see translated as simply “hello” as you learn Japanese.

What is gozaimasu? ›

Arigatou on its own is a casual “thank you,” while gozaimasu is like adding a “very much”. You can't say gozaimasu on its own, it wouldn't mean much of anything, but arigatou is a nice quick thanks for casual situations, and arigatou gozaimasu is an excellent way to politely express your thanks.

Domo arigato gozaimasu / Thank you very much.

Once you've decided what you'd like to eat just state the name of the dish followed by "onegai shimasu" (お願いします”). However, if you want to order something singular like a sushi roll or onigiri, you can say the name of the item followed by "... wo hitotsu onegai shimasu" (… を一つお願いします), meaning "can I have one of …

Key Takeaway. Both "kudasai" and "onegaishimasu" are Japanese words for "please," but kudasai is more casual and used with friends or peers, while onegaishimasu is more formal and suitable for requests to superiors or strangers.

Itadakimasu is said when you start eating but, when the meal is over, remember to give thanks again using the phrase gochisousama, which is a sign of respect towards the chef. This translates as a more formal way of saying “it was a feast,'' as the word gochiso refers to a meal of luxurious foods.