Food and Restaurant English — Ordering and Describing (A2)
🎙 From the classroom: I spent years as a sommelier and barista in Sydney — The Ivy, Establishment, Uccello. Wine vocabulary was my second language before French. The fastest way I found to teach food English? Put students in a restaurant and make them order. Suddenly they’re motivated.
💡 The Idea
Restaurant English has three parts: (1) ordering (polite requests), (2) describing food (taste, texture, temperature), (3) asking about the menu. Use ‘I’d like…’ not ‘I want…’ for polite ordering. Use ‘What do you recommend?’ to ask the waiter’s advice.
🗣 Example
🍽️ Ordering: I’d like the grilled fish, please. / Could I have the soup to start?
👅 Describing: It’s sweet / salty / spicy / bitter / creamy / crunchy / tender.
❓ Asking: What do you recommend? / Is this dish vegetarian? / Does it contain nuts?
🎯 Try It Now!
Role-play in pairs:
Student A (Waiter): ‘Good evening! Are you ready to order?’
Student B (Customer): Respond with your order AND ask one question about the menu.
Then swap roles. Use: I’d like… / What do you recommend? / Is it…? / Could I have…?
✅ Check Your Answers
✅ Key phrases: Ordering → ‘I’d like the steak, please.’ / ‘Could I have…?’ Asking → ‘Is this gluten-free?’ / ‘What’s in the sauce?’ Polite tip: ‘I’d like’ is always more polite than ‘I want’ in restaurant English.
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