Episode 5
Restaurant

Dialogue 1 [Venny and John - two friends; Waiter]

W: I'm afraid the restaurant is full now.
J: Really? But I have made a reservation under J. Blake.
W: … Oh, yes, Mr. Blake. A table for 2. … Here you are.
J : What do you fancy?"
V: I'm not sure…Oh yeah…I'd like the steak.
J : I'm watching my figure..I'll go for the salmon and rice.
V: Excuse me…Could we have the steak set meal and the fish dish.
W: Certainly. How would you like the steak?
V : Well done, please.…
W: Would you like a drink …?
J: That'll be nice. I'd like a …
V: Iced water is fine.

Dialogue 2 [venny and john - two friends - yam cha]

J: Wow - it's so busy here. What's that?
V: The staff push around trolleys carrying dim sum, and you choose which ones you'd like to eat.
J: I've no idea what to order, though.
V: How about 'Har gow'? It's a kind of dumpling containing shrimps.
J: Sounds good.
V: 唔該蝦餃…[noise]
V: Here comes the har gow now.
J: Oh great I can't wait to try it.
V: How is it?
J: Ahh! So hot, but umm it's really tasty.….[noise]
V: 埋單
J: Let me get the bill.
V: It's my treat.
J: Well, let me get it next time.

在劇烈的競爭下，餐廳的服務員都要以客人為尊，在表達比較負面的訊息，可以得體地用以下的句子模式：

(a) “I'm afraid…”
如“I'm afraid the restaurant is full now.”
(即：不好意思，現在餐廳滿座。)
及“I'm afraid the fish is off today.”
(即：不好意思，今天沒有魚。)

而在招呼客人的時候，可以以“Would you like…?”來做問句。回答則可簡單地說“I would like…”，“I would like…”是客氣地表示“I want…”的意思，例子如下

(b) “Would you like…”
如“Would you like to order now?”
“I'd like a glass of white wine”

第二集中提到的表達方式- “go for something”也可以用來表達你選擇的菜式，如：

(c) Customer: I'll go for the salmon and rice.

大家一定有興趣學一些有關「食」的生字，先看看受歡迎的牛扒：原來外國人不會以「七成」、「六成」等來形容牛扒的煮法，以下的英文生字可給你一個「中英對照」：

(d) rare－大概五、六成
medium rare－大概六、七成
medium－七至八成
well done－ 全熟

另一個中、英文不同的演譯是我們「飲茶」的文化，直譯“Let's go to drinks tea”，會令外國人摸不著頭腦，因為“drink tea”祇解作「喝杯茶」。因此，「去飲茶」的英文表達方式應該是：

(e) Let's go for dim sum.

要知道所有「點心」的英文名稱有點困難，不如我們先學一些最普通的烹調方法吧！以下的past participles可供大家參考：

(f) Steamed –蒸
pan-fried-煎
deep-fried-炸
blanched-灼

現在經濟不景氣，相信大家會減少請客，外出用膳會以「AA制」為原則，看看以下的英語表達方式：

廣東話 英語
AA制 = Let's split the bill.
「我請客！」 = It's my treat.
It's on me.
「下次我請你吧！」 = I'll get it next time.