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Real Easy English

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Talking about restaurants

Episode 241018 / 18 Oct 2024

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Georgie and Neil have a real conversation in easy English about restaurants. Learn to talk about the food you like and how to order in a restaurant.

Vocabulary

eat out
eat at a restaurant, rather than at home

special occasion
a birthday, festival or other celebration

Speaking tip:
Try these phrases to order food in a restaurant.

  • I'll have the
  • can I have the...
  • can I get the...

Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we help you understand everyday English conversations. I'm Neil.

Georgie
And I'm Georgie. Don't forget to go to our website to find a text version of this episode to read along: bbclearningenglish.com.

Neil
Hi, Georgie. How are you?

Georgie
I'm great, thank you, Neil. I just had a delicious lunch.

Neil
Oh, nice. What did you eat for lunch?

Georgie
I had pasta. What did you eat?

Neil
I had a chicken sandwich.

Georgie
Mmm. Well, today's episode is all about restaurants and food.

Neil
Great. I love it when we talk about food.

Georgie
Me, too.

Neil, do you go to restaurants often?

Neil
Not that often. Maybe when I meet some friends. How about you? Do you go to restaurants often?

Georgie
No, I don't go often. Probably once a month.

Neil
OK, and when you go to a restaurant, what's your favourite part of eating there?

Georgie
I like to be around lots of people. I really love it when a restaurant has a good atmosphere. I love spending time with friends. What about you? Why do you like eating in a restaurant?

Neil
Well, I like to go to a restaurant that serves food that I don't know how to cook.

Georgie
Yep, that's a good point.

Neil
So, restaurants with food from countries that I don’t know very well or that are very different types of food to the food I make.

Georgie
It’s really nice to eat out and that means to eat not at your home because you don't have to make the food and you don't have to wash up.

Neil
That's true, yes.

It’s also nice to eat out for a special occasion. So, like a birthday or a celebration.

Georgie
Yes and another special occasion could be something like Christmas and we at BBC Learning English are eating out for that special occasion. We're having a celebration, aren't we?

Neil
Yes, every year we have a Christmas party and we usually eat out in a restaurant.

Georgie
So, Neil, you said you like eating out in lots of different types of restaurants. What do you usually order?

Neil
Well, I really like spicy food like Indian curries and I like fish. So I like to get fish curry.

Georgie
Mmm that sounds delicious! And we have a special way of ordering don't we? What are some phrases we can use to order things in restaurants?

Neil
Yeah, so we can say, I'll have the Fish curry. I'll have the fish curry, please.

Georgie
Yes, and you can also say, can I have the fish curry, please, as well.

Neil
OK, Georgie, what do you usually order in a restaurant?

Georgie
I also usually get the fish. Or a risotto.

Neil
OK, so let's say we are in a restaurant now. I'm the waiter. I say to you: are you ready to order?

Georgie
Yes, I am.

Neil
And what would you like?

Georgie
Can I get the risotto, please?

Neil
Yes, of course.

Georgie
So we can also say, can I get the risotto as well as can I have the risotto. And notice that we say the risotto, not a risotto.

Neil
That's right.

Let's recap the language we learned during the conversation. We had eat out which means eat a meal at a restaurant rather than at home.

Georgie
Special occasion, a birthday, anniversary, or other reason to celebrate.

Neil
And we learned that when we order in a restaurant, we usually say I'll have the something… fish… chicken… risotto.

Georgie
Or can I get the, and what you want to order. So, for example, when I eat at my favourite restaurant. I always get the risotto.

Neil
Thanks for listening to Real Easy English. If you like restaurants. You could try our drama series The White Elephant all about a busy restaurant kitchen. There's a link in the notes for this programme.

Georgie
Next time on Real Easy English, we're talking about clothes and fashion.

Neil
See you then, goodbye.

Georgie
Bye.

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