# I woud like to order ... (restaurant)



## mirind4

Hey everybody!
I would like to know how to order dishes in exact way.Maybe I'm aware of it, but not sure. Could you help me please?
For example, i would like to say : 
" i would like to eat chicken with broccoli " =  wǒ xiǎng chī yī fèn xī lán huā jīròu  (i don't know how and where to put broccoli to this sentence)
 or 
" I want to eat chicken with mushroom.  = wǒ yào yī fèn mógu jīròu ( same problem)
Are these sentences correct?

Thanks
Daniel


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## zhg

You will need a word between chicken and vegetables to indicate how the dish is cooked if it's fried you could use 炒 ，if it's stewed ,炖 is required , and etc ..Note that most of these are formed of 火字旁 due to the use of fire when cooking.
So how would you like your dishes done?

Edit :if there are more than two ingredients in a dish usually the more important one ,as chicken in your case, is placed behind.


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## mirind4

Thanks for fast reply!
Well, I don't know how to make these dishes exactly. If i am not mistaken, these are made using Wok vessel. Therefore those are fried meals.
So the sentence : wǒ xiǎng chī yī fèn xī lán huā chǎo jīròu. Is it ok? 
Thanks a lot!
Daniel


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## zhg

Yes ,that's fine.However I guess they will give you a menu where you will find how exactly the dish is named, so why don't you order as the menu says.

And what's interesting is some dishes are not named after the way of cooking but actually possess fancy names which often confuse foreigners， for example 佛跳墙


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## mirind4

Thanks a lot!
Have a nice week!
Daniel


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## SuperXW

Many decent Chinese dish come with a special Chinese name. Not always as direct and simple as your examples.

But if it IS pretty direct and simple, like foods in some Chinese fast food restaurant, and you want to keep it simple, you can just put the two names together.
E.g. Chicken with broccoli:xī lán huā jīròu OR jīròu xī lán huā 
Chicken with mushroom: mógu jīròu OR jīròu mógu

Although there can be other better-sounding names, these are not wrong. People will understand.


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## 维尼爱蜂蜜

no, we dont say “wo yao *chi* ...", that sounds childish. "wo yao..." is good enough.
sometimes we dont even say "wo". you can say "lai yi wan yun tun mian" or "yao yi wan yun tun mian" (one wonton noodle, please)
To make things easier for you, you can just say the name of the dishes without any verbs and use "ge" as measure word for all the dishes, soups, beverages. and whatsoever. We do that very often.
you: "yi ge gong bao ji ding, yi ge tang cu pai gu, yi ge xiao ji dun mo gu, liang ge mi fan. " (One kungpao chicken, one sweet and sour short ribs, one chicken and mushroom stew, two rices.)
waiter: "nin yao yin liao ma?" (do you want something to drink?)
you: "ni men you shen me?" (what do you have?)
waiter: "you ke le, xue bi, cheng zhi, hai you cha。“ （we have coke, sprite, orange juice, and also tea.）
you: "lai yi ge ke le he yi ge xue bi." (we'll have a coke and a sprite.) or "bu yao le, lai liang bei shui ba." (i don't want them. two cups of water, please.)

Most Chinese dishes have fixed names （or at least names in fixed patterns）. you need to get familiar with them to order correctly in Chinese.


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## Youngfun

For Western cuisine I think it's fine to say "xī lán hé huā jīròu". At least, that's how I would call the pairing in Western cuisine. Also, because they are usually served side by side, not necessarily combined together into one dish.


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## mirind4

Thanks everyone, you helped me a lot, i love this forum!


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## yuechu

Years ago, people told me that I can say "我要..." when ordering something at a restaurant when translating "I would like..." in Chinese. Is this common though? I remember that I've definitely heard people say “来一份..." but not sure about "我要...". Is “我要..." as common in Chinese as it is in English when ordering ("I would like...")?

For example, I was ordering some oranges for dessert at a restaurant recently for a friend and myself.
我（们？）要两份水果。
来两份水果。

Would you say it like this? (or would you have any other suggestions?) Thanks!


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## philchinamusical

Not sure if it's ok here to dig up posts so old... but in my opinion @yuechu :both "我要一份..." and "来一份..." are correct. 

It's just the tones are different: "我要..." is a little bit more polite than "来...". The latter one can sound more commanding. But when you add a "吧？" to the end of sentence start with "来...", it sounds politer.


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## yuechu

OK! Thanks for your suggestions, philchinamusical!


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## retrogradedwithwind

Chinese people wouldn't use too many courtesy terms in daily life, especially when in not so elegant or upper-class places. So saying  谢谢 or 请 for once or twice is enough, and then you can express your ideas directly like 我要……，我想吃……，给我一份……，我点一份……


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