Reading a Menu and Ordering Politely – Food and Nutrition (Senior 1 English) | Ganzaa

Food and Nutrition

Lessons

Senior 1 · English

Food and Nutrition

5 lessons

Lesson 3 of 5

Reading a Menu and Ordering Politely

22 min

Let's begin

A menu is a text you scan, not one you read from top to bottom: your eyes jump to the dish, the price or the symbol you need. In this lesson you scan a restaurant menu from Huye, listen to a family ordering lunch, and learn the polite forms English speakers use with a waiter: I'd like…, Could I have…?, Would you like…?

Text 1: the menu

IWACU KITCHEN, HUYE
Lunch is served from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

Dish Price
Starters
Vegetable soup (V) 1,000 Frw
Avocado salad with tomato and onion (V) 1,200 Frw
Main dishes, served with rice, chips, ugali or matoke (cooked green bananas)
Isombe: pounded cassava leaves cooked with aubergine and groundnut paste (V, N) 2,500 Frw
Beef brochettes, two sticks, with grilled potatoes or plantain 3,000 Frw
Goat brochettes, two sticks, with grilled potatoes or plantain 3,500 Frw
Sambaza: small fish from Lake Kivu, fried whole 3,000 Frw
Beans and ibihaza (pumpkin) stew (V) 2,000 Frw
Drinks
Passion fruit juice 1,000 Frw
Ikivuguto (fermented milk) 800 Frw
African tea: tea boiled with milk and spices 600 Frw
Bottled water 500 Frw
Dessert
Fruit salad: pineapple, mango and passion fruit 1,500 Frw

V = vegetarian (no meat or fish). N = contains groundnuts.

Text 2: ordering lunch

Gatete and his aunt, Claudine, sit down at Iwacu Kitchen.

Waiter: Good afternoon. Are you ready to order?

Aunt Claudine: Yes, please. I'd like the beans and ibihaza stew with rice. Could you tell me if it contains groundnuts?

Waiter: No, it doesn't, madam. Only the isombe has groundnuts in it.

Aunt Claudine: Good. And for my nephew?

Gatete: Could I have the beef brochettes with grilled plantain, please?

Waiter: Certainly. Would you like a starter?

Gatete: No, thank you. But can I have a passion fruit juice?

Waiter: Of course. Would you like something to drink, madam?

Aunt Claudine: I'd like some African tea, please.

(Forty minutes later.)

Aunt Claudine: Excuse me. Could we have the bill, please?

Waiter: Here you are, madam. That's 6,600 francs altogether. Thank you, and come again!

Scanning the menu

At what time does lunch finish at Iwacu Kitchen?
Name three vegetarian dishes on the menu.
Which dish is unsafe for someone who is allergic to groundnuts?
What is the cheapest drink?
Which four side dishes can you choose with a main dish?
Check the waiter's addition. What did Gatete and his aunt order, and why is the bill 6,600 Frw?
Mugisha has 3,000 Frw. Can he buy goat brochettes and a juice? What could he order instead?

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At 3 p.m.
Vegetable soup, avocado salad, isombe, and the beans and ibihaza stew: any three of these four (isombe also contains groundnuts).
The isombe (marked N).
Bottled water (500 Frw).
Rice, chips, ugali or matoke.
Beans and ibihaza stew 2,000 + beef brochettes 3,000 + passion fruit juice 1,000 + African tea 600 = 6,600 Frw.
No: 3,500 + 1,000 = 4,500 Frw. He could order the beans and ibihaza stew (2,000) and a juice (1,000), exactly 3,000 Frw, or sambaza and nothing to drink.

Vocabulary: at a restaurant

Word	Meaning	Example sentence
menu	a list of the food and drinks you can order, with prices	Could I see the menu, please?
starter	a small dish eaten before the main dish	Vegetable soup is a good starter.
main dish	the largest part of a meal	Sambaza is my favourite main dish.
dessert	sweet food eaten at the end of a meal	We had fruit salad for dessert.
side dish	food served next to the main dish, such as rice or chips	Which side dish would you like?
grilled	cooked over or under strong, direct heat	Brochettes are grilled over charcoal.
fried	cooked in hot oil	The sambaza are fried whole.
stew	meat or vegetables cooked slowly in liquid	The beans and pumpkin stew is thick and hot.
bill	a paper that shows how much you must pay	Could we have the bill, please?

Definition

Request: asking politely for something, or asking someone to do something. Could I have the bill, please?

Offer: asking politely if someone wants something. Would you like a starter?

Modal verb: a helping verb such as can, could, would that changes the meaning of the main verb, for example to make it more polite. It is followed by the base verb: could have, not could has.

Grammar: polite requests and offers

Function	Form	Example	Polite reply
Ordering	I'd like + noun I'd like to + verb	I'd like the stew, please. I'd like to pay now.	Certainly. Of course.
Asking for something	Could I have…? Can I have…?	Could I have the brochettes, please?	Here you are.
Asking someone to do something	Could you + verb…?	Could you tell me if it contains groundnuts?	Yes, of course.
Offering	Would you like + noun? Would you like to + verb?	Would you like a starter? Would you like to see the menu?	Yes, please. No, thank you.

Could is a little more polite than can. In offers we use some, even in a question: Would you like some tea?

Worked example

Analyse Gatete's request: Could I have the beef brochettes with grilled plantain, please?

Could: a modal verb that makes the request polite. It goes first, because this is a question.
I: the subject. Gatete asks for something for himself, so he uses Could I…?; to ask the waiter to do something he would use Could you…?
have: the base form of the main verb, as always after a modal.
the beef brochettes with grilled plantain: the object, the dish he wants, named exactly as it is on the menu, with his choice of side dish.
please: adds politeness. Without Could and please (Give me brochettes.) the request sounds like an order.

Warning

I'd like (I would like) means "I want now, please". I like means "I enjoy it in general". To a waiter, I like brochettes is information, not an order.
I want… and Give me… sound rude to many English speakers in a restaurant. Use I'd like… or Could I have…?

Tip

Pronunciation: make the 'd in I'd like clear, or the waiter hears I like. In fast speech Would you sounds like "wood-ja" and Could I sounds like "cud-eye". Let your voice rise at the end of Would you like a starter? ↗ and fall on please ↘ at the end of a request.

Real Easy English: talking about restaurants, BBC Learning English (5 minutes). Neil and Georgie talk about the food they like and how to order. Write down every polite request you hear.

Speaking: role-play

Work in groups of three: one waiter and two customers at Iwacu Kitchen. One customer is vegetarian, and one is allergic to groundnuts. Order a main dish, a side dish and a drink each; ask one question about the food; then ask for the bill and check it.

Show model role-playHide model role-play

Waiter: Good afternoon. Would you like to order?
Customer 1: Yes, please. I'm vegetarian. Could you tell me which dishes have no meat?
Waiter: The soup, the salad, the isombe and the beans and ibihaza stew.
Customer 1: I'd like the isombe with matoke, then, and some ikivuguto.
Customer 2: I'm allergic to groundnuts, so I can't have isombe. Could I have the sambaza with chips and a bottle of water?
Waiter: Certainly.
Customer 2: Could we have the bill, please?
Waiter: That's 6,800 francs. (2,500 + 800 + 3,000 + 500)

Writing

Your class is running a food stall on the school's open day. Write a short menu (4 dishes, 3 drinks, prices and symbols), then a dialogue of 8–10 lines between a student seller and a parent, using at least four polite forms from the table.

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S1 B Open Day Stall: Mandazi, 200 Frw; Boiled eggs, 300 Frw; Chapati with beans (V), 700 Frw; Fruit salad (V), 500 Frw; Passion juice, 400 Frw; Tea with milk, 300 Frw; Water, 300 Frw.

Seller: Good morning, madam. Would you like to see our menu?
Parent: Yes, please. What is a chapati?
Seller: It's a flat, soft bread, fried in a pan. We serve it with beans.
Parent: I'd like one chapati with beans, please.
Seller: Would you like something to drink?
Parent: Could I have some tea with milk?
Seller: Of course. That's 1,000 francs, please.
Parent: Here you are. Could you keep the change for your class trip?
Seller: Thank you very much, madam!

✦

Practice

Complete the request: ___ I have a glass of water, please?
Complete the offer: Would you ___ some fruit salad?
Choose: (I like, I'd like) the goat brochettes, please.
Make polite: Give me the menu.
Make polite: Tell me the price of the sambaza.
Write a polite reply to: Would you like a starter? (You don't want one.)
Correct the mistake: Could I has the bill, please?
Scan the menu: what do two vegetable soups and two bottled waters cost?

Show answersHide answers

Could (or Can)
like
I'd like
Could I have the menu, please? (or Could I see the menu, please?)
Could you tell me the price of the sambaza, please?
No, thank you.
Could I have the bill, please? (base form after a modal)
2 × 1,000 + 2 × 500 = 3,000 Frw

Sources and credits

Menu "Iwacu Kitchen, Huye", dialogue "Ordering lunch", comprehension questions, vocabulary, grammar explanations, practice and model answers written by Ganzaa. Iwacu Kitchen is an invented restaurant.
Photo: Rwanda Brochettes by Schlawgclart, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Photo: Rwanda sambaza by Antoshananarivo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Video: Talking about restaurants: Real Easy English, BBC Learning English, embedded from YouTube.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dish	Price
Starters
Vegetable soup (V)	1,000 Frw
Avocado salad with tomato and onion (V)	1,200 Frw
Main dishes, served with rice, chips, ugali or matoke (cooked green bananas)
Isombe: pounded cassava leaves cooked with aubergine and groundnut paste (V, N)	2,500 Frw
Beef brochettes, two sticks, with grilled potatoes or plantain	3,000 Frw
Goat brochettes, two sticks, with grilled potatoes or plantain	3,500 Frw
Sambaza: small fish from Lake Kivu, fried whole	3,000 Frw
Beans and ibihaza (pumpkin) stew (V)	2,000 Frw
Drinks
Passion fruit juice	1,000 Frw
Ikivuguto (fermented milk)	800 Frw
African tea: tea boiled with milk and spices	600 Frw
Bottled water	500 Frw
Dessert
Fruit salad: pineapple, mango and passion fruit	1,500 Frw

1Text 1: the menu

2Text 2: ordering lunch

3Scanning the menu

4Vocabulary: at a restaurant

5Grammar: polite requests and offers

6Speaking: role-play

7Writing