B2 – Upper Intermediate
Restaurants around the world offer different menus with unique and distinctive names for their listed dishes, which can be perplexing most of the time.
We often wonder if they have their own language that they use to name and describe their food.
Listen to this audio and read the transcript about how restaurants come up with the food descriptions on their menus that make their dishes seem “appealing, tasty, or poetic”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2024/ep-240125
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “haute cuisine” mean? “Many of the words used to describe gourmet food – that’s food which is higher-quality and more sophisticated than usual – are French, coming from a country with a long tradition of high-level cooking called haute cuisine.” Construct your own sentence using this phrase.
- Do you know the meaning of “turn (someone) off“? “Some diners like the French names, but it turns other diners off.” Use this expression in your own sentence.
- How about the word “not available to everyone“? “Caroline thinks French makes her cooking sound too posh, too fashionable, expensive and not available to everyone.” Use this idiom in a sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- What are your thoughts on the confusing menu selection?
- What steps do you typically take to make sure you don’t regret your menu selections? What are the usual questions you ask if you are confused about the name or description of a certain dish?
- Do you think the language used to describe food affect our psychology? Explain your insights.
- What are your thoughts on this, “There’s a tendency to not use French because it sounds pretentious.“? Would it turn you off as a diner? Why or why not?
- Could you share a funny or embarrassing experience with menu selection? What’s the moral lesson you learned from that experience?
4 replies on “The Language of Menus”
1. What are your thoughts on the confusing menu selection?
In my opinion there will be always ideas on the menu that are beyond our control, but it is normal since we do not usually use these terms to refer to our food.
2. What steps do you typically take to make sure you don’t regret your menu selections? What are the usual questions you ask if you are confused about the name or description of a certain dish?
When I go out to eat I usually choose something difficult to make at home and I never choose fish outside the home. I take care that no pieces of fish do not appear in my food.
3. Do you think the language used to describe food affect our psychology? Explain your insights.
I think is very important how is described food when choosing it. It is not just about use fancy words, it is important to give that importance to food.
4. What are your thoughts on this, “There’s a tendency to not use French because it sounds pretentious.“? Would it turn you off as a diner? Why or why not?
I have no problems with any language and nothing is going to discourage me to choosing any food. But for some people this can overwhelm them and may think this is not for them
5. Could you share a funny or embarrassing experience with menu selection? What’s the moral lesson you learned from that experience?
One I visited the coast of France in winter, may restaurants were closed, we finally found a small restaurant and in paela was on the menu. I thought could be a good option and choose it, the waiter insisted several times that this paela is not the type of paela I was looking for. When the paela arrived I understood the waiter´s words. The next times I´ve visited a restaurant I always take care of the waiter´s advices.
Welcome back to your writing practice!
Take a look at how this sentence can be revised:
Until your next entry.
Discussion Questions:
What are your thoughts on the confusing menu selection?
I think is ok to put the original names of the food (i.e.: Chicken Tika-Masala or Paella) but always with the translation to your language and explaining the dish for the understanding of the common people, not doing so, in my opinion is unrespectful.
What steps do you typically take to make sure you don’t regret your menu selections? What are the usual questions you ask if you are confused about the name or description of a certain dish?
I usually ask to the waiter or manager what does mean exactly the dish, what are the ingredients and so on.
Do you think the language used to describe food affect our psychology? Explain your insights.
I’m sure of it, it is a way to transform maybe a simple dish and put it in other level. It is a marketing strategy that really works.
What are your thoughts on this, “There’s a tendency to not use French because it sounds pretentious. “? Would it turn you off as a diner? Why or why not?
As I said before, I think is ok to put the original names of the dishes but always with his translation to your mother tongue. If you don’t do that you are disrespectful to your customers, for me is a lack of respect, just to pretend to be Avant-guard or something like that.
Could you share a funny or embarrassing experience with menu selection? What’s the moral lesson you learned from that experience?
Well, sometimes you go to a restaurant too “posh” and you realise don’t understant anything of the name’s dishes of the menu…. It a frustrating experience, you don’t want to go to a restaurant to realise you don’t know for example Italian or German language, you go there because of the food… It is not necessary to pass through this ugly experience.
Good to hear your thoughts on this topic. You did well in writing your answers.
Here is one sentence you can still improve:
Always keep in mind, consistency is what transforms average into excellence. Keep going.