Blog

Ordering food at a restaurant in a foreign country could be scary experience, especially if you don’t know the language. (I’ve been there myself!) But don’t worry. Here are 7 easiest Japanese phrases you can use today at a restaurant. I take you through step by step.

Scene 1. Entering restaurant

When you enter a Japanese restaurant, normally you wait until you are seated. If you don’t see anyone, you can call staff by saying,

Japanese) Sumimasen. (すみません。)
English) Excuse me.

***

Scene 2. Getting seated

Staff will ask you the following to see how many are in your party.

Japanese) Nan-mei sama desuka.（なんめいさまですか。）
English) How many in your party?

Your answer would depend on how many people are in your party.

1 person: Hitori desu. (ひとりです。)
2 people: Futari desu. (ふたりです。)
3 people: San-nin desu. (さんにんです。)
4 people: Yonin desu. (よにんです。)

***

Scene 3. Ordering food

If you don’t get a menu, ask for one by saying,

Japanese) “Menu” kudasai. (めにゅーください。)
English) Menu, please.

You normally get water for free. But if you haven’t gotten one, you can ask for one by saying this.

Japanese) O-mizu kudasai. (おみずください。)
English) May I get some water, please?

Once you know what you want to order, you can call staff by saying this magic word again. It’s okay to call out loud. 🙂

Japanese) Sumimasen. (すみません。)
English) Excuse me.

Assuming the menu has pictures of what you want to order, point to it and just say this.

Japanese) Kore kudasai. (これください。)
English) This one, please.

***

Scene 4. Getting check

When you are finished and ready to pay for the bill, you can ask for the bill while you are sitting at the table. Use the following phrase. (This is probably the most difficult phrase so far!)

Japanese) O-kaikei onegai shimasu. (おかいけいおねがいします。)
English) May I have the bill/check, please?

Some restaurants, once your ordered food is all served, they leave you the check on your table for you to bring to the front. In that case, you don’t have to ask for the bill.

Once you have the bill, bring it to the front or pay at the table. It will depend on restaurants.

***

Scene 5. Leaving restaurant

Once you paid the bill, you can leave the restaurant saying thank you. 🙂

Japanese) Arigato gozaimasu. (ありがとうございます。)
English) Thank you.

I tried to use the easiest Japanese sentences assuming you know zero Japanese. Of course, there are other more elaborative ways to express, but using very simple sentences listed above will be more than enough to get around. You know why? Japanese staff at restaurants and shops are usually super kind and friendly (they could be a bit shy though)! So even if you speak broken Japanese just using some words, they will try hard to understand what you are trying to say.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know how it went by leaving me a comment below. I would love to hear about our experience!