Cafe and restaurant in Bengali
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Bengali words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Bengali phrases in this lesson
- দুজনের জন্য একটা টেবিলDU-jo-ner JON-no EK-ta TEY-bil
- A table for two
- মেনু দিনMEY-nu DIN
- The menu, please
- আপনি কী খেতে বলবেন?AAP-ni KI KHE-te BOL-ben
- What do you recommend?
- আমি ... খাই নাAA-mi ... KHAI na
- I don't eat...
- আমার ...তে এলার্জি আছেAA-mar ...-te E-lar-ji AA-che
- I'm allergic to...
- মাংসMANG-sho
- Meat
- মুরগিMUR-gi
- Chicken
- মাছMACH
- Fish
- খুব সুস্বাদুKHUB SHUSH-waa-du
- It's delicious
- চিয়ার্স!CHEERZ
- Cheers
Hold up two fingers as you say it. In smaller local restaurants (ভাতের হোটেল, rice hotels) you often just sit down; this phrase is for more formal dining.
Many local eateries recite their dishes rather than hand you a card. Pointing at what a neighboring table is eating is a universally understood alternative.
Literally "what would you tell me to eat?".
আমি মাংস খাই না (AA-mi MANG-sho KHAI na), I don't eat meat.
The English word allergy with a Bengali ending.
In Bangladesh beef and mutton are common; in Kolkata mutton and chicken are the safe defaults.
Fish and rice make a Bengali. Hilsa, ইলিশ (I-lish), is the prized fish.
Literally "very tasty". More colloquially, "অনেক মজা" (O-nek MO-ja, so delicious/fun) is the casual praise. Either earns a beaming response from the cook.
Borrowed directly from English and universally understood at any table. At traditional gatherings in Bengal the phrase "আনন্দ করো" (aa-NON-do KO-ro, be joyful) or simply raising a glass with eye contact carries the same spirit.