Cafe and restaurant in Kurdish
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Kurdish 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 Kurdish phrases in this lesson
- Maseyek ji bo du kesanma-se-YEK zhi bo DU ke-SAN
- A table for two
- Lîsteya xwarinê bidinlees-te-YA khwa-ri-NE bi-DIN
- The menu, please
- Tu çi pêşniyar dikî?tu CHI pesh-ni-YAR di-KEE
- What do you recommend?
- Ez ... naxwimez ... na-KHWIM
- I don't eat...
- Alerjiya min bi ... heyea-ler-zhi-YA min bi ... HE-ye
- I'm allergic to...
- GoştGOSHT
- Meat
- Mirîşkmi-REESHK
- Chicken
- Masîma-SEE
- Fish
- Pir xweş ePIR KHWESH e
- It's delicious
- Noş beNOSH be
- Cheers
Kes is a person; kesan is the plural after ji bo (for). In smaller places you simply sit down, and someone will appear with tea before you have opened the menu.
Literally "the list of food". Many places have no printed menu at all; the server recites what the kitchen has today, or waves you toward the pots. Pointing at a neighboring table is always understood.
"Ez goşt naxwim", I don't eat meat.
Kebab and dolma, stuffed vegetables, are the classics.
Literally "it is very pleasant", and the compliment that matters. Destê te xweş (des-TE te KHWESH), "blessed be your hand", is what you say directly to whoever cooked it. The reply is canê te xweş.
Literally "may it be pleasant", from a Persian root, and it covers both a raised glass and a wish of good appetite over food. There is no elaborate toasting ritual to memorize; eye contact and the raised glass carry the moment.