Cafe and restaurant in Malay
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Malay 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 Malay phrases in this lesson
- Satu meja untuk duaSA-too MEH-ja OON-took DOO-ah
- A table for two
- Menu, tolongMEH-noo, TO-long
- The menu, please
- Apa yang sedap?AH-pa yang se-DAP
- What do you recommend?
- Saya tak makan...SA-ya tak MA-kan
- I don't eat...
- Saya alah kepada...SA-ya A-lah ke-PA-da
- I'm allergic to...
- DagingDA-ging
- Meat
- AyamA-yam
- Chicken
- IkanEE-kan
- Fish
- Sedap sekaliseh-DAHP seh-KA-lee
- It's delicious
- Cheers!cheers
- Cheers
Meja is table. Most casual Malaysian restaurants and kedai kopi (coffee shops) have no reservations; just walk in and find a seat or wave down a server. Fine dining in Kuala Lumpur books out but is rare for travelers.
Menu is borrowed from English and understood everywhere. In less touristy places, you may get a handwritten menu or board. Point-and-eat is accepted at food stalls and hawker centers.
Literally "what is tasty?".
On its own usually means beef.
Sedap means tasty, sekali means very. "Ini sedap" (this is tasty) is the simple compliment. Malaysians appreciate food praise warmly, as street food culture is serious and point-of-pride.
Malay has no traditional toast of its own: Malaysia is majority Muslim and most Malays do not drink. Where glasses are raised, people simply say the English "Cheers", or "yam seng" (drink to victory) at Chinese Malaysian banquets, drawn out loudly as yaaam seeeng. With soft drinks or teh tarik, no toast is expected at all.