Cafe and restaurant in Turkish
A table, the menu, what you cannot eat, and a compliment to the kitchen. Play the ten Turkish 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 Turkish phrases in this lesson
- İki kişilik masaEE-kee kee-SHEE-lik mah-SAH
- A table for two
- Menü lütfenmeh-NEW lewt-fen
- The menu, please
- Ne tavsiye edersiniz?neh tav-see-YEH eh-der-see-NEEZ
- What do you recommend?
- ... yemiyorumyeh-mee-YOR-oom
- I don't eat...
- ... alerjim vara-ler-ZHEEM var
- I'm allergic to...
- Etet
- Meat
- Tavukta-VOOK
- Chicken
- Balıkba-LUHK
- Fish
- Çok lezzetlichok lez-ZET-lee
- It's delicious
- Şerefesheh-reh-FEH
- Cheers
Literally "a table for two people". Most restaurants seat you without reservation except during weekend evenings in popular neighborhoods. Walking in and holding up two fingers also works.
In casual lokantas there is no menu at all: you point at the trays behind the glass. In tourist areas "İngilizce menü var mı?" asks for an English one.
Waiters love this question and will often bring something off the menu. "Bugün ne var?" (what is there today?) works at a lokanta.
"Et yemiyorum" (I do not eat meat). Vegetarian is "vejetaryenim" (I am vegetarian). Many dishes are cooked with meat stock, so asking "etli mi?" (with meat?) helps.
Literally "I have an allergy to...": "fıstık alerjim var" (I am allergic to peanuts). Nuts are everywhere in Turkish desserts, so flag it early.
Usually lamb or beef. "Etli" means with meat, "etsiz" without. Pork is almost never on the menu.
"Tavuk şiş" (chicken skewer) and "tavuk döner" are on almost every street. Chicken also appears in a famous dessert, tavuk göğsü (ta-VOOK gur-SEW), chicken breast pudding.
Fresh fish is sold by weight on the coast. "Balık ekmek", a grilled fish sandwich, is the classic by the water in Istanbul.
The highest compliment at a Turkish table. Follow with "ellerinize sağlık" (health to your hands) to the cook or host and you will have made a friend.
Literally "to honor". Look everyone in the eye and clink glasses. With non-drinkers at the table, raising a tea glass and saying şerefe back is entirely normal.