Learn how to attract the attention of a waiter
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| Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Hebrew Survival Phrases, brought to you by HebrewPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Israel. You'll be surprised at how far a little Hebrew will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
| Survival Phrases Lesson 14 - Restaurant 4 – At the Table |
| Finally, you're at the table and at your seat. Now it's time to order! In today's lesson, we will cover how to ask for a menu and then order your food and drinks. |
| Normally, to get the waiter's attention you can just raise your hand and simply say סְלִיחָה, Slicha! "Excuse me," and then ask for a menu by saying, תַּפְרִיט, בְּבַקָּשָה, Tafrit bevakasha "A menu, please." |
| Tafrit, תַּפְרִיט means, "Menu." Finally, בְּבַקָּשָה, Bevakasha follows this, which in English means "please." |
| Once you have looked at the menu, you can finally call the waiter for the order. A typical Israeli menu is composed of מָנוֹת רִאשׁוֹנוֹת, Manot rishonot "appetizers," which can be a large variety of dishes from salads to small fishes, מָנוֹת עִקָּרִיּוֹת, Manot ikariyot "second dish," which can be fish or meat, and מָנוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, Manot akharonot "dessert." |
| In 99% of cases, they will ask you what you would like to drink first. As we have already seen, in Hebrew, there are different ways to say and ask things depending on the gender of the speaker and listener. Thus, if you were a male, the waiter would probably ask you, ?מָה אַתָּה רוֹצֶה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma ata rotze lishtot? מָה, Ma means, "what," אַתָּה, Ata means, "you," רוֹצֶה, Rotze means,"want," and finally לִשְׁתוֹת, Lishtot means, "to drink." Let's break it down and hear it one more time, מָה אַתָּה רוֹצֶה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma ata rotze lishtot? |
| If you were a female, the waiter would probably ask you, מָה אַתּ רוֹצַה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma at rotza lishtot? מָה, Ma means "what," אַתּ, At means, "you," רוֹצַה, Rotza means "want," and finally לִשְׁתוֹת, Lishtot means, "to drink." Let's break it down and hear it one more time, ?מָה אַתּ רוֹצַה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma at rotza lishtot? |
| Now let's see some typical beverages the Israelis have with dinner. |
| בִּירָה, Bira - "beer" |
| יַיִן לָבָן, Yain lavan -"white wine" |
| יַיִן אָדֹם, Yain adom - "red wine" |
| מַיִם, Maim -"water" |
| Let's break down these words and hear them one more time, בִּירָה, יַיִן לָבָן, יַיִן אָדֹם, מַיִם, Bira, Yain lavan, Yain adom, Maim. |
| In Israel, the waiter rarely asks the customer what they want. However, you can always ask for recommendations and the house specials! |
| If you are asking a male waiter, you will ask, ?מָה אַתָּה מַמְלִיץ, Ma ata mamlitz? This literally means, "What do you recommend?" Let's have a quick look at the bits and pieces of this phrase. The Hebrew word מָה, Ma means "what" in English. We follow this with the word for "you," which is אַתָּה, Ata. "Recommend" is מַמְלִיץ, Mamlitz. This would be the equivalent for "What do you recommend?" in English. |
| If you are asking a female waiter, you will ask, ?מָה אַתְּ מַמְלִיצָה, Ma at mamlitza? This literally means "What do you recommend?" Let's have a quick look at the bits and pieces of this phrase. The Hebrew word מָה, Ma means "what" in English. We follow this with the word for "you," which is אַתְּ, At. "Recommend" is מַמְלִיצָה, Mamlitza. ?מָה אַתְּ מַמְלִיצָה, Ma at mamlitza? This would be the equivalent for "What do you recommend?" in English. |
| When you order in Israel, you usually just say the name of the dish you want. However, there is a polite way of saying "I would like" followed by the name of the things you want to eat. A male should say, אֲנִי רוֹצֶה, Ani rotze. Let's break down this word and hear it one more time, אֲנִי רוֹצֶה, Ani rotze. |
| Now a female would say, אֲנִי רוֹצָה, Ani rotza. Let's break down these words and hear them one more time, אֲנִי רוֹצָה, Ani rotza. |
| Now let's see some good dishes you can find on a typical Israeli menu. |
| סָלָט יִשְׂרְאֵלִי, Salat israeli - The traditional Israeli salad. |
| חוּמוּס, Humus - Paste made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with Tehina, olive oil, lemon juice, salad, and garlic. |
| טְחִינָה, Tehina -Paste of ground sesame seeds used in cooking. |
| פָלָאפֶל, Falafel - Fried balls made from spiced chickpeas served in a pita bread and salad. |
| שָׁוַארְמָה, Shawarma -Shaved chicken, turkey, or beef served in pita bread or taboon bread with salad, humus, and french fries. |
| Let's break down these words and hear them one more time סָלָט יִשְׂרְאֵלִי, חוּמוּס, טְחִינָה, פָלָאפֶל, שָׁוַארְמָה, Salat israeli, Humus, Tehina, Falafel, Shawarma. |
| Let's imagine you would like to order חוּמוּס, Humus and טְחִינָה, Thina. If the waiter is male, you should say, אֲנִי רוֹצֶה חוּמוּס וְטְחִינָה, Ani rotze humus ve-thina. "I would like Humus and some Thina." |
| If the waiter is female, you should say, אֲנִי רוֹצָה חוּמוּס וְטְחִינָה, Ani rotza humus vethina. "I would like Humus and some Thina." |
| As we have seen, אֲנִי רוֹצֶה, Ani rotze (for a male) or אֲנִי רוֹצָה, Ani rotza (for a female) means "I would like." You simply follow it with the name of the food you are ordering. Please note that before טְחִינָה, Thina you will find וְ, Ve, which in English means "and."However, unlike in English, וְ, Ve is connected to the word that follows it. |
| Ok, to close out today's lesson, we would like you to practice what you have just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it out loud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !בְּהַצְלָחָה, Behatzlacha! which means "Good luck!" in Hebrew. |
| "A menu, please." - תַּפְרִיט, בְּבַקָּשָה, Tafrit, bevakasha. |
| "What would you like to drink?"(male listener) - מָה אַתָּה רוֹצֶה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma ata rotze lishtot? |
| "What would you like to drink?"(a female listener) - מָה אַתּ רוֹצַה לִשְׁתוֹת, Ma at rotza lishtot? |
| "I would like Humus and Tehina." (a male speaker) - אֲנִי רוֹצֶה חוּמוּס וְטְחִינָה, Ani rotze humus ve-thina. |
| "I would like Humus and Tehina." (a female speaker) - אֲנִי רוֹצָה חוּמוּס וְטְחִינָה, Ani rotza humus ve-thina. |
| Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment! |
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