Vietnamese Phrases for Ordering in a Restaurant 😋🍽️

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
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Hi everyone!

If you’re planning to travel to Vietnam or just want to impress your Vietnamese friends at a local restaurant, here are some super useful phrases that can help you order food like a pro :sunglasses: Vietnamese food is amazing, and knowing just a few key expressions can really enhance your experience.

1. Getting the waiter’s attention :wave:
Em ơi! – Excuse me! (literally “Hey younger one!”, used politely for servers)
Anh ơi! / Chị ơi! – Excuse me! (for male/female server respectively)

2. Asking for the menu :open_book:
Cho tôi xem thực đơn được không? – Can I see the menu, please?

3. Ordering food :speaking_head:
Tôi muốn gọi món. – I’d like to order.
Cho tôi một phở bò. – I’d like one beef pho.
Không cay, làm ơn. – No spice, please.

4. Asking for recommendations :shallow_pan_of_food:
Món nào ngon ở đây? – What’s good here?
Bạn đề xuất món gì? – What do you recommend?

5. Requesting drinks :beers:
Cho tôi một ly cà phê sữa đá. – I’d like a Vietnamese iced milk coffee.
Nước lọc / Nước suối, làm ơn. – Plain water / bottled water, please.

6. Checking the bill :dollar:
Tính tiền, làm ơn. – The bill, please.
Tổng cộng bao nhiêu? – How much is it in total?

7. Expressing thanks :bowing_man:
Cảm ơn! – Thank you!
Cảm ơn nhiều! – Thank you very much!

These basic phrases will help you feel more confident when eating out in Vietnam. If you need a guide on how to read the menu to help you even better with your ordering skill, check out this link: How To Read A Menu In Vietnamese
Locals always appreciate it when visitors make the effort to speak the language, even a little bit goes a long way!

BONUS: If you need some food recommendations, also check out this article :slight_smile:

Feel free to add more or ask if you’re unsure how to say something specific :smiley: :star2:

2 Likes
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Definitely the most important Vietnamese phrase for me :drooling_face: I miss the beef pho in Vietnam so much!

Thanks for sharing all these restaurant phrases, super helpful :slight_smile:

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I realised the importance of Trà Dá in my most recent trip to Vietnam.

Everytime you sit down at a restaurant Trà Dá (a type of tea) is immediately served.

It’s so common I swear it’s the national drink of Vietnam!

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It’s actually “Trà Đá” not “Trà Dá” haha!!!

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TOO MANY TONES!! I actually got that from Google, I should report it :rofl:

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I remember going to a cafe in Hanoi in 2023 and begging one of the staff if they could take my small notes… 1k/2k and give me bigger notes…

I said “these notes are useless, you can’t even buy anything with them!” and the staff member said “no, you can! See those people sitting outside on plastic chairs and the big plastic flask in the middle? It contains something we call ‘Trà Đá’… and costs only 5k vnd per glass… and even for 3k vnd per glass outside the city centre”

So the next morning, with x20 1k vnd notes in hand… I went to a popular bánh mì spot, I ordered a bánh mì for 15k… pulled over a plastic chair and sat down amongst the old aunties gossip and uncles smoking a cigarette in hand…

I said “Cho tôi một ly Trà Đá”, the auntie replied, “năm nghìn” pulling out a 5k note out of her waist pocket… the type of translation common before Google Translate and ChatGPT…

Success!

In my left hand, my bánh mì and in my right hand, a cold glass of trà đá, and in my wallet… no more 1k notes!

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This is such a wholesome story and gets even stronger marks for the inclusion of bánh mì and trà đá.

These are the language stories we remember! Nice work, @Sean-Vietnamese-VN_A1_Beginner

1 Like