Ordering Food in Paris
 

Hello all!

I was wondering if I could have some tips or common phrases to use when ordering food while I'm in Paris!

Thank you all so much!

-S :)

Tap water: kah-rafe-dough.

I suggest you buy a Marlings Menu Master. It saved me from ordering kidneys---yuck!

I am a picky eater, and I don't eat organ meats. I saw "veau rognons" on the menu. I knew that veau was veal, but I didn't know the meaning of rognons. I looked it up and ordered something else.

Any guidebook will have basic restaurant vocabulary.

I gather you don't know French at all. In which case, I'd just learn how to say please and thank you and other pleasantries. I don't think you need to try to memorize actual sentences as it won't be necessary and your pronunciation will probably make them difficult to understand. (ie, the French equivalent of "I would like....).

You could just point at the menu, also, if there they can't understand what you want. This is presuming you know what you want. A lot of menus are fairly similar, it seems to me, and you just need to know a few words of French (viande, boeuf, agneau, poisson, frites, poulet, etc) to sort of get the drift of what is on the menu. I don't know why someone would order something they had no idea what it was to begin with (like rognons), but I agree that getting a menu master might be a good idea.

If you want tap water, which is what I prefer to drink in all restaurants, I agree, that is useful although they probably will understand you. But might try to automatically serve bottled water as a lot of people in restaurants in many countries want to spend their money on that, I don't know why, so --"Une carafe d'eau, s'il vous plaît" is a good phrase to learn.

"à point" for some meat being cooked to medium is another good one.

You'll probably need much more information that anyone could give you on this forum. There are so many words, choices, descriptions, how to pronounce them...

It would really be best to look for a guidebook with a menu section - Rick Steves is OK - or an app for your phone.

There aren't really any tips about common phrases to use when ordering in France. It depends on what you're ordering. And even if you learn how to say "Pour moi, monsieur, les tournedos," and he comes back with "bien monsieur, et le cuisson?" will you understand? I just wouldn't fret about this.

All you really need to know is to greet the staff with a "Bonsoir, Monsieur/Madame," say "merci" whenever anything is brought to your table, and say "Merci, au revoir when you leave."

Most Parisian waiters speak enough English to communicate with you and explain things, assuming you're within the tourist areas.

If you really want to delve into this, get a translation app or buy a French menu book. Otherwise, just be polite and use the usual pleasantries and ask questions if you're not sure what to order.

I agree with Peg--get Marlings Menu Master or download Patricia Wells French food glossary from the internet. There are food phrases and items that TRULY do not translate from a regular dictionary.
And most restaurants will provide an English menu, but it is fun to do the French--if you have the glossary.
A very nice ---and concerned--waiter in Avignon wanted to be sure that I knew I had ordered liver for dinner. He did not speak English and I don't really "speak" but can make things out. And I did know it was "liver" and it was what I wanted. However, in ordering andouilettes for DH in Giverney, we were not as careful (I thought "andouille"!)!! Disaster!! LOL

A point is not medium, à point is more than medium.

Bleu : basically you put the steak on the fire, turn it both times, so that it looks cooked. It has to be warm though.
Saignant : medium rare
Bien cuit : medium burnt
Semelle de godasse : cooked from one end to the other (means sole of a shoe - don't say it is popular and nobody will cook it like that - my grandfather would eat his meat like that - shame on him ;-) ).

You can also ask like Joan of Arc : 'Vous ne m'avez pas crue, vous m'aurez cuite' - Jeanne d'Arc s'est éteinte 2 heures après sa mort. Mdr. Impossible to translate but not vulgar or insulting ...

If you say "kah-rafe-dough" the waiter will look at you like at a dog that has entered the restaurant and barked.

My very serious advice:

Just speak English and ask for an English menu.

And take an English dictionary with you. You will need it.

Or just take the most expensive set menu on the list. You won't regret it. Take a photo of the menu and figure out what you have eaten when back at home. It will be a lifetime experience.

<<If you say "kah-rafe-dough" the waiter will look at you like at a dog that has entered the restaurant and barked.>>

Best laugh of the day. LOL.

It might work, though. You hear a lot of Brits around here trying that out, and generally spe

You need more than just a basic list of foods. Even if you remember that poulet is chicken - what part of the chicken and which of dozens of different things have they done to it.

You need a real menu reader that lists common dishes and how they are prepared. We have a tiny little book with 14 different countries in it - and tore it up into pieces. Besides the common dishes they also list the usual pleasantries, info about getting a table, ordering, asking for the check etc.

Most important is to remember that French waiters will be more formal that those in the US - since there it is regarded as a profession, not just a part-time job for college kids. And they won't go around grinning madly and introducing themselves by first name, asking about how your day was and making cute remarks.

Since the OP did not mention any allergies or aversions to certain food, I really don't see why some people make such a big deal out of it all. Unless you are the first person in a restaurant, it is very easy to see what other people are eating and if it is appealing or not.

we were caught with the bottled water ...boy it was expensive...something like 4 euros for a small bottle..and we bought two
then the next night we saw two girls with a jug of water
and we asked them how to order tap water

also I was dismayed that hamburger mince was served...very red indeed...
they don't worry about mince not being cooked right through and when I asked...the waiter assured me that as long as its eaten right away there is no danger
well I don't buy that but I guess there aren't too many French people keeling over from some bacterial infestation either
I had a phrase book so I could say ' id like this cooked more'
I was very pleased with my effort lol

Ah, yes. I do remember. Steak tartare. How can you go wrong with steak? Well, I ate it!

The beef distribution channels in France are much shorter than those one typically finds in the US. The grinding of beef for steak tartare is often done at the restaurant itself where the process is closely monitored for cleanliness which is the only way to preclude Ecoli contamination.

If you believe that meat should have any red or pink cooked out of it, you should order chicken or fish. Many chefs, particularly those of note, will flatly refuse to cook meat more than what many Americans might consider med rare.

Indeed Sarastro. It is a serious crime to cook more than medum rare.
About as serious as putting water in your wine, or worse, drinking coke instead of wine.

Btw, for those who like anecdotes, a steak tartate is called an 'américan' in Belgium. We can have or Americans, prepared or not...

I've been eating rare meat since I was born and never had to keel over naywhere due to meat. Fish is another matter. We don't eat enough fish, so sometimes the fish is not that fresh...

My parents both loved rare meat and so did I. But for some reason my brother did not (and he didn't like onions either -- weird!!!). As the years have gone by, he can now eat a rare steak (saignant) but I can see in his eyes that he would still prefer medium rare (à point). As a child, he was not happy if the meat was more than a tiny bit pink.

I will confirm that the majority of French chefs will ignore requests to cook meat more than how they think it should be cooked -- and that is almost always rare. This goes for both beef and duck. Other meats are often eaten pink, including pork. (Yes I grew up with all the warnings about trichinosis, too, but when was the last time you heard of a person who got worms from eating pork in the industrialized world?) Meanwhile, I have found that I prefer lamb rarer than most people. I like it just as rare as beef, but most people prefer it just pink, and that is how it is served in restaurants.