When you are in Vietnam, knowing how to order food and drinks correctly and naturally can impress your friends and the locals. Let’s learn them in this lesson.
Besides, we will learn some more useful expresions for checking bill, ordering take-away… and a list of must-try Vietnamese food and drinks. Let’s get started.
CONTENTS
How to order food in Vietnamese
🔷 If you don’t know how to call the food in Vietnamese, you can point to that and simply say:
Cho + your pronoun + quantity + cái này
It means “this one, please!” or “these ones, please!”. It literally means “give – me – 1,2,3… – this/these”.
Ví dụ:
Cho em (1) cái này. (This one, please!) (No. 1 can be omitted)
Cho chị 2 cái này. (2 these ones, please!)
- cho: to give
- cái này: this one
🔷 If you know the Vietnamese name of the food and want to impress the locals, let’s try to say like this:
Cho + your pronoun + quantity + measure word + food
Ví dụ (eg):
- Cho em 1 tô phở. (1 phở please!) Literally “give me a bowl of phở”
- Cho chị 1 dĩa cơm tấm. (1 broken rice please!). Literally “give me a plate of chicken rice.
In English, we say “give me this one” that sound so rude. However, in Vietnamese, “cho…”, that’s how to order politely and naturally.
To get the seller’s attention and to be more polite and friendlier, remember to add “pronoun + ơi”
Ví dụ: em ơi, cô ơi, chị ơi, …
There are many personal pronouns used in example sentences. You can change them to suitable pronouns for you and for the seller. Let’s check here Vietnamese pronouns – How to address people and yourself in Vietnamese
🔷 What are the measure words for food in Vietnamese?
Here are some common ones.
- tô – big bowl – often used for noodles
- dĩa – plate – often used for rice,… Đĩa in Northern Vietnamese.
- chén – small bowl – often used for sauces… Bát in Northern Vietnamese.
- ổ – loaf – often used for baguette…
- cái – often used for pizza, hamburger…
Let’s try to order 3 these dishes
Chị ơi, cho em 1 tô bún bò Huế (Hue beef noodles)
Cô ơi, cho con 1 dĩa cơm gà. (chicken rice)
Anh ơi, cho em 2 ổ bánh mì.
The measure word can be omitted. Eg: Cho em 1 phở bò.
The list of Vietnamese food that you should try.
- phở: noodles (phở bò: beef phở; phở gà: chicken phở)
- bánh mì: banhmi
- bún bò Huế: Huế beef noodles
- cơm gà: chicken rice
- bánh xèo: pan cake
- chả giò: spring rolls
- gỏi cuốn: fresh rolls
- cơm tấm: broken rice
- bún thịt nướng: grilled pork and rice noodles
- ốc: sea snails
- bún chả: vermicelli and grilled chopped meat
- bánh cuốn: stuffed pancake
- bún riêu: Crab Paste Vermicelli Soup
- rau muống xào tỏi: Stir – fried water morning glory with garlic
- mì quảng: Quảng style noodles
ACTIVITY: Matching pairs
How to order drinks in Vietnamese
It’s similar to ordering food. Let’s learn some measure words for drinks.
- ly– cup, glass,…
- chai – bottle (both plastic and glass)
- lon – can
Let’s try to order these.
Em ơi, cho chị 3 ly cà phê sữa đá (3 cups of iced coffee with milk)
Em ơi, cho anh 1 ly cà phê đen đá (a cup of iced black coffee)
Chị ơi, cho em 3 lon coca (3 cans of coke)
Chú ơi, cho con 2 chai bia Heineken (2 bottles of Heineken beer)
Maybe some of you want your coffee without sugar or just a little milk, etc. Here are some more words for ordering.
- không đường: no sugar, without sugar
- ít đường: a bit sugar
- nhiều đá: a lot of ice, much ice
- ít đá: a bit ice
- không đá: no ice, without ice
Ví dụ:
- Cho em 1 ly trà sữa ít đá. (a cup of milk tea with a bit ice).
- Cho anh 1 ly cà phê đen không đường (a cup of black coffee without sugar)
The list of common drinks in Vietnam
- cà phê sữa đá: coffee with milk and ice
- cà phê đen: black coffee
- sinh tố: smoothie
- nước mía: sugarcane juice
- nước dừa: coconut juice
- nước cam: orange juice
- nước rau má: pennywort juice
- nước suối: water (in water bottles)
- trà sữa: milk tea
- trà đá: Iced tea
- nước ép: fruit juice
- nước chanh: lemonade
- soda chanh: lemon soda
- trà chanh: lemon tea
- trà tắc: kumquat tea
- trà đào: peach tea
“Check bill, please!” in Vietnamese
In Vietnamese “Can I have a bill please?” or “Check bill, please” is “tính tiền”.
- tính means to calculate
- tiền means money
Ví dụ (eg):
- Em ơi, tính tiền.
- Chị ơi, tính tiền.
- Anh ơi, tính tiền
How to order take-away in Vietnamese
“Take-away” is “đem đi” or “đem về” in Vietnamese. We just simply put “đem đi” or “đem về” right after food or drinks.
In the North, “mang về” is often used.
Ví dụ:
- Cô ơi, cho con 2 ly nước cam đem đi
- Chị ơi, cho em 1 phở bò đem về
- Em ơi, cho anh 1 cái pizza đem về.
If you forget to mention “take-away”, maybe the seller may ask you “Ăn ở đây hay đem về/ đem đi?” right after you order. It means “eat here or take-away?”.
Your answer is one of them that is “ăn ở đây” or “đem về/ đem đi”.
Let’s imagine you are at a Vietnamese restaurant (the waiter is around 25 years old). Let’s order some food and drinks. Comment your answer below and we will check it for you.
ACTIVITY: Find the match
Very good.
Thank you so much Roger, enjoy your Vietnamese learning.