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How to order food in Chinese without a picture menuFree in the app

No picture menu, no English, a waiter waiting. You've got this.

What you'll say

Tap play to hear it. Everything on this page runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Heads-up: the voice you hear here is your browser’s built-in Mandarin — the app sounds considerably better. On iPhone it uses Apple’s enhanced and premium system voices, plays at real conversational speed, and has a slow mode for practising.

This device has no Chinese voice installed, so audio can’t play here. The app doesn’t have that problem — it uses the Mandarin voices built into iOS.

服务员,点菜!
Fúwùyuán, diǎn cài!
Waiter — ready to order!
Calling out to staff is normal and expected, not rude.
有什么推荐的?
Yǒu shénme tuījiàn de?
What do you recommend?
The single best phrase for eating well in China.
我要这个。
Wǒ yào zhège.
I want this one. (point at menu)
Point-and-order is a legitimate strategy. Own it.
不要辣。
Bú yào là.
Not spicy.
In Sichuan/Hunan restaurants, 微辣 (wēi là, 'mildly spicy') may still hurt you.
买单!
Mǎidān!
The bill, please!

What they'll say back

This is the part nobody teaches. Real Mandarin comes back fast and blunt, so hear it at natural speed first.

Press play before you read. In the app, anything you miss comes back slower and then again later, until you catch it at full speed.

They say
扫码点餐。
Sǎo mǎ diǎn cān.
Scan the QR code to order.
You can answer
好的。可以帮我点吗?
Hǎo de. Kěyǐ bāng wǒ diǎn ma?
OK. Can you help me order?
They say
要米饭吗?
Yào mǐfàn ma?
Do you want rice?
You can answer
要两碗米饭。
Yào liǎng wǎn mǐfàn.
Two bowls of rice.
They say
吃辣吗?
Chī là ma?
Do you eat spicy food?
You can answer
微辣就好。
Wēi là jiù hǎo.
Mildly spicy is fine.
完全不要辣。
Wánquán bú yào là.
No spice at all.

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