How to order food in Japanese

The phrases that do most of the work

With these, you can get through almost any meal, from a ramen counter to a sit-down restaurant.

• すみません。Sumimasen.Excuse me.To call the staff over, or to catch someone's eye.
• これをください。Kore o kudasai.This one, please.Pointing at the menu, a photo, or the plastic food in the window.
• 味噌みそラーメンをお願ねがいします。Miso rāmen o onegai shimasu.Miso ramen, please.Ordering by name: any dish, then をお願いします.
• おすすめは何なんですか。Osusume wa nan desu ka.What do you recommend?When the menu is a wall of handwriting.
• お水みずをください。Omizu o kudasai.Some water, please.Water and tea are usually free, and often self-service.
• お会計かいけいお願ねがいします。Okaikei onegai shimasu.The check, please.When you're ready to pay.
• ごちそうさまでした。Gochisōsama deshita.Thank you for the meal.On your way out, to the staff or the cook.

Walking in and getting a table

Staff greet everyone who comes in with a loud いらっしゃいませ. It's a welcome, not a question, so there's nothing to answer. Next they ask how many you are, and you answer with the number, or with fingers. At a counter place, you may simply be shown to a seat.

• いらっしゃいませ！Irasshaimase!Welcome!What the staff call out as you come in. No answer is expected: a nod is plenty.
• 何名様なんめいさまですか。Nanmei-sama desu ka.How many in your party?Asked at the door.
• 二人ふたりです。Futari desu.Two of us.The answer. One is hitori desu, three is sannin desu, and holding up fingers works too.

The meal-ticket machine

At many ramen shops and set-meal places, you order before you sit, at a machine by the door (券売機けんばいき, kenbaiki). Put your money in, press the button for your dish, and hand the ticket it prints to the staff, who may ask how firm you like your noodles. The buttons are often in Japanese only, so it helps to know the name of what you want.

• 食券しょっけんshokkena meal ticketBought from the machine by the door, then handed to the staff.
• かためでお願ねがいします。Katame de onegai shimasu.Firm, please.When they ask how you like your noodles. Regular is futsū, soft is yawarakame.

The ramen shop scene has the lines for it, said to a friend:

• 

  To Mei, in lunch at a ramen shop

  食券しょっけん買かってくるね

  shokken katte kuru ne

  I'll go buy the meal ticket.

  Say it at a shop with a ticket vending machine before sitting down.

• 

  To Mei, in lunch at a ramen shop

  麺めん、かためでいい?

  men, katame de ii?

  Firm noodles okay with you?

  Ask your friend before ordering when the shop lets you choose noodle firmness.

Ordering at the table

Staff don't usually come by to check on you, so when you're ready, call them with すみません. Name each dish with をお願いします or ください, count with つ, and finish with 以上です so they know you're done.

• 注文ちゅうもん、いいですか。Chūmon, ii desu ka.Can I order?Once someone comes over.
• これを二ふたつください。Kore o futatsu kudasai.Two of these, please.Count dishes with つ: hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu for one, two, three.
• 以上いじょうです。Ijō desu.That's all.To say you've finished ordering.

Among friends it's more relaxed. At an izakaya, the first round is decided in a word, and at a yakitori bar every skewer comes with a choice:

• 

  To Ren, in drinks after work

  とりあえず生なまでいい？

  Toriaezu nama de ii?

  Draft beer to start, okay?

  The standard opener when ordering the first round at an izakaya.

• 

  To Kenji, in yakitori under the tracks

  塩しおとタレ、どっちにする？

  Shio to tare, docchi ni suru?

  Salt or sauce, which do you want?

  Ask when ordering skewers — most yakitori places let you pick salt or tare for each one.

• 

  To Kenji, in yakitori under the tracks

  盛もり合あわせにしようか

  Moriawase ni shiyō ka

  Shall we get the assortment?

  Suggest the mixed skewer set when you can't decide what to order.

Asking about spice, and what's in it

Japanese food is mostly mild, but ramen, curry, and anything red can surprise you, and some shops let you choose the heat. If there's something you can't eat, say so plainly: たべられません (taberaremasen, “I can't eat it”) is clearer than explaining an allergy or a diet.

• 辛からいですか。Karai desu ka.Is it spicy?Before ordering anything red.
• 辛からさ控ひかえめでお願ねがいします。Karasa hikaeme de onegai shimasu.Go easy on the spice, please.Where you can choose how hot it is.
• 豚肉ぶたにくは入はいっていますか。Butaniku wa haitte imasu ka.Is there pork in it?Asking what's in a dish.
• 卵たまごが食たべられません。Tamago ga taberaremasen.I can't eat eggs.Name what you can't eat: pork is butaniku, shrimp is ebi, wheat is komugi.

• 

  Mei, opening lunch at a ramen shop

  辛からいの平気へいき？わたし、辛からいの大好だいすき。

  Karai no heiki? Watashi, karai no daisuki.

  Are you okay with spicy food? I love spicy stuff.

• 

  To Kenji, in yakitori under the tracks

  レバー、食たべられる？

  Rebā, taberareru?

  Can you eat liver?

  Check before ordering an organ skewer like liver or gizzard, which some people avoid.

At an izakaya: sharing, refills, and the last dish

An izakaya is a Japanese pub, and its food comes in small plates for the whole table. A little dish you didn't order arrives first, and stays on the bill. Refills are おかわり (okawari), and the night usually ends with 締め (shime), a last bowl of rice or noodles.

• お通とおしotōshia small starter that comes unaskedAt an izakaya, charged per person, as a kind of table charge.
• 取とり皿ざらをください。Torizara o kudasai.Some small plates, please.Izakaya dishes come to the middle of the table, to share.

• 

  To Ren, in drinks after work

  取とり皿さらもらおうか

  Torizara moraō ka

  Let's get some small plates.

  Say this when shared dishes arrive and you need plates to divide them.

• 

  To Ren, in drinks after work

  すみませーん、おかわりください

  Sumimasēn, okawari kudasai

  Excuse me — another one, please.

  Call out to the staff for a refill; stretch the すみませーん to get their attention.

• 

  To Ren, in drinks after work

  そろそろ締しめにする？

  Sorosoro shime ni suru?

  Should we wrap up with a last dish?

  Near the end of the night, suggesting a final rice or noodle dish before the bill.

Cafés, convenience stores, and festival stalls

At a counter, you order and pay in one go, and the questions come to you: whether you're eating in, and at a convenience store, whether to heat your food up, and whether you need a bag. At a festival's food stalls, you pay as you order, usually in cash.

• 店内てんないで。Tennai de.For here.The answer when the counter asks 店内でお召し上がりですか, “will you be eating in?”
• 持もち帰かえりで。Mochikaeri de.To go.The other answer.
• 温あたためますか。Atatamemasu ka.Shall I heat it up?What a convenience store's clerk asks over a bento or a pork bun. Yes is はい、お願いします.
• 大丈夫だいじょうぶです。Daijōbu desu.I'm fine, thanks.A polite no: to heating it up, a bag, or chopsticks.

• 

  To Mei, in coffee and cake

  ホットとアイス、どっちにする？

  hotto to aisu, dotchi ni suru?

  Hot or iced?

  Asking a friend how they want their coffee before ordering.

• 

  To Mei, in late-night snack run

  肉にくまん温あたためてもらおうよ

  Nikuman atatamete moraō yo

  Let's get them to heat up the pork bun.

  Say it to your friend before paying, when you want the clerk to microwave something.

• 

  To Mei, in summer festival

  たこ焼やき、一緒いっしょに買かわない？

  Takoyaki, issho ni kawanai?

  Should we get takoyaki together?

  Say it when you spot a food stall and want to share the order.

• 

  To Kenji, in bargains at the supermarket

  これ、半額はんがくになってますよ。

  Kore, hangaku ni natte masu yo.

  This one's half price now.

  Say it when you spot a discount sticker and want to point it out to Kenji.

Paying, and leaving

Ask for the check with お会計お願いします. In many restaurants you take the bill to the register by the door rather than paying at the table. There's no tip to work out, and on your way out, ごちそうさまでした thanks the people who made the meal.

• カードで払はらえますか。Kādo de haraemasu ka.Can I pay by card?Small places, and festival stalls, may take cash only.
• 別々べつべつでお願ねがいします。Betsubetsu de onegai shimasu.Separate checks, please.Splitting the bill at the register.

The scenes about eating out

Each has its own page, with every way it can begin and the phrases and words it uses.

• Lunch at a ramen shop芽衣（めい） · Ramen shopcasual
• Drinks after work蓮（れん） · Izakayacasual
• Yakitori under the tracks健二（けんじ） · Yakitori barcasual
• Coffee and cake芽衣（めい） · Cafécasual
• Late-night snack run芽衣（めい） · Convenience storecasual
• Summer festival芽衣（めい） · Summer festivalcasual
• Bargains at the supermarket健二（けんじ） · Supermarketpolite

Questions about ordering food in Japan

Not sure how polite to be? The guide to keigo explains the levels, and the support page answers questions about the app.