Answer to scenario on Handling Payment in the restaurant

Here is the answer to the one of the scenario from the last post on handling payment in the restaurant.
Translate the first scenario below:

Guest              : Fúwùyuán, qǐng jiézhàng. 服务员，请结账       
Guest: Waiter/Waitress (it is common for guests in the service industry to address the staff as "service staff"), please settle our bill.

Waiter/Waitress: Hǎode. Qǐng shāo děng yīxià. 好的， 请稍等一下
Waiter/Waitress: Sure. Please wait a moment.

Issueing bill…

Waiter/Waitress: Zhèshì nǐdě mǎidān. Qǐng chá yī chá . 这是你的买单，请查一查
Waiter/Waitress: Here is your bill. Please have a look.

Customer checking bill…

Guest              : Zhè shì shénme? 这是什么？
Guest: Wha is this? (it is not being rude, but rather to make sure that the bill is issued correctly)

Waiter/Waitress : Zhè shì kǎoyā. 这是烤鸭
Waiter/Waitress: This is roast duck.

Guest                          : Hǎo la. Dōu duì le. 好啦，都对了。

Nǐmen shōu bù shoū xìnyòngkǎ? 你们收不收信用卡？
Guest: Oh, okay. All are correct. Do you take Credit card?

Waiter/Waitress         : Shōu. 收                               
Waiter/Waitress: Take / We take / We do. (There is no one right way in translating this)

Guest                          : Zhège. 这个
Guest: Here you go.

Waiter/Waitress         : Xìnyòngkǎ xūyào mìmǎ ma? 信用卡需要密码吗？
Waiter/Waitress: Does the credit card need PIN?

Guest                          : zhèzhāng xūyào. 这张需要。
Guest: This one needs.

Waiter/Waitress         : Nà, bùhǎoyìsi, 那不好意思，

Nín kě bù kěyǐ gēn wǒ dào shōuyíntái qù？您可不可以跟我到收银台去？
Waiter/Waitress: In that case, I am sorry,
Can you come with me to the cashier?

Guest                          : hǎo  好
Guest: Okay.


How many of you get it right? I am not saying word by word kind of "right", as in translating, it is not merely taking words and translating it, sometimes we need understanding of the "context". It is very important. If you notice, when the guest said "Zhège. 这个", it doesn't mean that the guest was saying "this" as in pointing to an object, but rather as an expression when he/she passed something (in this case the credit card) to the waiter/waitress. So in English rather than saying "this", it is more appropriate to be translated as "here you go".

Try to digest all of the grammar and vocabularies used above and take note of something that you think might come handy in other context one day.

Happy Wednesday,
Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant – Part 4 - LAST

Here are a few vocabularies that might be useful during payment, not only in the restaurant setting, but as well as other service and retail industry:
1. Cashier Counter                      Shōu yín tái
2. Bill                                          Mǎi dān
3. Receipt                                    Fā piào
4. Tax                                          Shuì fèi
5. Government Tax                     Zhèng fǔ shuì
6. Service Charge/ Tax                Fú wù shuì
7. Exclude Tax                            LÌng fù shuì
8. Total                                        Zǒng gòng                              
9. Before tax                               Shuì qián
10. After tax                                 Shuì hòu
11. Change                                    Zhǎo qián
12. Tip                                           Xiǎo fèi
13. Collect/Take/Accept               Shōu
14. Credit Card                             Xìn yòng kǎ
15. Cash                                        Xiàn jīn
16. Rupiah                                     Yìn ní dùn
17. RMB (Chinese Yuan)             Rén mín bì
18. USD                                        Měi jīn
19. Dollar (general)                       kuài / yuán
20. Sign                                         Qiān míng
21. PIN                                         Mì mǎ
22. American Express                   Měi guó yùn tōng
23. Visa                                         Wēi shì kǎ
24. MasterCard                             Wàn shì dá

Translate the first scenario below:

Guest              : Fúwùyuán, qǐng jiézhàng. 服务员，请结账       
Waiter/Waitress: Hǎode. Qǐngshāo děng yīxià. 好的， 请稍等一下

Issueing bill…

Waiter/Waitress: Zhèshì nǐdě mǎidān. Qǐng chá yī chá . 这是你的买单，请查一查


Customer checking bill…


Guest              : Zhè shì shénme? 这是什么？

Waiter/Waitress : Zhè shì kǎoyā. 这是烤鸭

Guest                          : Hǎo la. Dōu duì le. 好啦，都对了。

Nǐmen shōu bù shoū xìnyòngkǎ? 你们收不收信用卡？

Waiter/Waitress         : Shōu. 收                               

Guest                          : Zhège. 这个


Waiter/Waitress         : Xìnyòngkǎ xūyào mìmǎ ma? 信用卡需要密码吗？

Guest                          : zhèzhāng xūyào. 这张需要。

Waiter/Waitress         : Nà, bùhǎoyìsi, 那不好意思，

Nín kě bù kěyǐ gēn wǒ dào shōuyíntái qù？您可不可以跟我到收银台去？

Guest                          : hǎo  好


Answer will be updated on this same post in a week time. Please do check back! :)

Here is the second scenario in explaining the bill (in case the customers are confused looking at all the numbers with so many zero in the bill and not familiar with the language printed on the bill):

Guest: I am sorry, what’s this?

顾客：不好意思， 这是什么？
Gùkè: bùhǎoyìsi, zhèshì shénme?

Waiter/Waitress: This is your beverages. There are 3 cups in total. This is the amount before tax, to be added to our government tax and the service charge. So the final total is IDR 853,000.

服务员：这是你们的饮料。 总共是三杯。 这个呢是税前。加上政府税喝服务税，所以税后是八十五万三（千）。
Fúwùyuán:  zhèshì nǐmen de yǐnliào. zǒnggòng shì sānbēi. zhègè ne sì shuìqián. jiāshàng zhèngfúshuì hé fúwùshuì, suǒyǐ shuìhòu shì bāshíwǔwànsān (qiān).

Guest: I think this dish is not serve.

顾客：这道菜好像没有。
Gùkè:zhèdàocài hǎoxiàng méiyou.


Waiter/Waitress: Hmmm, let me check for you. This plate is for that dish.
服务员：让我帮你查一下。这张盘是那道菜。
Fúwùyuán:ràng wǒ bāng nǐchá yīxià. Zhèzhāng pán shì nàdàocài.

Guest: Okay, got it.

顾客：啊，好的
Gùkè: a, hǎode.


Waiter/Waitress: Any other problems?
服务员：有没有别的问题？
Fúwùyuán: yǒu méiyǒu biéde wèntí?

Guest: That’s all. Do you take USD?
顾客：没了。你们收美金吗？
Gùkè:méile. Nǐmen shōu měijīn ma?

Waiter/Waitress: I am sorry, we don’t. We only take IDR and AUS$.

服务员：不好意思，我们不收。我们只收印尼盾和澳元
Fúwùyuán: bùhǎoyìsi, wǒmen bù shōu. wǒmen zhǐ shōu yìnnídùn hé àoyuán.

Guest: Hmmm. IDR then.

顾客：那印尼盾吧。
Gùkè: nà yìnnídùn ba.

Guest gives IDR 900,000

Waiter/Waitress: I am collecting from you IDR900,000. Please wait for your change.
服务员：我收了九十万。请稍等一下。
Fúwùyuán: wǒ shōu le jiǔshíwàn. qǐng shāo děng yīxià.

Guest: Okay.
顾客：好
Gùkè: hǎo.

Waiter/waitress comes back with change.

Waiter/Waitress: Here is your change, sir. Is that correct?

服务员：先生，这是你的找钱。对了吗？
Fúwùyuán: xiānsheng, zhè shì nǐ de zhǎoqián, duì le ma?

Guest: Correct. Thank you

顾客：对了。谢谢。
Gùkè: duì le. Xièxie.

Waiter/Waitress: Please come again next time. Be safe.

服务员：欢迎下次光临。慢走。
Fúwùyuán: huānyíng xiàcì guānglín. màn zòu.

Guest: Thank you.

顾客：谢谢。
Gùkè: xièxie.

Happy Digesting,

Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant – Part 3

In taking order, here are some scenarios that might happen after you show the guests to their table.

Source: http://therestaurantexpert.com/upselling-important-guest-experience/

Scenario 1:

Waiter/waitress:   Here is our menu. Please have a look first.
Fúwùyuán:           zhèshì wǒmen de càidān. Qǐng xiānkàn ba.

Guests:                   Okay. Do you have any recommendation?
Gùkè:                     hǎo. Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu shénme tuìjiàn ne?

Waiter/waitress:   This is our best seller menu. (show them the item on the menu)

Fúwùyuán:           Zhèshì wǒmen zuìrèmài de dānwèi.

Guests:                   Is this spicy?

Gùkè:                     zhège là ma?

Waiter/waitress:   No, it’s not spicy.

Fúwùyuán:          bùlà.

Guests:                   Okay. Give me one then. What vegetables that is delicious?

Gùkè:                     hǎo de. Lái yī gè ba. Shénme shūcài hǎochī?

Waiter/waitress:   How about Kangkung?

Fúwùyuán:           kōngxīncài, zěnme yang?

Guests:                   We don’t like that. Do you have any broccoli?

Gùkè:                     wǒmen bù xǐhuān. nǐ yǒuměiyǒu xīlánhuā ?

Waiter/waitress:   We do. This one. (show the item on the menu)

Fúwùyuán:           yǒu. zhège.

Guests:                   I would like to have one of this.

Gùkè:                     wǒ yào zhègè.

Waiter/waitress:   Okay.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo

Guests:                   That’s all.

Gùkè:                     gòu le.

Waiter/waitress:   How about drinks?

Fúwùyuán:           hē de ne?

Guests:                   Give me one mineral water and one orange juice.

Gùkè:                     gěi wo yīgè kuàngquánshuǐ hé yī běi chéngzizhī.

Waiter/waitress:   For mineral water do you want the cold one?

Fúwùyuán:           kuàngquánshuǐ yào lěng de ma?

Guests:                   Okay.

Gùkè:                     kěyǐ ba.

Waiter/waitress:   Let me repeat your order, one roasted duck, one garlic broccoli, one mineral water and one orange juice.       

Fúwùyuán:           Ràng wǒ zài niàn gěi ni, yīgè kǎoyā, yīfèn xīlánhuā chǎo dàsuān, yīpíng kuàngquánshuǐ, háiyǒu  yībēi chéngzi zhī.

Guests:                   For the Orange juice, less ice please

Gùkè:                     chéngzi zhī shǎobīng, hǎobùhǎo.

Waiter/waitress:   Okay. Your food will be ready in about 20 minutes.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎode. Nǐdecài èrshífēnzhōng zuǒyòu zhǔnbèihǎo.

Guests:                   Thank you.

Gùkè:                     xièxie

Waiter/waitress:   You are welcome.

Fúwùyuán:           bùkèqì

Scenario 2:

Waiter/Waitress: Here is your menu, do you want to order now or have a look first?

Fúwùyuán:           zhèshì nín de càidān. yàoxiànzài diǎn háishì xiān kàn?

Guests:                 Order now. We want a portion of spaghetti bolognaise, one French fries, and then.. 

Gùkè:                     xiànzài diǎn. Wǒmen yào yīfèn fánqiěròujiàng yìdàlìmiàn, yīfèn shǔtiáo, háiyǒu…

Waiter/Waitress: Sorry, for the fries, do you want big or medium?

Fúwùyuán:           bùhǎoyìsi, shǔtiáo, nín yào dàde háishì zhōngde?

Guests:                   Big one please

Gùkè:                     dàde ba

Waiter/Waitress: Okay. Anything else?

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo. háiyǒu ne?

Guests:                   We also want  a bowl of thick corn soup.

Gùkè:                     wǒmen ye yào yīwǎn yùmǐnóng tāng

Waiter/Waitress: Sure.

Fúwùyuán:           hǎo de.

Guests:                   That’s all for now. Can you leave the menu here?

Gùkè:                     xiān lái nàge ba. Nǐ kěǐ bǎ càidān liú zài zhèr ma?

Waiter/Waitress: No problem. Do you want to order any beverages?

Fúwùyuán:         Méi wèntí. Nín yào diǎn xiē yǐnliào ma?

Guests:                   Yes. Please give us 2 bottles of beer.

Gùkè:                     Yào. gěi wǒmen, liǎng píng píjiǔ ba.

Waiter/Waitress: Let me repeat your order first… (Repeat order)

Fúwùyuán:           Ràng wǒ zài niàn gěi nǐ, nǐ diǎn de cài. (Repeat order)

Guests:                   That’s correct.

Gùkè:                     duìle

Waiter/Waitress: Please wait for awhile.

Fúwùyuán:           Qǐng shāoděng yīxià.

Guests:                   Okay

Gùkè:                     Hǎo

Waiter/Waitress: Thank you.

Fúwùyuán:           Xièxie


Conversation can vary from one to another. I don't recommend memorizing sentences but rather to memorize the words as well as the pattern in forming a simple good sentence.

Next post will be the last post on this topic and it will be something to do with billing and payment. Stay updated!

Regards,
Linda Tan

Using Chinese / Mandarin in Restaurant - Part 1

I would like to make a few upcoming post topical. As for the first topic that I am going to introduce is that how to serve Chinese guests in the restaurant., especially for those restaurants which are based in Bali. For the past few years, Bali has seen huge increment of the Chinese tourists. Thus, equipping the employee/staff to serve the Chinese guests better, company is conducting Mandarin Language Training for its employee.

This post (and a few others followed) are dedicated to those waiter/waitresses who try their very best to serve the Chinese guest. They are the face of the Brand. I hope with this post (again, and a few other followed), they can understand a little bit of the Chinese culture, they can serve a little bit better the Chinese guests and at the end, they can represent their brand much better.

The very first post is the introduction of some vocabularies that are commonly used around the restaurant.

Just a reminder, to help grow your vocabularies, please use the help of PLECO. This app is very very useful! In the very beginning of this blog, I have explained the features and the how-to-use guidelines in Pleco. Please refer to those posts, start from here.

Here are some of the common vocabularies that you might find useful:
1.      Small Plate      : diézi                           碟子
2.      Big Plate         : pánzi                          盘子
3.      Bowl               : wǎn                           碗
4.      Fork                 : chāzi                          叉子
5.      Spoon              : shaózi                        勺子
6.      Chopstick        : kuàizi                         筷子
7.      Napkin             : zhǐjīn                          纸巾
8.      Sauce               : jiàng                          酱
9.      Chili Sauce      : làjiāojiàng                 辣椒酱
10.  Tomato Sauce : fānqiéjiàng                番茄将
11.  Soy Sauce       : jiàngyóu                    酱油
12.  Black soy sauce: shuāngchōu             双抽
13.  Table               : zhuōzi                        桌子
14.  Chair               : yǐzi                             椅子
15.  Cup/Glass        : bēizi                           杯子
16.  Waiter             : fúwuyuán                   服务员
17.  Bill                  : mǎidān                      买单
18.  Settle the bill   : jiézhàng                   结账
19.  Menu card       : càidān                       菜单
20.  Dish/Food       : cài / shíwù                 菜/食物
21.  Vegetable        : shūcài                        蔬菜
22.  Beverages        : yǐnliào                       饮料
23.  Wine                : pútǎojiǔ                     葡萄酒
24.  Liquor             : jiǔ                              酒
25.  Beer                 : píjiǔ                           啤酒
26.  Order               : diǎn                           点             
27.  Welcome                                 : huānyíng                   欢迎
28.  Please come in                         : qǐngjìn                       请进
29.  Please have a seat                    : qǐngzuò                      请坐
30.  Enjoy your food                      : qǐngmànyòng              请慢用
31.  Come again next time             : xiàcì zàilái                 下次再来
32.  Goodbye                                 : mànzǒu                      慢走
(Polite way to say goodbye to guests)
33.  Plain water                  : shǔi / bǎikāishuǐ                    水/白开水
34.  Mineral water              : kuàngquánshuǐ                      矿泉水
35.  Soda                            : qìshuì                                     汽水
36.  Fruit juice                    : shuǐguǒzhī                             水果汁
37.  Cold                            : lěng / bīng                             冷/冰
38.  Ice cube                       : bīngkuài                                冰块
39.  Hot                              : rè / shāo                                热/烧
40.  Warm                          : wēn                                        温
41.  Sugar                           : táng                                       糖
42.  Salt                              : yán                                        盐
43.  Milk                             : niúnǎi                                    牛奶   
44.  Cheese                         : nǎilào                                    奶酪
45.  Sweet                          : tián                                        甜
46.  Sour                             : suān                                       酸
47.  Salty                            : xián                                       咸
48.  Spicy                           : là                                           辣
49.  Bitter                           : kǔ                                          苦
50.  Chef                            : chúshī                                   厨师
51.  Recommend                : tuījiàn                                   推荐
52.  Bestseller                     : rèmài                                     热卖
53.  No smoking seat         : jìnxīyān zuòwèi                      禁烟座位
54.  Smoking seat               : kěxīyān zuòwèi                      可吸烟座位
55.  Self-service/ Buffet     : zìzhùcān                                自助餐


Before going into some common scenarios in the restaurant, please get yourselves familiar with the above vocabularies first.

Check out the next post more

Regards, 
Linda Tan