One of the most common situations when traveling is going to a restaurant, cafe or coffee shop. In this post we will learn how to politely order food or drinks in a restaurant in Arabic; plus some common words and phrases to use in a restaurant. Please note most of the Arabic in this post is in Egyptian dialect as it is probably easiest and most understood in any Arab country.

Ordering food and drinks in Arabic
How to say I would like a coffee please in Arabic
Can I have a coffee, please?
ممكن قهوة ، لو سمحت؟ = “momken ahwa law samaht” (Egyptian dialect) or “momken gahwa law samaht” (gulf dialect).
You can pretty much use this for anything, just replace coffee “qahwa” for whatever you want (see table below). You could also add the number of coffees before “qahwa”, for example two coffees “etnain ahwa” and so on. I will also list the numbers below.
Instead of لو سمحت, you could also use: من فضلك “men fadlak”, which translates to if you please. Note that all the western types of coffee (latte, machiato, etc) can just be said in English, the same applies to hot chocolate. In fact, if you walk into one of the global brands like Starbucks or Costa in any Arab country you can probably just say the whole order in English.
Another way is to say:
I would like a tea please
أنا عايز شَاي لَوْ سَمَحْت
“ana 3ayez shai law samaht” – notice it is pronounced shai not chai
Do you have orange juice?
عندك عصير بُرتُقَال؟
“3andak 3aseer bortoqal?”
Do you have vegetarian food?
عندك أكلات نباتيه؟
“3andak aklat nabateyah?”
How much is it?
بكام؟
“bikam?”
Can I have the bill please?
الحِسَاب لَوْ سَمَحْت
“el 7esab lw samaht”
I have an allergy
أنا عندي حساسيه
“ana 3andy 7asaseyah”
Nut allergy
حساسيه من المكسرات
“7asaseya mn el mekassarat”
Gluten
جلوتين
“gloteen”
Without
من غير / بدون
“mn gheer / bedoon”

Arabic food and drink vocabulary
English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
---|---|---|
Water | ميه | mayya |
Juice | عصير | 3aseer |
Fresh | طازه | taza |
Apple juice | عصير تفاح | 3aseer toffa7 |
Orange juice | عصير برتقال | 3aseer bortoqal (or borto2an) |
Mango juice | عصير مانجه | 3aseer manga |
Milk Without milk Skimmed milk | لبن بدون لبن لبن منزوع الدسم | laban bedon laban laban manzo3 el dasam |
Decaffienated | منزوع الكافايين | manzo3 el kafayeen |
Restaurant | مطعم | mat3am |
Chicken | فراخ | ferakh |
Meat | لحمه | la7mah |
Fish | سمك | samak |
Grilled | مشوي | mashwi |
Fried | مقلي | ma2li |
Rice | رز | roz |
Pasta | مكرونه | makaronah |
Salad | سلطه | salatah |
Sugar | سكر | sokkar |
Salt | ملح | mal7 (mele7 in other countries) |
A lot (more) | كتير | keteer |
Little (less) | قليل | olayel (“galeel” in other countries) |
Numbers 1-10 in Arabic
English | Arabic | Pronunciation |
---|---|---|
1 | واحد | wa7ed |
2 | اتنين | etneen |
3 | تلاته | talatah |
4 | أربعه | arba3ah |
5 | خمسه | khamsah |
6 | سته | settah |
7 | سبعه | saba3ah |
8 | تمانيه | tamanyah |
9 | تسعه | tes3ah |
10 | عشره | 3asharah |
I hope you found this helpful. Remember to thank the person serving you, it is very easy to say thank you in Arabic! Let me know in the comments if you need any more words or phrases and I will add them to this page!
0 comments:
Post a Comment