Chinese Eating and Drinking Vocabulary

General Terms

Chinese	puyin	meaning
拼盘	pīn pán	assorted cold dishes
苦	kǔ	bitter
早餐	zǎocān	breakfast
自助餐	zì zhù cān	buffet
中餐	zhōng cān	Chinese food
中国菜	zhōng guó cài	Chinese food (another way to say it)
冷盘	lěng pán	cold dish
好吃	hǎo chī	delicious
晚餐	wǎncān	dinner
饮料	yǐn liào	drink (beverage)
喝	hē	drink (to)
干	gān	dry
吃饭	chī fàn	eat a meal (to)
食物	shíwù	food
新鲜	xīnxiān	fresh
冰冻的	bīngdòng de	frozen
饱	bǎo	full (from eating food)
粮食	liáng shi	grain
自己来	zìjǐ lái	help yourself (to)
家常便饭	jiā cháng biàn fàn	home-style meal
辣	là	hot (spicy)
烫	tàng	hot (boiling / scalding)
饿	è	hungry
请客	qǐng kè	invite someone to eat
宵夜	xiāo yè	late-night snack
午餐	wǔcān	lunch
道	dào	measure word for meal courses
顿	dùn	measure word for meals
吃不来	chī bu lái	not fond certain food
气味	qì wèi	odor
油腻	yóunì	oily
咸	xián	salty
摆	bǎi	set the table (to)
闻	wén	smell (to)
香	xiāng	smells good (fragrant)
零食	líng shí	snacks
酸	suān	sour
拿手菜	ná shǒu cài	specialty dish
馊	sōu	spoiled
浓	nóng	strong (taste, flavor, smell)
甜	tián	sweet
味道	wèi dao	taste
尝	cháng	taste (to)
难吃	nán chī	taste (bad)
淡	dàn	taste (weak or bland)
嫩	nèn	tender
口渴	kǒu kě	thirsty
老	lǎo	tough (food – also: overdone)
吃不下	chī bu xià	unable to eat any more
吃素的人	chīsù de rén	vegetarian
西餐	xī cān	western food

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
买单	mǎi dān	ask for the bill (to)
账单	zhàngdān	bill
食堂	shí táng	cafeteria (in school, university, etc.)
咖啡馆	kāfēi guǎn	coffee shop
饭厅	fàn tīng	dining room (or dining hall)
菜单	càidān	menu
点菜	diǎn cài	order food (to)
外卖	wài mài	ordering take-out food that is delivered
饭店	fàn diàn	restaurant (one of three ways to say this)
餐馆	cān guǎn	restaurant (one of three ways to say this)
餐厅	cāntīng	restaurant (one of three ways to say this)
小费	xiǎofèi	tip
打包	dǎ bāo	to bag the leftovers or get take-out food
服务员	fúwùyuán	waiter (or waitress)

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
竹笋	zhú sǔn	bamboo shoots
豆芽	dòu yá	bean shoots
牛肉面	niú ròu miàn	beef noodle soup
馒头	mán tou	bun (steam)
包子	bāo zi	bun (steamed and stuffed)
烧饼	shāo bing	cake (with baked sesame seed)
粤菜	Yuè cài	Cantonese food
油条	yóu tiáo	deep fried dough stick
油饼	yóu bǐng	deep fried pancake
点心	diǎn xin	dim sum
盐水鸭	yánshuǐ yā	duck (boiled and salted)
烤鸭	kǎo yā	duck (Peking)
水饺	shuǐ jiǎo	dumplings (boiled)
饺子	jiǎozi	dumplings (stuffed with vegetable and/or meat)
春卷	chūn juǎn	egg roll
炒面	chǎo miàn	fried noodles (chow mein)
火锅	huǒguō	hot pot
宫保鸡丁	gōng bǎo jī dīng	kung pao chicken
麻婆豆腐	má pó dòu fǔ	mapo tofu (stir-fried beancurd in chili sauce)
面馆	miàn guǎn	noodle shop
面条	miàntiáo	noodles
东北菜	dōngběi cài	northeast food
白切鸡	bái qiē jī	plain cut chicken
糖醋肉	táng cù ròu	pork (sweet and sour)
回锅肉	huí guō ròu	pork (twice cooked pork)
红烧肉	hóng shāo ròu	pork braised in red sauce
粥	zhōu	porridge (congee)
锅贴	guō tiē	pot stickers (fried dumpling)
米饭	mǐ fàn	rice (cooked)
白饭	bái fàn	rice (white)
炒饭	chǎo fàn	fried rice
米	mǐ	rice (uncooked)
米粉	mǐ fěn	rice-flour noodles
四川菜	sìchuān cài	Sichuan food
豆腐	dòu fu	tofu (bean curd)
番茄炒蛋	fānqié chǎodàn	tomatoes and scrambled eggs with fried rice
馄饨	hún tun	wonton soup (dumpling soup)

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
酒	jiǔ	alcoholic beverages
啤酒	píjiǔ	beer
白兰地	bái lán dì	brandy
白酒	bái jiǔ	Chinese white spirits
可口可乐	kě kǒu kě lè	coca cola
咖啡	kāfēi	coffee
泡咖啡	pào kāfēi	coffee (to make)
热饮	rè yǐn	hot drink
喝醉	hē zuì	drunk (to get)
醉	zuì	drunk
果汁	guǒ zhī	fruit juice
蜂蜜	fēng mì	honey
冰	bīng	ice
冰块	bīng kuài	ice cubes
柠檬水	níng méng shuǐ	lemonade
牛奶	niúnǎi	milk
奶昔	nǎi xī	milkshake
矿泉水	kuàng quán shuǐ	mineral water
茅台	Máo tái	Moutai (strong Chinese spirit)
橙汁	chéng zhī	orange juice
百事可乐	bǎi shì kě lè	Pepsi
豆浆	dòu jiāng	soy milk
汽水	qì shuǐ	soft drink
雪碧	xuě bì	sprite
茶	chá	tea
茶叶	chá yè	tea leaves
红茶	hóng chá	black tea
绿茶	lǜ chá	green tea
茉莉花茶	mò li huā chá	jasmine tea
泡茶	pào chá	tea (to make)
茶壶	chá hú	tea pot
热水瓶	rè shuǐ píng	thermos flask (hot water dispenser)
口渴	kǒu kě	thirsty
水	shuǐ	water
开水	kāishuǐ	boiled water
冰水	bīng shuǐ	chilled water
烧水	shāo shuǐ	boiling water
葡萄酒	pútáojiǔ	wine
红葡萄酒	hóng pútaojiǔ	red wine
白葡萄酒	bái pútaojiǔ	white wine

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