At the Restaurant

In all large English towns there are plenty of restaurants, cafes, tea rooms, or public houses (pubs). All the large hotels have restaurants where you can have a snack or dinner.

In London for the really cheap places it is very interesting to explore the little French or Italian restaurants of Soho, Spanish visitors who are feeling homesick can find the Spanish Restaurant and imagine they have gone back to Spain for the decoration, the salads, the cooking, the wines, the waiters and most of the diners are Spanish.

In the same way there are Indian, Chinese, Hungarian, or Jewish restaurants.

If you want real old English food you must go to the Strand. Here roast beef – cooked at open roasting fire – is wheeled to your table and carved before your eyes. Most visitors like to go to the “old Cheshire Cheese”, or Fleet Street, an old chop-house where famous writers used to go. The traditional dish here is rumpsteak, kidney, and oyster pudding. A plate of this with a pint of bitter beer in a long glass, followed by the pancake or the toasted cheese and special “punch” in a china bowl, is a meal you don’t easily forget.

At the restaurant you may either reserve a table beforehand by telephone or occupy any table disengaged at the moment you come. There is a menu which contains the names of all dishes available for the first, second and third courses. It offers a choice of appetizers, drinks, meat or fish dishes as well as various kinds of soup and broth. The most popular meat dishes are beefsteak, rumpsteak, roast beef, chicken with mashed or fried potatoes, macaronies or noodles.

For dessert you may order ice-cream, coffee, tea or juice. After you have chosen the dishes the waiter or waitress takes your order and gives you a bill. Some minutes later the dinner is served.

Words and expressions

to explore	[ikspl:]	исследовать, познакомиться
to feel homesick	[… humsik]	тосковать по дому, родине
a diner	[dain]	обедающий (посетитель ресторана)
roasting fire	[rusti fai]	жаровня
to wheel	[wi:l]	подкатывать, подвозить
to carve	[ka:v]	разрезать
before your eyes	[… aiz]	у вас на глазах
a chop-house		дешевый ресторан
rumpsteak	[r mpsteik]	ромштекс
kidney	[kidni]	почки
an oyster	[ist]	устрица
a glass	[gla:s]	стакан
a pancake	[pænkeik]	блин, оладья
punch	[p nt]	пунш
a china bowl	[tain bul]	фарфоровая чаша (для пунша)
easily	[i:zili]	легко
either… or…	[ai … :]	либо… . либо…
to reserve a table	[riz:v…]	заказывать стол (в ресторане)
beforehand	[bif:hænd]	заранее
to occupy	[kjupai]	занимать
disengaged	[disingeid d]	незанятый, свободный
a menu	[menju:]	меню
to contain	[kntein]	содержать
available	[veilbl]	имеющийся в наличии
a choice	[tis]	выбор
as well as		так же, как
various kinds	[v ris kaindz]	разнообразные виды
noodles	[nu:dlz]	лапша
juice	[d u:s]	сок
to take an order		принимать заказ
a bill		счет

Обратите внимание на разницу в значении и употреблении слов:

A meal, food, a dish, a course.

A meal – еда, прием пищи.

Meals are breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, five-o’clock tea.

Food – пища, еда, съестные припасы.

Food is meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk, etc.

A dish – 1) блюдо, кушанье; 2) блюдо, тарелка, миска.

Dishes – посуда

A fish dish is a dish cooked of fish.

A course – блюдо, т.е. последовательные приемы пищи: первое, второе, третье и т.д.

The dinner consisted of three courses: cabbage soup for the first course, beefsteak for the second course and apple juice for the third course.

Ex. 18. Insert the words food, dish, meal or course:

1. The second … was veal with mashed potatoes. 2. She put apples and oranges on the china … . 3. The usual … in England are break-fast, lunch, tea and dinner. 4. – What is your favourite … ? – Mine is roast chicken. 5. Beefsteak, chop, roast beef, rumpsteak are meat … . 6. Many people like to have a hearty … in the morning. 7. What is the … time for lunch in England? 8. Who usually washes the … after dinner? 9. In the evening a light … is recommended. 10. A dish is a particular kind of … . 11. What would you like for the first … ? 12. There were no vegetable … on the menu. 13. The dinner consisted of three … .

Ex. 19.Read the dialogues in pairs:

I

Waiter: Can I take your order, sir?

Visitor: Yes, I’d like to try the steak, please.

Waiter: And to follow?

Visitor: Ice-cream, please.

II

Waiter: Have you decided on something, sir?

Visitor: Yes, haddock and chips for me, please.

Waiter: How about the sweet?

Visitor: No sweet, thanks. Just coffee.

III

Waiter: Have you chosen something, sir?

Visitor: Yes, I think I’ll have the curry, please.

Waiter: What would you Like afterwards?

Visitor: I’d like some fruit if you have any.

IV

Waiter: May I take your order, sir?

Visitor: I’ll just take a small salad, please.

Waiter: Do you want any sweet?

Visitor: Apple pie and custard would be nice.

1. And to follow? – А потом?

2. To decide on smth – остановиться на чем-л. (решиться)

Sweet – сладкое

3. Curry [kri] – блюдо, приправленное кэрри (приправа из куркумового корня, чеснока и разных пряностей)

Afterwards [a:ftw:dz] – дальше, затем

4. Custard [kstd] – драчена (смесь из яиц, молока, сахара и ароматизированных добавок, замороженная до консистенции мороженого)