Ordering A Meal

Ordering a meal at a restaurant seems to be a simple task: the waitperson asks you what you would like and you tell them. However, as a new language learner, especially learning remotely without the exposure to normal conventions that you’d experience in person, this can be more challenging than it seems. There are multiple ways to navigate a simple ordering exchange and several modes may be combined in a single conversation! This is true in most every culture. Thus, it’s important to be familiar with the variety to be prepared to face the situation in real life.

Example prompts from the wait staff:

• Tubazanire iki? – What will we bring you?
• Tuguhereze iki? – What will we send you
• Urashaka kurya iki? – What do you want to eat?
• Nta kindi mwifuza. – You want nothing else — kind of like “will that be all?”
• Hari n‘icyo kunywa? – Anything to drink?

Example ways for a customer to order: (Bonus: do you remember what ibishyimbo means from the food/crop lesson??)

Imperative form:

• Zana ibishyimbo – Bring beans
• Nzanira ibishyimbo – Bring me beans
• Mpa ibishyimbo – Give me beans
• Wampaye ibishyimbo – Would you give me beans?
• Mpereza ibishyimbo – Give me beans

Affirmative/Interrogative – more polite:

• Ushobora kuzana ibishyimbo? – Can bring beans?
• Ushobora kumpa ibishyimbo –  Can you give me beans?

And more direct:

• Ndashaka ibishyimbo – I would like beans

When the meal comes, you might say:  Muryoherwe! Similar to bon appetite or have a nice meal. This is one of the phrases I learned when visiting Rwanda two summers ago.

When the meal concludes, you might say to the staff: Ibyo kurya byari biryoshye. The meal was delicious.

Muryoherwe!