#16 Asking How to Transfer at a Station｜Useful English Phrases for Travelers
Izumi English Morning
#32 Expressing Your Thoughts on a Meal｜English Dining Phrases
Izumi
Sharing your thoughts about a meal—such as saying “It was delicious”—is one of the pleasures of dining out, whether at a restaurant or café with friends or staff.
Expressions for describing taste are very common in everyday English. By learning them, you can make your dining conversations more enjoyable and natural.
In this article, I explain useful English phrases for describing how a dish tastes and the grammatical points behind them.
Contents
Dialogue
How’s your meal?
It’s really good! The flavor is amazing.
I’m glad you like it. It’s one of our most popular dishes.
The sauce is perfect. It’s not too salty, just right.
Would you like some dessert after that?
Sure, what do you recommend?
1. Basic Expressions for Describing Taste
When giving your first impression of a dish, the simple and useful structure “It’s + adjective” works perfectly.
- It’s delicious.
- It’s really good.
- It’s amazing.
Using adjectives such as delicious or amazing helps emphasize how good the food is. By changing just the adjective, you can easily describe different kinds of flavors.
2. Vocabulary for Describing Taste
English has a wide range of adjectives for describing taste. Learning them allows you to express your opinions more precisely.
| Taste | Example |
|---|---|
| spicy | It’s quite spicy. |
| sweet | This dessert is very sweet. |
| salty | It’s a bit too salty. |
| sour | I love sour flavors. |
| bitter | The coffee is a little bitter. |
| savory | I love savory dishes. |
At restaurants and cafés while traveling, these words are very helpful for sharing your preferences or chatting about the food.
3. Expressing Strong Impressions
When the food is truly delicious, use expressions that show emotion and enthusiasm.
- This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten!
- Absolutely amazing!
- So tasty!
- I could eat this every day.
These phrases are great for expressing positive impressions and showing appreciation to the staff or chef.
4. Offering Additional Dishes
When suggesting something extra such as dessert, the polite expression “Would you like ～?” is commonly used.
- Would you like some dessert?
- Would you like another drink?
Possible responses include:
- Sure, thank you.
- Yes, please.
- Not right now, thanks.
5. Asking for Recommendations
When you want to order dessert or decide what to try next, use “What do you recommend?”
- What dessert do you recommend?
- Is there anything you recommend trying?
This phrase is versatile and can be used not only in restaurants but also in hotels or on tours.
For a slightly more polite tone, you can say:
- Could you recommend something?
Summary
- It’s delicious. / It’s really good.
→ Simple and useful expressions to say “It’s tasty.” - Would you like some dessert?
→ A natural and polite way to offer something, such as dessert. - What do you recommend?
→ A go-to phrase for asking for recommendations politely.
