Indonesian Vocabulary: Phrases To Use At The Restaurant

Just imagine: you’re at the beginning of the Indonesian part of your Eat, Pray, Love holiday and you get hungry. What do you do? Of course, you start looking for a place to eat nearby before you get hangry! Besides, you don’t want to be hangry on your first day in Indonesia—not in this huge country of very diverse, delicious food, anyway.

So when you’re out there looking for food, you should at least know some helpful basic phrases that people use all the time (and that you can definitely use too) in restaurants and other eating places. This simple vocabulary is great for practicing your Indonesian skills with locals.

At the Restaurant: Essential Indonesian Phrases

• restaurant: rumah makan (ru-mah ma-kan) / restoran (res-to-ran)
• a chef: koki (ko-kee)
• a cashier: kasir (ka-seer)
• waiter: pelayan restoran (pe-la-yan res-to-ran)
• menu: kartu menu (kar-tu me-nu)
• enjoy your meal: selamat makan (se-la-mat ma-kan)
• what would you like to have: mau pesan apa (ma-oo pe-san ah-pah)
• are you ready to order: sudah siap memesan (soo-dah see-ap me-me-san)
• can I have the check, please: saya bisa minta bon (sa-ya bi-sa min-tah bon)
• can I have the menu: bisa minta menunya (bi-sa min-tah me-nun-yah)
• may I see the menu: boleh melihat menunya (bo-leh me-li-hat me-nun-yah)
• no chili please: tidak pakai cabai (ti-dak pa-kai ca-bai)
• that looks tasty: kelihatannya lezat (ke-li-ha-tan-yah le-zat)
• do you have vegetarian food: apa ada makanan vegetarian (ah-pah ah-dah ma-ka-nan ve-ghe-tar-yan)
• what’s the special menu today: apa menu spesial hari ini
• I would like to reserve a table for two: saya ingin memesan meja untuk dua orang
• what would you like today: anda ingin makan apa (an-da ing-in ma-kan ah-pah)
• can you give me some more water: boleh minta air putih lagi
• waiter, the bill: pelayan, minta bonnya (pe-la-yan min-tah bon-yah)
• can I pay with card: apa bisa bayar dengan kartu (ah-pah bee-sa ba-yar)
• I would like to pay now: saya mau bayar sekarang, boleh minta bonnya
• thank you: terima kasih (te-ree-mah ka-seeh)
• thank you very much: terima kasih banyak
• thanks: makasih (ma-ka-seeh)