在法國餐廳要避免的8個錯誤

01-26

您受邀去一家頗負盛名的法國餐廳，滿心期待著一場非常棒的晚餐。可是，當衣冠楚楚的服務員遞上菜單時，您卻有點懵了：該點什麼呢？幾道菜合適?一道、兩道、三道還是更多？什麼類型的菜品呢？這些複雜的菜名都是什麼意思？

其實，就算對一個法國人來說，在一家高級餐廳點菜也並非易事，這裡頭有一些門道需要注意，一些錯誤也是不能犯的。讓我們來一起看看吧。

This is it, you got an invitation to one of the most famous French restaurant in town, and you are looking forward to having a great dinner. But comes the tricky moment when the well-groomed waiter brings you the menu: what shall you order? How many courses, 1, 2, 3 or more? What type of dishes? And how to deal with all these complicated name?

Even for French people ordering at a high-end restaurant can be complicated, there is indeed a couple of rules you should know and a couple of faux-pas you can avoid. Let』s review them altogether.

「讓男主人/女主人為大家點菜，我們一起分享」

「I let the host(ess) order for everybody, and we will share」

不同於中國文化里大家習慣共享桌上的美味佳肴，西方餐廳里每個客人都是各吃各的。因此，不會有一個人為所有人點單，每人都有一份菜單，大家可以各自點自己喜歡吃的。接下來，怎麼看菜單呢？

Here is a major difference between the Chinese culture, where dishes are shared on the table, and the western restaurants where each guest will enjoy his own dishes individually.

Therefore there won』t be a single person ordering for everybody, you will all receive a menu and you are expected to or order what you intend to enjoy by yourself.

Now, how to deal with the restaurant』s menu?

「我也不知道菜單怎麼用，我們隨便點吧」

「I don』t understand how the menu is structured, let』s choose randomly」

在一家法式餐廳，有兩種點菜的方式。

--套餐

--自由點菜

所謂「套餐」就是餐廳預備好的組合菜，一般2-3道以及以上成套，當然每道菜都會提供一些選擇，價格都是固定的。比如，您在三個選擇中選出第一道菜，緊接著選出一道主菜，最後選出甜點。所以，您能以一個套餐價品嘗不同的菜肴，比起下面「任點」的方式，同樣的菜品還是要優惠點的。

所謂「自由點菜」，其實很簡單，您可以任選餐廳提供的菜肴及其數量，除了套餐里建議菜。通常最名貴的菜肴不會出現在套餐菜單里，但是會提供在自由點菜的菜單中。當然，價格也更昂貴些。

接下來，您怎麼點呢？

In a French restaurant, there is 2 ways of ordering your dishes:

-The fixed-price menus

-A la carte

The fixed-price menus are like a sort of package already prepared by the restaurant, it will propose 2, 3 or more courses, and for each of them a limited selection of dishes, for a fixed price. You can have for instance a first course, amongst which you may have to choose between 3 options, a main course, with several options again, and a dessert, again with a couple of propositions.

The fixed-price menu enables you to try different dishes for a good package price, which is more affordable than ordering the same dishes 「à la carte」

Ordering à la carte is simple: you freely order the number of dishes you want amongst the whole offer proposed by the restaurant –excepting the dishes proposed in the menus. Often the most exceptional dishes won』t be in fixed-price menus, but à la carte. They are also separately more expensive.

Then, what shall you order?

「我情願點最貴的菜肴，因為這可能才是最好的選擇。」

「I will rather take the most expensive dishes; it』s probably the best choice」

需要注意是點最貴的菜肴肯定不是最保險的做法！貴的理由可能因為這道菜的食材是比較珍貴而且是進口的。如果是這樣的話，菜的新鮮度可能就要打折扣了。通常來說，餐廳菜價貴可能是因為做這道菜的成本太高，到未必能反映做菜水平如果高超，其實您可以不妨問問他們的特色菜是什麼。

Beware; taking the most expensive dishes is definitely not the safest choice! First, the cost of this course may be explained by the originality of an unusual food that has been imported. If it』s the case I doubt the products will be fresh! Generally expensive courses go with expensive costs for the restaurant to prepare it, which doesn』t give any proof regarding the restaurant savoir-faire in cooking. You better ask them what their speciality is.

「我想要點餐廳最熱門的菜，怎麼知道是哪個呢？」

「I want to take the most popular dish at the restaurant, how can I know which one it is?」

老實說，只點人氣菜並不能彰顯您的品味。而且，仰仗別人的決定也體現不出您是一個有主見、有判斷力的人。您應該更多地去選擇您鐘意的菜肴。當然，話說回來，參考別人意見也沒有什麼錯。

我建議您不要請服務員推薦最人氣的菜肴，而是問他們的特色菜。「廚師的拿手菜是什麼？我想要口味清淡一些，您有什麼推薦？」如果您提及您的喜好，服務員會非常樂意為您推薦。

Honestly, only taking the most popular dish is not a proof of your good-taste. Relying on other people choice won』t make you a special person capable of having its own good decisions. You should rather take what you appreciate. But, on the other hand there is nothing wrong asking for advices.

Here I recommend you not to ask the waiter about the most popular dishes amongst clients but what their specialities are. 「What does the chef cook the best? I like light flavourful food, which one would you recommend?」 If you mention your preferences the waiter will be happy to guide you accordingly.

「我避免挑我看不懂的菜肴。」

「I avoid taking dishes I don』t understand the name of」

這裡我們說說一些高級餐廳的習慣做法，不光是法式餐廳。他們傾向於給菜肴起一些詩意的名字，或者附上複雜的表述。比如，「光怪陸離的花園調色板」說的就是一盤由五顏六色的蔬菜拼成的沙拉。別擔心，就演算法國人也常常請服務員解釋一下菜名。所以，如果看不懂複雜的菜名，別猶豫，直接問清楚！

Here we reach a customs of high-end restaurants, not only French one.They have a tendency to describe the courses with very poetic names, or with sophisticated explanations. For instance, 「garden』s palette and its thousands colours」 could describe a salad composed by colourful garden vegetables. Let me comfort you, even French people regularly ask waiters to explain them the meaning of courses』 names. So there is no reason to hesitate!

「有時候我不點這個想吃的菜，只因為裡面用了一道我不喜歡的原料」

「Sometimes Iwon』t take the course I wanted because of 1 undesirable ingredient」

我們剛剛提到，在西方的餐廳大家各吃各的。同樣，您也可以讓定製您的菜肴。您完全可以向服務員提出不要在裡面加洋蔥，更換調料或者更換配菜等等的要求。您知道法國人一向挑剔，所以您在一家法國餐廳點菜，挑剔一點也是無妨的！

We mentioned it earlier, in western restaurant you eat individually. One of its consequences is that you can also individualise your dish. It is totally acceptable to ask the waiter not to have onions in the course that was supposed to have some, to change the sauce, to change the side dish that normally goes with etc… You know French people can be picky, so it』s acceptable to be(reasonably) picky when ordering at a French restaurant!

「為了面子，我得盡量多點菜」

「I take the maximum of courses possible to show good face」

關於點菜數量的多少其實沒有特別嚴格的規定。不過按照常識來說，首先，如果您去一家高級餐廳卻只點一份沙拉或者一道菜，有點可惜。其次，如果您點菜的量和其他來客一致的話，會顯得比較禮貌。您也可以直接問他/她是來一份前菜和主菜，還是主菜和甜點，還是3道菜加一杯咖啡等等。在這樣的情景下，如果您是主人或者您想讓他/她高興，我建議您點菜的量和他/她相當。不過，比他/她少點也是可以的，但不要多點。為什麼？如果您點多了，客人要等您吃完，這多不禮貌！

There are no particularly strict rules regarding the number of courses you should order. Just common sense. First, if you go to a high-end restaurant it would be truly a pity to simply order a salad or a single course.

Secondly, it is regarded as polite to match the number or courses you take with the number your guest will take. You can simply ask if he or she is in the mood of having an entrée and a main, or a main and dessert, or 3 courses, with café or not etc…At this stage if you are the host or if you simply want to please the other person I advise you to stick to his/her number of courses. Nevertheless it is acceptable to order one course less than him/her, but not one more. Why? In that case your guest would have to wait for you eating your dish, how impolite!

「我點了紅酒因為我覺得我不得不點」

「I order wine because I feel I have to」

在一家法國餐廳喝點紅酒彰顯格調，但如果您不願品紅酒的話也沒必要強求。您可以問問您的客人是否想要喝紅酒，如果他們不想喝，在一家高級餐廳喝水也並不失禮。

在接下來的文章中我們將介紹如何選擇紅酒以及和如何配菜。

Even if having one or more bottles of wine at a high-end French restaurant is a highlight, there is here again absolutely no rule imposing it if you don』t appreciate drinking wine. You can ask your guests if they wish to have some, but if not drinking water in a luxurious restaurant is not a faux-pas at all.

In a forthcoming article we will talk about how to choose wine and pair it with your dishes.

記住有事多問沒什麼的，服務員都會幫您的，他們肯定也遇到過客人問相同的問題。我希望我的建議可以幫到您，下次在法國餐廳點菜時您會更加從容。

您也可以在下面留言，分享您在法國餐廳遇到的一些出人意料的狀況，我很高興為您解答哦！

Remember there is nothing wrong to ask questions, waiters are here to help you, and they probably already encountered clients asking the same question! I hope with these advices you will now feel at ease next time you have to order at a French restaurant.

Now you can share with us in the comments what the unexpected situations you encountered at French restaurants are, we would be happy to help!

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