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Category Archives: etiquette

Dining Out in Buenos Aires: Useful Words & Phrases

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by Anonymous in argentina, buenos aires, etiquette, restaurants, tips & how to's, travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Argentina, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires restaurant, castellano, dining out, español, food, how to order at a restaurant, restaurants, Rioplatense Spanish, tourists, translation, travel, useful words and phrases

Menus at Hierbabuena

For longer than I care to admit, I had a debilitating fear of ordering for myself at restaurants in Buenos Aires. My self-consciousness about my Spanish was overwhelming, prompting me to overthink every potential interaction and required response to the point that by the time the server arrived at the table I was completely tongue-tied.

Thankfully, those days are behind me, but the memory of my self-consciousness prompted me to put together this list of helpful words and phrases for beginners, so you can dine out in Buenos Aires with confidence.

First, some background to prepare you for the experience.

  • Many restaurants close down in the late afternoon. They may be open for lunch from noon until 4pm, then re-open at 8pm for dinner. Yes, that’s right my North American friends, be prepared to eat later than you’re used to.
  • Tipping 10% is customary. Many restaurants will charge a “cubierto” service charge – this is not the tip! It’s basically the cost of getting a table at their restaurant, or maybe the basket of bread? I’ve never really been clear on that.
  • Service is generally slow, if not otherwise atrocious. Don’t take it personally, it’s not you. Just sit back, relax, and try to enjoy the wait for your menu, your drinks, your food, and the bill. Make sure you’ve got plenty of time.
  • Many restaurants and cafés do not accept credit cards.

If all you can remember is “Vino, por favor!” you’re good to go. But just in case, here are some other words and phrases that may come in handy. This is by no means exhaustive, but covers the basics to get food in your belly. And keep in mind that some of the terms may be specific to Argentina or Rioplatense Spanish.

USEFUL PHRASES FOR DINING OUT IN BUENOS AIRES

“Excuse me…” = “Perdón…”

“A table for two, please.” = “Una mesa para dos personas, por favor.”

“What do you recommend?” = “Qué aconsejás?”

“I’d like to order ____.” = “Te pido ___ por favor.” Literal translation is “I ask you for ____ please”, which I know sounds super awkward to us Yanks, but it is what it is.

“Can I order food to go?” = “Puedo pedir para llevar?”

“Can I take the leftovers?” = “Puedo llevar las sobras?” But don’t be surprised if they look at you like you’re crazy or don’t have anything to package it in. This is not a common practice.

“The bill, please.” = “La cuenta, por favor.”

“Are credit cards accepted?” = “Se aceptan tarjetas de crédito?”

Have no fear! Order with confidence.

USEFUL VOCABULARY WORDS FOR DINING OUT IN BUENOS AIRES

appetizers: entradas

beer: una cerveza, un chopp (draft beer), un porrón (bottled beer), un litro (large liter bottle of beer to share…or not, no judgement)

the bill: la cuenta

chicken: pollo, suprema (chicken breast)

coffee: café, café con leche (coffee with milk)

dessert: postre

entrée: plato principal

fish: pescado; the most common are merluza (hake), lenguado (sole), and salmón rosado or blanco (pink or white salmon)

fork: tenedor

ham: jamón, jamón cocido (cooked, sliced ham), jamón crudo (dry-cured ham)

ice: hielo

juice: jugo

knife: cuchillo

menu: la carta

ground pepper: pimienta negra molida

napkin: servilleta

pork: cerdo, bondiola (pork shoulder), chorizo (pork sausage)

potatoes: papas, papas fritas (fries) puré de papas (mashed potatoes)

rice: arroz

salad: ensalada

salt: sal

seafood: mariscos

server: mozo/a

silverware/cutlery: cubiertos

soda: gaseosa

soup: sopa

spoon: cuchara

steak / meat: carne (check out this post from Wander Argentina for a list of all the various cuts); to request meat cooked rare: vuelta y vuelta, medium rare: jugoso, medium: al punto, well done: bien cocido. Rest assured, it will arrive at the table more well done than you’d wanted.

sugar: azúcar

tea: té

vegetarian: vegetariano

water: agua con gas (sparkling water), agua sin gas (still bottled water)

wine: vino, vino tinto (red wine), vino blanco (white wine), una copa de vino (a glass of wine), una botella de vino (a bottle of wine)

 

Hosting a Dinner Party, Buenos Aires Style

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by Anonymous in buenos aires, etiquette

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Buenos Aires, dinner party etiquette, Thanksgiving

Hosting our first Yanqui Thanksgiving in Buenos Aires. Yes, that’s a tuxedo t-shirt.

There’s not a whole lot I love more than hosting a dinner party. I’ve been playing hostess since grade school, so by now I can cook Thanksgiving dinner for 15 without breaking a sweat. Unless there’s a spring heatwave in Buenos Aires and the oven’s going all day…but even then, I prefer to see it as more of a glow.

Whether we were sitting on the floor eating out of our laps in Philadelphia, or seated around the dining room table in Chicago (like grown-ups, finally!), the dinner party protocol’s proven pretty standard over the years and miles. Plan a menu, invite people, they offer to bring a dish/dessert/wine, adjust the menu accordingly (or if you’re a menu control freak like me, just tell them to bring wine) and so it goes.

But then we moved to Buenos Aires. In addition to the fact that people in our beloved adopted country eat at an hour that most yanquis would consider freakishly late (most restaurants don’t even open until 8pm or later) I quickly learned that expectations may be a bit different here.

We were lucky enough to be invited to have dinner at the home of one of my husband’s co-workers before a night of salsa dancing, and she was kind enough to send me an email explaining in great detail how the night would go down. Seriously, she even advised me on proper footwear. LOVE HER!

She also let me know that there was no need to bring anything. Instead, the standard practice is for the host to take care of everything, advise the guests how much it cost, and we’d each be responsible for paying the host for our portion after the meal.

Say whaaa-?

Not that I mind whatsoever paying for my portion of a meal, and not that I mean to imply there’s a problem with this practice…but I just really didn’t know what to do with it. It goes against every fiber of my being to show up at someone’s home for dinner empty-handed. (We still ended up bringing a bottle of Fernet, I just couldn’t help myself). I’ve just always loathed the awkwardness of dividing up a bill after enjoying a meal at a restaurant with friends. Not to mention, I’m pretty bad with numbers in English. So in Spanish? Forget about it.

Why does this make me so uncomfortable?

To be clear, I recognize that this is simply a matter of different frames of reference. I have no problem accepting bottles of wine from guests, but if they offer me the equivalent in cash, it somehow gets weird.

But it’s totally the standard here, so as they say, “es lo que es” and I’ve gotten used to it. Comfort zone: departed. Horizons: expanded.

Though when I’m hosting we eat earlier, everyone’s instructed to bring wine and there’s no exchange of money. I can adjust to most of the customs here, but I just can’t bring myself to tally the bill for a dinner party. Yanqui hostess, yanqui rules.

Hostess gifts from our Thanksgiving dinner guests. No more drinking wine from plastic cups!

how to eat sushi

14 Monday Dec 2009

Posted by Anonymous in etiquette, tips & how to's

≈ Comments Off on how to eat sushi

Tags

sushi

cause apparently, i’ve been doing it ALL WRONG! how embarrassing.

credit for this post goes to denis lirette: http://denislirette.posterous.com/sushi-etiquette-21

thank you for showing me the error of my ways. but….i still may rub my chopsticks together. splinters in the gums are not a good time.

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