Italian translation from the menu of Italian Restaurant 2 Veneti in London

Veneti means Venetian. so 2 Veneti is two Venetians, the owners.

Italian - English

bianco - white

con - with

del - of the

e - and

erbe - herb

fegato - liver

giorno - day

insalata - salad

limone - lemon

nero - black

pere - pear

pesce - fish

pollo - chicken

salmone - salmon

salsa - sauce

verdure - vegetables

vitello - veal

Zuppa - soup

English - Italian

and - e

black - nero

chicken - pollo

day - giorno

fish - pesce

herb - erbe

lemon - limone

liver - fegato

of the - del

pear - pere

salad - insalata

salmon - salmone

sauce - salsa

soup - zuppa

veal - vitello

vegetables - verdure

white - bianco

with - con

-ends-

Duolingo has free online courses for Italian speakers. Languages covered are the expected Romance languages, English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, but also Chinese, Japanese and Korean, Maths, Music, and Chess.

2 Veneti

10 Wigmore Street

London W1U 2RD

Useful Websites

https://www.2veneti.com/

https://www.2veneti.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MENU

duolingo.com

https://www.duolingo.com/courses/it

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cicchetti

How to identify the country your fellow diners come from, France, the USA, The UK

 I sat in a restaurant in France, listening to the people at the next table, and looking around the room at other diners.

Flag of France

French Diners & Cutlery

The French were totally at ease, hardly looking at the food or bottles of wine. Locals. Regular diners at that restaurant.

They mop up the gravy with bits torn off their bread rolls.

The French lay their knives and forks diagonally when they finish eating.

I could tell the French by the shapes of their mouths, and they way they shrugged as they talked. Even if you cannot hear the words, the last syllable is emphasized and goes up, along with the shoulders, or a nod.

American Diners and Cutlery

A couple in the distance were not clear. English tourists. No. I could not hear English. Slight American accent? A Frenchman who had learned English with an American accent, talking to an American girlfriend? I was puzzling. Until I noticed the cutlery. They were eating with forks in their right hands, nothing in their left hands. Definitely American.

American travellers are confident. They often talk loudly.

Italians and Hands

The Italians had laid down their cutlery. They were tlaking with both hands. Both hands in the air.

Chinese and Chopsticks

In a Chinese restaurant, we could identify the Chinese. They were eating with chopsticks. Tourists were eating with knives and forks, or struggling with the fork and spoon which managemnt offered, until asked for a knife.

Finally, the British

British Table Etiquette

We put our knives and forks together, parallel, in the six o'clock position. Arms off the table.

Japanese Table Manners

Japanese women cover their mouths when they laugh. They politely hide the teeth, their gold fillings. Their intonation is monotone, all syllables have the same weight.

For example, the town Hi-ro-shi-ma. It sounds like four separate words.

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Lost in Translation Spanish

 

campo countryside

manana means tomorrow or morning

sabado is not Saturday but Sunday

sopa soup

soap is jabón

sou - Jabon (accent on the o)

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Translate an Albanian Restaurant Menu - what is krem?

You might guess that Krem is cream. And mixe is mixed. Have a look at these words and see which you can guess or remember easily. 

 Albanian - English

bizele - peas

brokoli - broccoli

byrek - pie

dhe - and

koke - head

krem - cream

me - with

mish -meat

mixe - mixed

pule - chicken

sallate - salad

spec - pepper

speca - peppers

spinag - spinach

supe - soup

tave - casserole

te - the

English - Albania

and - dhe

casserole - tave

head - koke

meat - mish

mixed - mixe

peas - bizele

pepper - spec

peppers speca

pie - byrek

the - te

Useful Websites

Tanglin Club Treats At The Tavern, Restaurant - British Pub decor in Singapore - and an edible flower?

If you are a member of the Tanglin Club or have a chance to visit - are doing business with people in Singapore or belong to a Toastmasters club, or belong to any club worldwide, you may have a chance to visit the Tanglin Club. If not, read on anyway to learn about the new dish I tried.

I spend a day at the Tanglin Club with a long-term friend whose mother is a club member. I love the Tavern Club's decor. And the private booths.

We met for lunch and we went to the Tavern for privacy in one of the two booths.

 Overall, both the food and service were good.

I started by ordering a pint sized watermelon juice. I can't get that in the UK. Pink, Refrehsing. Pure fruit juice. 

Watermelon juice. The Tavern. Tanglin Club. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

We started with drinks and both of us selected watermelon juice, the larger size, one pint.

The Salad Bar

I chose the salad bar. Not as good as it used to be. The soup was prawns and I am allergic to shellfish. 

So I took just the bread roll. Only white bread. I seem to remember a variety of breads including brown or black or seed. Still, never mind. I had plenty more to choose from. I moved on to the two main counters. 

The far right has a mixture of desserts and main course or snack meats. 

The meat was chicken, thinly sliced beef and pork/ham. The latter seemed to me, a clearly processed meat, minced up and mixed and pressed meat, which I ignored.

 No smoked salmon. The far right counter's far left plate holder was empty. Time to move on and reconsider the main course options. So far so good.

Tanglin Club, Tavern restaurant, beef with almond. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The little white flower looked cute. I presumed you could eat it. I had asked once before at the Tanglin Club in the Churchill room restaurant. (But in a restaurant in London I was served food with a flower which was only decorative.)

I did not detect any flavour from the flower. You would have to eat it separately to be sure. I thought it was merely decoration. Slight disapointed. Never mind. Very cute.

Service

The service was very good. We were asked if we wanted warm or cold tap water. Usually the British like cold water, and iced water. Singaporeans and Indians like warm water. They think that cold water chills you, shocks the system. And warm water makes you perspire which cools you down.

Later the woman who was serving came to our table to tell me that the chef had put out another dish to replace the empty one. Beef with almonds.  I smiled. But I was sitting on the inside of the table against the wall and would have to shift my guest, make her stand up to let me out, and again when I returned. Also we were in mid conversation.

The server could see from my expression that I was interested, as I glanced over at the food and smiled. But then looked around my table and frowned.

She offered to fetch me the food. Beef and almonds. Minced beef. With flakes of almonds. It has crunch. The beef rather drowns out the almond flavour. Full marks to the chef for introducing a new food to me.

At the end of the lunch time she warned me that the food was being cleared away, if I wanted any more. She offered to bring me another beef and almonds.

What about value?

You get soup, vegetables, chopped potato in what looks like mayonnaise or couscous, and for protein, nut at the back, or three types of meat.  Also boiled egg. On the left. By the time we arrived at 12.30 pm the stocks were running low. I grabbed the last boiled egg.

Dessert?

 If you were smart you would have selected the chopped fruit and nuts for dessert. Put them on one side of the plate. That saves going back. It prevents you from taking a second plate and filling it.

Besides, I had other plans for dessert. Crepes Suzette. 

Unfortunately, the Tavern is not open all day. By the time I was ready to order dessert and coffee they had laid the tables for dinner, presented the bill for me to sign and suggested, "You can move on the tea lounge." 

Later we did just that. You will be able to read about the lounge food and drink in my later post.

You can check out reciprocal clubs worldwide, opening hours of each restaurant, last order times, and dress code, on the Tanglin Club website pages.

After my day at the Tanglin, eating at three different outlets, My weight went up!

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/images/Content/Dining/Dining/The_Tavern_Fireplace/Tavern-Menu.pdf

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/dining/terrace-bistro-bar.html

Delights and Dangers of Wildlife - Safety in Northern Australia, South Africa and Singapore's Safari, and food, fur, and fashion in the USA and worldwide

 

Back garden in Hatch End, London, England, with two foxes. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Cahill crossing in Australia is notorious for its crocodiles. Just looking at the pictures puts me off. They are building a better crossing but meanwhile people are ignoring signs.

Looking closer, I see it is not a riverbank at all. It is a low crossing, a bit like stepping stones pushed together, enough for a tough car to drive acrosss, slowly.

Apparently one can got trapped in the river and the occupants had to swim past the cross to safety on dry land. Safety  from water the minute you are out of the water. But safety from crocodiles - only if you stand well back from the river!

In the UK earlier this year we received a parking fine, a sign hidden behind wheelie bins, in a road where other people parked. My husband had said: 'Everybody else is doing it.'

That doesn't defend one person from being endangered - or all of them.

Signs are not enough. Firstly, not everybody can read English. 

Secondly, not everybody can read. 

Thirdly, people think they can jump back, or believe crocodiles stay in the water and the edge. Children and adults don't realize the reptiles jump onto land. 

Fourthly, time to put up a barrier. If it is costly, find sponsors. 

It is natural to lean over water to have a look. Build viewing platforms with binoculars back from the edge. To make signs more effective, display statistics of people killed. Make fines for standing by the edge.

The signs don't protect you, if there is nowhere to retreat or stand safely. 

I walked along a boardwalk pier in Singapore. At intervals there were places where you could stop and look out. But crocodiles or other creatures could leap up. I never did that again. 

I can entertain myself, and grand children, eating ice cream or fruit and watching films. We don't need to run around crocodiles playing dare.

Eating Funny Food

I have eaten lots of funny food. Crocodile. In the USA . Was it the USA.  Yes, now I remember - they gave me a certificate to prove it!

Wichetty Grup In Australia

I tried wichetty grub soup  in a restaurant in Perth. Its selling point was the unusual foods.

South African Safari & Lion Park

I have been on a late evening Safaris (South Africa) where you see very little in the twilight.

At a lion park we were warned not to get out of our car. Afterwards, I researched.  I learned that a Japanese family had got out of their car to pose their children next to baby lions. Resulting in a human fatality.

Singapore farmed Crocodiles

I have been to a crocodile breeding farm in Singapore.

The Night Safari in Singapore is a compromise. The animals can roam freely. The pedestrian visitors are separated by a deep gorge. The travelling vehicle visitors are kept in moving and camouflaged trains. 

Camouflage clothes

Wearing Wild Animal Clothes

Useful Websites

Australian Museum Wichetty Grubs

Fishguard Bay Hotel's Finest Food - and packed lunch for the train home from Wales to England

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton who starred in the film stayed in what was and still is the largest hotel, the landmark Fishguard Bay Hotel, on the cliff above the station and departure point for the ferry from Wales to Ireland.

Go up to the hotel for a fine view over the bay to the opposite side. You can buy drinks in the bar. The hotel is open to non-residents.

They also serve excellent traditional food. I stayed for a long weekend, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, taking the train's replacement bus at half past twelve on Sunday, missing the hotel's lunch.

During my stay I had three evening dinners and two lunches and three breakfasts. At breakfast you can ask for vegetarian sausages. You get four, enough for two people. You might prefer these, even if you are not a full time vegetarian.

I said to my friend, Alison, "That sounds good, if you want to avoid processed meat, which the Cancer Research sites say you should avoid as a precaution to guard against cancer."

Alison replied, "You are avoiding processed meat. However, the sausage most likely is full of preservatives anyway." She tucked into her sausages. Next year, or next time, I must remember to ask for vegetarian sausages.

Starters
At dinner I decided that the egg mayonnaise starter was the best option. The perfectly cooked halves of hard boiled eggs came in a nest of fresh green salad.

Our set menu offered three starters, a juice, a soup and an alternative.

One of the soup choices was vegetable soup. At another meal we were offered pea and ham.

On one occasion I chose a leek and potato soup. The leek is a Welsh and Sottish favourite vegetable.

I was in Fishguard in February 2019 at Writers' and Artist's Holiday. Leeks proved a good conversation point. A Scottish friend, Fiona - a good Scottish name, told us that leeks and tatties (potatoes) are part of the Burns supper celebrated in Scotland and worldwide, especially Russia. My leek and potato soup was too salty, two of us agreed.

Main courses
My favourites were:
Chicken in mushroom cream sauce. (I recall one mouthful of chicken being a little tough.)
My top favourite was the cottage pie. Perfect.

We also had some wonderful potatoes. The new potatoes were better than the average. The ones which were halved and sauteed were divine.

I live part of the year in Singapore, where potatoes are rarely seen. Most meals are with noodles or rice, my go to meal in the cheap hawker centres being the national dish, chicken rice, which is a mount of white boiled rice with slices of chicken. I dream of, yearn for, potatoes.

Desserts
My favourites included tiramisu and apple crumble. The cheesecake was good.

The strawberry gateau was disappointing. At supper, not a strawberry in sight, just what looked like a jam sauce on top. Next day at lunch time, the dessert has some tiny pieces of strawberry in the centre top.

The set meal choices were fruit salad or one of the two cakes or cooked desserts of the day.
I recommend the tiramisu. Moist, filling, tasty, alcoholic flavour. One of our group asked for the tiramisu, which was on the a la carte menu. She said the staff told her that you could choose from the a la carte menu instead. I suppose they speed things up for a group by limiting you to three choice.

Packed Lunch
They can also provide residents with a packed lunch for the train home. Very basic. Either a ham or cheese sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of water.

My sandwich had a generous double layer of cheese on white bread. Filling. However, my friend who is vegetarian was given the same sandwich containing tomato, which as well as being tasting is more moist.

I knew they would not pack up the starter or main course, but I thought a dessert could be packed into a lunch box. they allowed me into the kitchen. My options were a black forest gateau of a white lemon roll. I opted for the latter, fearing that I would smear chocolate all over myself in a jolting train, eating on my lap.

On the train I managed to get a seat. My apple rolled off the table onto the floor. I could have washed it in the toilets, but the water was labelled Not Drinking Water. I could have used the drinking water to wash my apple, but too much palaver, risk of making myself wet, keeping others waiting for the toilet, leaving my possessions in my seat too long.

Next time I go to the hotel I shall be well prepared. I shall also look at their a la carte menu.

My journey back from Fishguard and Goodwyck to Paddington station, London, was on a Sunday. The second train on my four stage journey had no drinks and food trolley. I heard the announcement and the moving text sign at the end of the carriage over the exit doorway confirmed it. So I was glad of the packed lunch.

A previous year I had visited Fishguard for a longer stay in summer, and enjoyed Welsh cakes, best at the hotel,but also sold on the train's trolley. This time on the train back, I had to get my last taste of Wales from the bilingual signs on stations in English and Welsh.

Useful Websites
To learn Welsh, free online:
duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on Fishguard, Wales, learning Welsh, Writers, artists, Welsh Whisky and Welsh chocolate. Please share links to your favourite posts.

How to remember some simple Portuguese words for food, plurals

Portugal

Portuguese flag

Brazil

Problem
The Portuguese is similar to English - but different. How do I remember?

Answer
Note the differecet or similarity. Practise noticing the difference or similarity. You only need to say it or see it about three times for it to stick. The exercises in Duolingo will usually show you each word three times.

English - Portuguese
meat - carne (as in the English words carnivore and carnivorous)
pepper - pimenta (almost pimento, but ends in the sound a which is similar to the end of pepper)
pork - porco
potato - batata
rice - arroz (think of a round of rice, double r, o for a circle, when the rice is served in a mound) ice and oz sound similar, s-z
salad - salada (letter a three times, like three tomatoes)
sandwich - sanduiche
soup - sopa
strawberry - o morango
tomato - tomate

the strawberry - o morango (o is masculine the) the word looks like orange. A strawberry is orange shape. The M at the start is like the W in strawberry turned upside down. Repeat the o from the beginning of the word at the end. o morango.

Portuguese - English
arroz - rice
batata - potato
carne - meat
o morango - the strawberry (for the plural add an s like in English: os morangos)
pimenta - pepper
porco - pork
salada - salad
sanduiche - sandwich
sopa - soup
tomate - tomato

So now you can look at a menu and find a snack of a sandwich and salad including tomato, check if it is meat or pork, ask for soup, meat and potatoes, or rice, and finish with strawberries.


Useful Websites
Free internet learning for Portuguese and other languages
https://www.duolingo.com

A disc I bought from Earworms to play in the car. You can also download it onto a laptop. I bought volume 1 and then volume 2.

http://www.earwormslearning.com

Travel websites
https://www.visitportugal.com/en

http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/homepage

visitbrasil.com (NB They spell it with an s!)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several other posts on learning Portuguese and other languages, and sites to visit. Please save and share links to your favourite posts.

How do you eat a Shanghai dumpling at Dim sum or snacks? Advice from Singaporean Chinese

Problem
How do you eat a Shanghai Dumpling?
What is a Shanghai dumpling?

Answers
In Singapore at a hawker centre I was treated to Shanghai dumplings. They are served in what looks like a circular steamer or basket carried to the table with a lid to keep the contents warm.

The dumplings are made of a pasta pinched together at the top. Inside is minced pork in a soup or clear gravy.

If you puncture or pierce the dumpling making a hole the delicious soup will spill onto the table making a mess and you will lose the soup and maybe even the contents if the dumpling disintegrates in mid-air.

It is not just a politeness to lift the dumpling carefully by the top and not pierce it. It is in your own interests not to lose the succulence and the juice.

Use your chopstick to lift out the dumpling and place it on your small plate. On the way to the plate, dip the dumpling in ginger-flavoured dark brown soy sauce in a tiny dish.

The Chinese name for Shanghai dumplings is 'dragon ....'.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

You can see the Dumpling photos on the internet. My photos will be added later.)

How To Organise a Halloween Celebration And Cut A Pumpkin

 Last Year's Halloween - Pumpkins for the house of garden, in the home or garden section of a supermarket such as Waitrose.

Clothes and accessories under £2.

Biscuits and cakes under £2.

This year's Halloween
My Tesco Trident, £2 or less.

Plastic trident from Tesco Express

Problem
How do I buy and cut a pumpkin to make a display? What do I need?

Answer
You have a choice. Buy a fresh pumpkin and enjoy eating it as well as having a display. Or buy a plastic pumpkin, ready-made, and store it for next year.

Where to buy? In the UK I saw fresh pumpkins in Waitrose, synthetic 'toy' pumpkins in Tesco Express.

You can buy a pumpkin cutting kit with instructions.

Cutting A Pumpkin
My friend says:
Slice the top off the pumpkin horizontally.

Scoop out the inside.

Draw the face on a sheet of paper. Either draw it yourself or copy from a picture on the internet or from the packaging with your pumpkin. Decide whether to use circles or triangles, small or large, what distance apart. Trace or copy onto the outside of the pumpkin with pencil, so you can work out the spacing and decide what looks best.
Cut three triangles, two for the eyes

Use it to eat fresh, make a pumpkin drink or heat it up as a soup. Recipes all over the internet. You can also make a pumpkin tart.

Set up outdoors by the gate or doorway, on the ground or perhaps on a small table to welcome guests.  This can be done at a home or public meeting. (We did it at a Toastmasters International Speakers' Club in London, at a church hall beside a cemetery!

Place a tea light inside. After everybody has arrived and the meeting is about to start, extinguish the light for safety when moving. Carry the pumpkin indoors. Set it up and re-light the candle.

If you are really crafty in the kitchen, bake a Halloween cake. Orange icing. A black witches' hat on top.  If not, go to an organized event.

Bake a cake. Instructions on craft site.

Story - Memories of Pumpkin Dinner
I had a delicious pumpkin meal at the American Club in Singapore. I was a member of the American Women's Association. We had pumpkin soup as a starter, a main course with pumpkin mixed in with the salad, and a choice of a pumpkin 'pudding', meaning a kind of mousse, or pumpkin tart.

To complete the look: orange paper napkins and an orange centrepiece.

Offer leftover fresh pumpkin display to somebody who has children. Save a plastic pumpkin for next year in your basement or attic. Note where it is stored by sending yourself a picture in an email in the storage place in your laptop or phone or computer. Copy details of where to find it into your online diary for a week before next year's Halloween. Send duplicate to spouse or other family member, or to shared calendar, so they don't waste money by duplicating purchases. You are also set for your next event.

If you missed having a Halloween party this year, prices come down in supermarkets the day or week afterwards. You can stock up with paperwear for next year.

What can you buy?
Paper cups.
A plastic tablecloth.
Plastic pumpkins.
Orange decorations and clothes.
Face paints. Masks. Fingernails.
Note any Halloween stories to tell.

Halloween Tablecloth

Lessons Learned
The organizers of our party were brilliant. The Toastmaster of the evening wore an outfit. One person brought cakes. Another brought decorations. What else could we have done? Phoned each member personally the weekend before and on the day and asked them to wear either fancy dress or black and white and orange.

Food and Fruit
The halloween cakes looked great.

Our cakes and biscuits were an overdose of sugar. We could have brought orange fruit as an alternative for those on health food diets. That's easy. Oranges, ideally slices or in segments. Oranges. Satsumas. Mandarins. Apricots.

White hard boiled eggs on orange plates, or white plates with orange napkins alongside or under the plates.

Peanuts or black fruits such as black grapes or raisins in white bowls on orange paper napkins.

Invitations
Halloween invitations asking guests to wear outfits or white tee-shirts or orange ties and jewellery.

Useful Websites
Morrisons www.morrisons.co.uk
Tesco www.tesco.com
Waitrose www.waitrose.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

How To Get by Translating With Photos When Travelling

POINT TO THESE PICTURES IN A RESTAURANT. STORIES AND INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

(Pictures in this post: Menu; coffee; olives; fruit/pineapple; red wine; baed beans; baked beans on toast; white wine; four pâtés; sandwich with crisps and green garnish; mustard orange juice; bottled water; white wine, glass of water, rosé wine; petits fours; chicken soup with noodles and ravioli; fat pancake or thin hot scone with butter; breakfast or Sunday brunch grill with sausage and egg and chips (Americans call them French fries); fancy carrot cake with icing and nuts on top;  Chinese  moon cake for autumn festival (very sweet, filling, to eat at party, as gift or souvenir).

Problem
How do you translate what you want to somebody who doesn't speak your language?
Most Chinese and Japanese Restaurants have photos outside or on a menu. What if they don't?

Story
When I first went to China I started off in a grand conference hotel with my husband. All the restaurants had English menus. However, you had to ask, because a Chinese person who speaks no English does not know whether you don't understand staff or the menu because you are English speaking.

The first time I struggled, letting the head of a group order for everybody. I ended up faced with lobsters and similar shellfish which I can't eat because I am allergic to them. I then had to get chicken, which came up later so I was out of sync with everybody else.

On our day off, my husband insisted that we did not eat in another international restaurant in a hotel, but tried a 'local' restaurant. The trouble was, only locals ate there, they had no English menu and we had trouble making ourselves understood.

I tried drawing a chicken. I soon had three members of staff and guests from other tables surrounding me, all arguing with each other. I had drawn what could have been anything from a pheasant to a cow. Even if they understood chicken, they didn't know whether I wanted soup, a sandwich, lemon chicken, or chicken with cashew nuts.

You could be Russian, as most visitors to Shanghai who look Western will be Russian. You could be French or German.

Would you be able to tell apart somebody who spoke Chinese (mandarin), Cantonese, Korean, Thai. Even if the restaurant manager is ultra smart and has initiative, the waiter may be timid and rushed off their feet. They have no idea whether you speak other languages. They don't know whether you speak French or Mandarin. Their guests may speak other 'dialects' but understand the Chinese writing which is common to Chinese and Japanese, a bit like a non smoking sign.

Given the speed with which restaurants change hands, and waiters change jobs, the waiter may well not know where the other menus are kept and will have to ask.

Answers
1 Choose a restaurant with English translations or photos.
2 If recommended a restaurant with no translations or photos, or taken into one by your Asian host who assures you the food is wonderful you have several options.

1 Put a dictionary in your pocket.
2 Photograph a menu with translations from another restaurant or hotel.
a) Copy that photo the menu to the end of your photo list each day so so it is quick to find.
b) Email yourself a copy of the translated menu before leaving for the restaurant so your email is most recent and easy to find.
c) Print a copy of your photo of the translated menu.

You may have to ask for the English menu. Just because Remember the waiter is not trying to be difficult.

Make a collection of pictures of your favourite foods. Photograph what you like from one restaurant to how the next. Or photograph what you like in your hotel restaurant to order the same, or photograph it and draw a black felt tip cross through it and shake your head to ensure you are trying something different the next day.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and languages. Please bookmark this post for yourself and come back to this page or share links to your favourite posts with family, friends and colleagues. 

Twenty English to Indonesian/Malay Menu Word Groups Translated

The Malaysian Language (called Bahasa Malay) and Indonesian are almost the same, like English and American. The Malay language is phonetic, written the way it sounds, like simplified English, or American spelling.

Looking down this list below at the end, words grouped by subject and translated from Google, the familiar words are coming back to me from my times in Malaysia and Indonesia reading menus which were in two languages, or three or more, as well as being helped by my family who lived in Singapore and friends who live in Malaysia. I can easily compile a list of side by side comparison of the easiest words which I recall.

I kept looking at the list and thinking that there was a mistake or a translation had not been found. Then I remembered that plurals are created by repeating a word. So one juice is jus. Two juices are jus jus. So jus jus means two or more juices. I have other posts on Malay and other languages. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

The easy and almost the same words are in alphabetical order:
ENGLISH - MALAY
banana - pisang
biscuit - biskut
bread - roti
cake - kek
chicken - ayam
chocolate - coklat
coffee - kopi
fried - gorem /goreng
juice - jus
rice - nasi
pudding - p u d i n g (one 'd'; often like mousse / milky blancmange rather than flour-based cold cake)
soup - sup
tea - teh
thank you - terimah kasi
water - air

MALAY - ENGLISH
air - water
ayam - chicken
biskut - biscuit
coklat - chocolate
gorem / goreng - friend
jus - juice
kek -cake
kopi - coffee
nasi - rice
pisang - banana
roti - bread
sup - soup
teh - tea
terimah kasi - thank you

As you keep reading and re-reading, you quickly move from seeing the translation and slowly thinking, oh yes, I remember, to having the word pop into your mind before your eyes reach the translation.

English

1 liver / chopped liver / pâté
2 soup / chicken soup / vegetable soup
3 sandwich / cheese sandwich / chicken sandwich
4 bagel / bread / brown bread / rye bread / seed bread / toast / cracker
5 butter / cheese / cheddar / Brie / cream cheese / yogurt
6 nuts / no nuts / olives / no olives / peanuts / almonds/ cashews / walnuts / mixed nuts / raisins / sultanas /dates
7 tomato / lettuce / cucumber / peas / corn / beans / corn on the cob
8 chicken / beef /salt beef / lamb / cold / hot / with gravy
9 potato / baked potato / roast potato/ rice / boiled rice / fried rice / pasta
10 tea / lemon tea / coffee / black coffee / water / tap water / jug of water
11 Juice / apple juice, orange juice, tomato juice / mixed juice, exotic juice
12  Fruit / apple / apricot / banana / cherry / cranberry / currant / figs / grapes / grapefruit / pink grapefruit/ kiwi fruit / lemon / mango / melon / orange / pear / plum / pineapple / strawberry / mixed fruit
13 plain biscuit / digestive biscuit / chocolate biscuit / assorted biscuits
14 cheesecake / baked cheesecake / New York style cheesecake / chocolate cake  / rainbow cake / fruit cake / brownie / carrot cake
15 pudding / dessert / chocolate pudding / sticky toffee pudding / fruit pudding / date pudding / custard
16 Petits fours / chocolates / orange slices
17 wet wipe / napkin
18  bill / we've finished / please / thank you / you're welcome /
19  please call a taxi / is service included / keep the change / where's my change? / please call my hotel
20 a glass of wine: a bottle; a half bottle ; a carafe ; white, red, rose, sparkling, sweet, dry.

MALAY (followed by similar Indonesian). Note that adjectives follow nouns. c sounds like ch.

1 hati / cincang hati / pâté
2 sup sup / sup ayam / sup sayur-sayuran
3 sandwic sandwich / keju / sandwic ayam
4 roti / roti / roti coklat / roti rai / roti biji / roti bakar / keropok
5 mentega / keju / cheddar / Brie / krim keju / yogurt
6 kacang / tiada kacang / buah zaitun / tiada buah zaitun / kacang tanah / badam / kacang / walnut / kacang campuran / kismis / sultan / tarikh
7 tomato / selada / timun / kacang / jagung / kacang / jagung pada tongkol
8 ayam / daging lembu / garam daging lembu / kambing / sejuk / panas / dengan kuah
9 kentang / panggang kentang / panggang kentang / beras / nasi rebus / nasi goreng / pasta
10 teh / kopi lemon / kopi / kopi hitam / air / air paip / air kendi
11 jus / jus epal, jus oren, jus tomato / jus campuran, jus eksotik
12 Buah / apel / aprikot / pisang / ceri / cranberry / currant / buah ara / anggur / grapefruit / buah merah jambu / buah kiwi / lemon / mangga / melon /
13 biskut biskut / biskut pencernaan / biskut coklat / pelbagai biskut
14 cheesecake cheesecake / bakar cheesecake New York / kek coklat / kek pelangi / kek buah / brownie / kek lobak
15 puding / pencuci mulut / coklat puding / puding toffee yang melekit / puding buah / puding tarikh / custard
16 Petits empats / coklat / kepingan oren
17 lap basah / serbet
18 bil / kami selesai / tolong / terima kasih / anda dialu-alukan /
19 sila hubungi teksi / perkhidmatan termasuk / menyimpan perubahan / di manakah perubahan saya? / sila hubungi hotel saya
20 segelas wain: botol; setengah botol; satu botol; putih, merah, mawar, berkilau, manis, kering.                                                     INDONESIAN   1 hati / cincang hati / pâté                              2 Sup sup / sup ayam / sup sayuran3Sandwich sandwich / sandwich sandwich / sandwich ayam

4 roti bagel / roti / roti coklat / roti gandum / roti biji / roti panggang / kerupuk
5 mentega / keju / cheddar / Brie / krim keju / yogurt
6 kacang-kacangan / tidak ada kacang-kacangan / buah zaitun / tidak ada olahan / kacang tanah / kacang almond / kacang mete / kenari / kacang campuran / kismis / sultana / kurma
7 tomat / selada / mentimun / kacang polong / jagung / kacang / jagung rebus
8 daging ayam / sapi / garam daging sapi / domba / dingin / panas / dengan kuah daging
9 kentang / kentang panggang / kentang panggang / nasi / nasi rebus / nasi goreng / pasta
10 teh / teh lemon / kopi / kopi hitam / air / keran air / kendi air
Jus jus / jus apel, jus jeruk, jus tomat / jus campur, jus eksotis
12 Buah / apel / aprikot / pisang / ceri / cranberry / kismis / buah ara / anggur / grapefruit / jeruk merah muda / buah kiwi / lemon / mangga / melon / jeruk / pir / plum / nanas / strawberry / campuran buah
13 biskuit biskuit / biskuit pencernaan / biskuit coklat / berbagai macam biskuit
14 cheesecake / cheesecake panggang / kue ala New York cheesecake / kue coklat / kue pelangi / kue buah / kue coklat / wortel
15 puding / dessert / puding coklat / puding toffee lengket / puding buah / puding tanggal / custard
16 Petits berempat / coklat / irisan oranye
17 lap basah / serbet
18 bill / kami sudah selesai / tolong / terimakasih / anda dipersilakan /
19 tolong panggil taksi / apakah pelayanan sudah termasuk / tetap ganti / di mana perubahan saya? / tolong panggil hotelku 20 segelas anggur: sebotol; setengah botol; sebuah teko; putih, merah, mawar, berkilau, manis, kering.

Translation of An Italian Restaurant Menu

Problem
What are the dishes at my nearby Italian restaurants?

Answer
FOOD MENU
Italian - English
affumicata - smoked
aglio - garlic
agnello - lamb
Antipasti - starters
bistecca - beefsteak
bufalo - buffalo
burro - butter
Carne - meat (as in English words carnivore noun meaning meat eater, carnivorous, adjective)
(della) casa - (literally of the house) house style / home made / house speciality
con - with
di - of or from
e - and
Fiorentina - Florentine (style of Italian city of Florence) with spinach
fritti - deep fried
funghi - mushrooms
giorno - day (as in soup of the day and good day)
griglia - grill
Insalata - salad
limone - lemon
marinate - marinated
Milanese - style served in Italian city of Milan
Mozzarella - Mozzarella cheese
olio - oil
pane - breads
Pasta all 'Italiana - Pasta Italian Style
pescatora - with seafood
Pesce - fish
pollo - chicken
ricotta - a type of cheese, the word literally means recooked
risotto - rice dish, usually made with sticky rice which sticks together rather than long grain Basmati rice used in Indian restaurants
rosmarino - rosemary (herb)
rugatta - from Latin meaning wrinkle
salvia - sage
scaloppa - escalope (French) or slide ; plural escallopine
Scozzese - Scottish style - (menu says Scotch - does this mean Scottish style or with whiskey?)
smoked - affumicata
spinaci - spinach
steak - bistecca (not necessarily beef - check with staff)
tonno - tuna
tradizionale - traditional style
tricolore - triple colour (the three colours of the Italian flag: red, white, green, usually white cheese, red tomato and a green vegetable)
vitello - veal
zucchini - courgette
Zuppa - soup

English - Italian
and - e
(beef) steak - bistecca
buffalo - bufalo
butter - burro
chicken - pollo
courgette - zucchini
day - giorno
escalope (slice) - scaloppa
fegato - calves' liver
fish - pesce
(Deep) fried - fritti
garlic - aglio
grill - griglia
lamb - agnello
lemon - limone
liver (calves' liver) fegato
marinated - marinate
meat - carne
Milan style - Milanese
mushrooms - f u n g h i
oil - olio
rosemary (herb) - rosmarino
sage - salvia
salad - insalata
soup - zuppa
three colour - tricolore
traditional / classic - tradizionale
tuna - tonno
veal - vitello
with - con

DRINKS
Italian wines you may wish to order
Asti
chianti
doppio - double - as in double espresso
Prosecco - the area and the grape
Lambrusco
spumante - sparkling
rosso - red

CONVERSATION
Italian greetings
English - Italian
hello / good day - bon giorno
goodbye - arrivaderci
thank you - g r a z i e
not at all - p r e g o
please - per favore
'bye / so long - ciao

WORDS YOU MAY HEAR OR SEE
(la) tavola - (the) table

Tips
duo lingo
google translate
https://dreamdiscoveritalia.com/2015/06/23/italian-101-how-to-ask-where-is-the-toilet/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Teacher of English and foreign languages. I have several more posts on foreign languages, restaurants, food, drink and destinations. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Learn Romanian Words For Foods

Map of Romania from Wikipedia.

Problem
How do I remember the written words? How do I remember which accents to add? How do I pronounce the words?

Answer
D e v i s e new memory aids or follow mine below in brackets after words in my mini dictionary. (Spaces inserted to defeat automatic spell checker inserting wrong words.)

English - Romanian
breakfast - mic d e j ù n  (short for Mick is having his petit d e j e u n e r - French for Breakfast)
butter - unt (bUTter - UnT)
cake - torta (cake OR TART, same word, as in French and Italian, not tart but t o r t a)
piper - pepper (PiPER - PePpER; remember the tongue twister Peter PIPER picked a peck of pickled PEPPER)
cheese - branza (think of B R i e ANd g o r g o n Z o l A )
child - copilul (ChILd and  p u P I L)
honey - miere (honEy BEE - miErE like the French word miel for Honey)
pie - plācintā (P I e - P l a c I n t a; or Pie P L A c e d IN oven or cooker - er sounds like a)
salt - sare (S A l t - S A r e)
soup - supa (soup is super)
sugar - zahar (change the s into z and the g into the following letter h)
table - masa (like the Spanish mesa; a massive table with a mess on it)
the - la

Romanian - English
b r a n z a - cheese
copilul - child
e, e s t e - is
la - the
mic d e j u n - breakfast
masa - table
m i e r e - honey
p l a c  i n t a - pie (spell checker prefers placenta)
sare - salt
supa - soup
torta - cake
unt - butter
zahar - sugar

I have had trouble with the accents on an Apple machine. I'll come back with notes on accents later.

Code for text for Romanian letters.

To get the sounds, use Google translate or Duolingo.com Romanian.

In an emergency

The government website advises:If you need emergency medical assistance during your trip, dial 112 and ask for an ambulance.

If you’re visiting Romania you should get a free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) before leaving the UK.  If you don’t have your EHIC with you or you’ve lost it, you can call the Department of Health Overseas Healthcare Team (+44 191 218 1999) to get a Provisional Replacement Certificate. 

More From
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/romania
www.romaniatourism.com
http://wikitravel.org/en/Romania
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g294457-Activities-Romania.html

Author Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.

French words on menus

French - English
baguette - bread shaped like a large sausage, up to the size of a forearm, with crisp hard outside, white centre full of holes, goes dry quickly
bain marie - double boiler, water underneath not touching food or liquid above, used for melting chocolate, from the name Mary
casserole - stew or stew pot
consommé - thin soup or broth
crudité - crude or raw vegetables, often cut up
rsvp - responded s'il vous plait literally reply if you please
velouté - white sauce, stock from chicken fish or veal, thickened, sometimes with cream or butter, frothy soup, known as one of the 'mother' sauces

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and author

ART Assumption Pathway Restaurant

Problem
Where to find a cheap, quick meal? Where to find a catering college restaurant?

Answers
In Singapore just across from Cashew MRT station on the Downtown line you'll see the Assumption Pathway School, a Catholic institution started decades ago as the sign on the interior wall tells you. The school is run for those not able to attend mainstream schools and includes a restaurant as well as a bakery department underneath.

The restaurant is open Monday to Friday in term time, for lunch from 12-3 and for tea.

Story
We went there for the second time in January 2017. We had tried to phone but got an answering machine. When we arrived at the gate to sign in the security guard assured us that the restaurant was open. The restaurant is large and we had no problem getting a table as late as 1.45.

We were seated straight away and given the menu. The set meal consisted of a starter - mushroom soup, a main course (four choices) and a dessert. The vertical triangular information display on the table says they aim to welcome you with a smile and to deal with you within one minute.

We ordered our meal immediately because it was late for lunch and we could see straight away that we did not want the sandwich nor the vegetarian option and we wanted one of each of the other two options. However, the disadvantage of ordering straight away was that we had no time to check out any drinks.

Hot bread, a steamed white bun with a sweet glaze, came with a pat of salted butter to melt on top. I really liked the fact that the bread was hot, and the sweet glaze. My companion was less enthusiastic and said it was like a McDonalds bun.

We tried two different dishes, fish, and boneless chicken. The chicken came with mushrooms in sauce. Both meals included carrots and mashed potato. The fish was good, tasty with a nice sauce.

The chicken was fine, a kind of pate of lumps pressed together, good for me as I hate fighting to get chicken off the bone and I do not want to upset my delicate teeth nor fillings on a chicken bone.

I like mashed potatoes. I thought the carrots were too hard but my companion loves crunchy vegetables and thought they were good. (You can't please everybody.)

Highlight of the meal was the dessert. Ostensibly a little cup cake, with a scattering of walnuts. This was the one dish of the three which had a design. Also the little cake contained ground walnuts which matched the walnut pieces on the plate.

Coffee or tea was included. The filter coffee came up with hot milk in a mini-jug and wrapped white or brown sugar sachets.

A three course lunch is quite filling. They keep the same menu for about three months. The main course has four choices, although one is only 'a sandwich'. If it's the sandwich shown on the deli counter, it's more like a subway roll than a triangular sandwich. I wonder whether the sandwich can be heated. Not that you want hot food in Singapore.

Afterwards I looked at the take away counter next to the till. I spent a dollar on a crumble cake. I could have bought pineapple rolls in a plastic container, a traditional Chinese New Year delicacy, for S$20 (twenty Singapore dollars).

The room is large and bright. With season decorations. Toilets at the back through an automatically open door with a push button on the wall.

You walk in through the school cafe with benches. Then up a flight of stairs. Not for the disabled. The place seems geared up for the mentally challenged but not for anybody physically challenged. There may be another way up, but it is not obvious.

Notice the herbs growing in troughs outside the front door of the restaurant. I missed them on the way in but noticed them on my way out. The herbs are labelled with their names.

Who Or What Is This Place Most Suitable For?
Budget meal. Fast meal. Supporting local, Catholic school.

Who or What Is This Place Least Suitable For?
Anybody who can't cope with stairs and wants an obvious, nearby lift.
Anybody who wants to sit and linger over lunch.

Tips
They say last orders at 3 pm. After that you will soon be able to order tea.
In addition to the lunch, you can buy a slice of cake to take away.
You can order cakes including one design of birthday cake with Happy Birthday on it. They require five days' notice for a birthday cake.

ART
Assumption Restaurant For Training
Lunch 12 noon-3 pm. Tea from 3pm to 5 pm (last order at 4.30pm)
30 Cashew Road, Singapore 679697
The ART tel +65 6892 6187 (during operating hours)
APS tel +65 6879 3900 (during office hours)
Website http://www.aps,edu.sg/theart
Facebook https://www.facebook.com?APStheART
email the.art.aps@gmail.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Books on Amazon and lulu.com

(Photos being added shortly.)