Script:
Ordering dishes in a Chinese restaurant
| (Mr. Lin has just got two promising customers at a trade fair. After the fair, Mr. Lin takes these two customers to dinner in a Chinese restaurant. While Mr. Rashid is a Muslim, Mr. Hart is a vegetarian. Now they walk into a restaurant. The waitress greets them.) | |
| Waitress: | Good evening, sirs. Welcome to our restaurant. |
| Mr. Lin: | Good evening. |
| Waitress: | Do you have a reservation? |
| Mr. Lin: | Yes, the name is Lin Qiang. |
| Waitress: | Let me see ... Oh, yes, we've been expecting you, Mr. Lin. Please come this way. (She shows them to a table.) |
| Waitress: | Is this table all right? |
| Mr. Lin: | Oh, terrific! It's by the window, and quiet too. It's exactly what I want because we've got a lot to discuss. Thank you, miss. |
| Waitress: | Not at all. Please make yourselves comfortable. I'll be back with the menus and the tea. (She returns with menus and the tea. She pours tea for them.) |
| Mr. Rashid: | Thanks. |
| Waitress: | Please excuse me for a while. I'll be right back to take your order. (Lin and Rashid are reading the menus. After a while, the waitress returns.) |
| Waitress: | Are you ready to order now, sirs? |
| Mr. Rashid: | Sorry, we're still looking at the menu. |
| Mr. Lin: | Waitress, you see, my guest Mr. Rashid is a Muslim, so he doesn't eat pork, and Mr. Hart is a vegetarian. Could you recommend something for us? |
| Waitress: | Certainly. How about fish for Mr. Rashid? Our Sweet and Sour Fish is very popular with our customers. You can see it here on the menu ... (showing a picture on the menu to Mr. Rashid) |
| Mr. Rashid: | Er, ... It looks good. |
| Waitress: | It tastes good, too. Believe me! |
| Mr. Rashid: | Fine, I'll take it, then. |
| Waitress: | OK, Sweet and Sour Fish. (The Waitress writes down on a small notebook.) |
| Waitress: | Anything else? |
| Mr. Rashid: | Some vegetables please, but I'd like to leave the choice to the other two gentlemen. |
| Waitress: | All right. Mr. Hart, do you care for bean curd? |
| Mr. Hart: | Oh, yes. It's very nutritious. |
| Waitress: | Yes, and it's delicious, too. Bean Curd en Casserole is one of our specialties. Would you like to try it? |
| Mr. Hart: | Good. |
| Waitress: | Bean Curd en Casserole. (The Waitress notes down the order again.) |
| Waitress: | As for vegetables, we've got a choice of mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, chestnuts, bamboo shoots, carrots, potatoes ... |
| Mr. Hart: | I'd like to have mushrooms and bamboo shoots, please. By the way, please don't go easy on garlic. |
| Waitress: | No problem. Mushrooms and bamboo shoots. (The Waitress notes down the order.) |
| Waitress: | And yourself, Mr. Lin? |
| Mr. Lin: | Sichuan Chicken Cube-lets please. |
| Waitress: | And what to follow? |
| Mr. Lin: | That's it for now. |
| Waitress: | OK. Would you like something to drink? |
| Mr. Lin: | Mr. Rashid, Mr. Hart, what would you like to drink? |
| Mr. Rashid: | Orange juice please. |
| Mr. Hart: | The same here. |
| Mr. Lin: | OK, orange juice for three, please. |
| Waitress: | Very well, sir. You've ordered one Sweet and Sour Fish, one Bean Curd en Casserole, one Mushroom, one Bamboo Shoots, one Sichuan Chicken Cube-lets and three orange juices. Please wait a moment. I'll bring them straight away. |
| Mr. Lin: | Thanks. |
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