Text: The Menu

The word menu means:

• a list of dishes served in this restaurant;

• The list of dishes and vines with prices. Sometimes it is called bill of fare. It is usually printed in the form of a card and each guest receives a copy of the menu. In popular fast food restaurants there are one or two big menus on blackboards.

The types of menus:

There are four basic types of menus:

1. a la carte menu (“according to the card”) – allows the customer to choose the number and type of dishes. It has a list of all the dishes, arranged in courses and each dish has its price. The dishes are “cooked to order”, so the guests must wait a little until the dish is ready, and then the dish is served to the guests.

2. table d’hote menu (“host’s table”) – offers a limited choice of dishes. Three or four dishes are offered in each course and the guest pays a fixed price for the whole menu. It uses in “business lunch”.

3. carte du jour (“card of the day”) – the dishes are served on this day only.

4. cycle menu – it is a group of menus, which are repeated in a certain cycle. It usually uses in hospitals, on airlines and in work canteens. The dishes in the main course are new every day.

Answer the questions.

1.What are the main course dishes?

2.What is the French name for a thin soup?

3.What is the French name for a thick soup?

4.Which course on a menu do guests usually choose first?

5.What can be served for dessert?

6.What is a la carte menu?

7.What is a table d’hote menu?

8.What does carte du jour mean in English?

9.Where is cycle menu usually used?

7 Variant

1. Поставьте предложения в Present Indefinite или Present Continuous.

a) It is six o’clock. In the evening, the children usually (to do) their homework, but this evening, they (to play) computer games.

b) His grandmother always (to wake) him up.

c) Ann (to write ) letter at the moment.

2. Поставьте предложения в Past Indefinite и сделайте вопросительную и отрицательную формы.

a) They (to leave) their friends in the forest.

b) The teacher (to give) the homework.

c) Mary (to have) many friends.

3. Поставьте предложения в Present Continuous и сделайте вопросительную и отрицательную формы.

a) My brother (to study) English here.

b) She (to listen) to the radio now.

c) The teacher (to ask) the students.

4. Напишите общий вопрос и специальные вопросы (who?, What, When? Where? и т.д.) к следующим предложениям.

a) My uncle watches TV in the evening.

b) They are playing tennis now.

c) Ann bought a new book yesterday.

Read and translate the text

Text: At the restaurant

Usually I have dinner at home but last Sunday my friend invited me to have dinner at the restaurant. When we came in the headwaiter showed us to the ta­ble. We sat down at the table and the waiter gave us the menu. The table was al­ready set for dinner. There was a white table-cloth on the table, plates, spoons, knives and forks on it. In the middle of the table there was a dish with white and brown bread, a cruet-set with a salt-cellar and pots for pepper and mustard.

We decided to begin with some kind of appetizer or hors-d’oeuvre. My friend ordered clear chicken soup with noodles and I chose cabbage soup with small meat pies.

For the second course there was a wide choice of dishes: fried fish and chips, pancakes with salmon, scallops fried in vegetable oil, veal cutlets, pork chops with fried potatoes, steak and grilled chicken. For the second course the waiter suggested the specialty of the restaurant - pan-fried veal chops with spring onions.

For dessert we decided to take vanilla ice cream, coffee and apple pie. Everything was very tasty and the service was good. The waiter brought us a bill. We paid the bill and left the restaurant.

Answer the questions.

1.When did my friend invite me to have dinner?

2.Was the table laid for dinner already?

3.What was there on the table?

4.What was there in the middle of the table?

5.What did we decide to begin dinner with?

6.What did my friend order?

7.What was on the menu for the second course?

8.What did the waiter suggest us for the second course?

9.What did we decide to take for dessert?