Learn Hardcore Chinese: Zhè jiā fàndiàn de yú hé cài dōu hěn xīnxiān. - The fish and dishes in this restaurant are all very fresh.

鱼和菜都新鲜。 – grammatically possible but can sound abrupt or contrastive, like “(They are) indeed fresh.”
鱼和菜都很新鲜。 – smooth, natural; default way to state a description.

If you want really very strong:

非常新鲜, 特别新鲜, 超级新鲜 etc.

So: 很新鲜 ≈ “(are) fresh” / “(quite) fresh” in normal conversation.

What exactly does 都 (dōu) do here? Is it “both” or “all”? Is it necessary?

都 means “both” or “all”, depending on how many things you’re talking about.

Here:

鱼和菜都很新鲜。
→ “The fish and the vegetables are both very fresh.”

Function of 都:

It takes everything before it as a set and says “all/both of them” share the same property.

Is it necessary?

鱼和菜很新鲜。 – “The fish and vegetables are fresh.” (still understandable)
鱼和菜都很新鲜。 – emphasizes that each of them is fresh (both, not just one).

In natural speech, 都 is very common in this pattern when you want to stress “both/all of them.”

Where should 都 go in the sentence? Can I move it somewhere else?

都 goes after the subject(s) it refers to and before the verb/adjective phrase.

Correct:

这家饭店的鱼和菜都很新鲜。
鱼和菜都很新鲜。

Incorrect:

✗ 这家饭店的都鱼和菜很新鲜。
✗ 这家饭店的鱼和菜很都新鲜。

General rule:

[Subject / the items you’re talking about] + 都 + [rest of the predicate]

Examples:

我们都喜欢吃中国菜。 – We all like to eat Chinese food.
这些菜都很贵。 – These dishes are all expensive.

Can I leave out 很 and just say 都新鲜?

You can, but it changes the feel a bit.

鱼和菜都新鲜。
This is grammatically okay, but without 很 it can sound:
- more emphatic / contrastive (e.g. “(They are) indeed fresh,” maybe correcting someone), or
- more formal/written in some contexts.
鱼和菜都很新鲜。
This is the most natural, neutral way to state the fact in everyday speech.

So learners are usually safer including 很 before descriptive adjectives.

Why is 和 (hé) used between 鱼 and 菜? How is it different from 跟 (gēn) or 及 (jí)?

Here 和 simply means “and” between nouns:

鱼和菜 – fish and vegetables.

Differences:

和 – the most common neutral “and” for linking nouns:
- 我和他 – me and him.
跟 – often means “with,” but can also mean “and” in spoken Chinese:
- 我跟他去。 – I go with him.
- 我跟他都是学生。 – He and I are both students.
及 – more formal, used in written language:
- 鱼及菜都很新鲜。 – Very formal/literary.

In this everyday sentence, 和 is the natural choice.

Note: 和 is generally not used to join whole clauses the same way English “and” does; it mainly joins words/phrases.

Why is there no measure word before 鱼 and 菜 here?

Because 鱼 and 菜 are used in a general / uncountable sense, not as specific counted items.

In a restaurant context:

鱼 = “fish dishes” / “fish (as food)”
菜 = “vegetable dishes” / “dishes” in general

So:

这家饭店的鱼和菜都很新鲜。
→ “The fish and (vegetable) dishes at this restaurant are very fresh.”

If you wanted to talk about specific plates or pieces, you’d use measure words:

一条鱼 – one whole fish
一盘菜 – one plate of a dish/vegetable
几个菜 – a few dishes

Here the focus is on the general quality of their fish and veggies, so no measure word is needed.

Does 饭店 (fàndiàn) mean “restaurant” or “hotel”? I’ve seen both.

饭店 can mean restaurant or hotel, depending on context and region.

Historically / in many textbooks:

饭店 = restaurant
But in many places (especially in mainland China), 饭店 can also mean:
a hotel (often mid-range or above), e.g. 北京饭店 – Beijing Hotel.

In this sentence:

Because we’re talking about 鱼和菜都很新鲜 (fish and dishes being fresh), it’s clearly “restaurant”.

Other common words:

餐厅 (cāntīng) – dining room / restaurant (slightly more formal or generic)
饭馆 (fànguǎn) – restaurant, often smaller/local

Can I drop 的 and say 这家饭店鱼和菜都很新鲜?

Normally, no—that sounds unnatural.

Standard, natural:
这家饭店的鱼和菜都很新鲜。

Dropping 的 here makes 这家饭店鱼和菜 look like a single long noun phrase without proper linkage, which is awkward.

的 is needed to clearly mark that:

鱼和菜 belong to / are associated with 这家饭店.

There are cases where modifiers go before a noun without 的, but those are usually:

very short/close-knit combinations, like:
- 中国菜 – Chinese food
- 北京人 – Beijinger
  Here, 这家饭店
  - 鱼和菜 is too long/complex to comfortably drop 的.

If I only want to say “The fish is fresh” or “The vegetables are fresh,” how do I change the sentence?

Just remove the part you don’t need and keep the pattern:

这家饭店的鱼很新鲜。
– The fish at this restaurant is very fresh.
这家饭店的菜很新鲜。
– The (vegetable) dishes at this restaurant are very fresh.

If the restaurant is already clear from context, you can also say:

鱼很新鲜。 – The fish is very fresh.
菜很新鲜。 – The vegetables/dishes are very fresh.

In this sentence, does 菜 (cài) mean “vegetables” or “dishes”?

It can mean either, and context decides.

Common meanings of 菜:

Vegetables:
- 多吃菜。 – Eat more vegetables.
Dishes (prepared food):
- 这道菜很好吃。 – This dish is delicious.
- 点几个菜。 – Order a few dishes.

In a restaurant context, 鱼和菜 usually implies:

鱼 – fish dishes
菜 – vegetable dishes / other dishes

So the sentence is basically saying:

“The fish (dishes) and (other) dishes/vegetable dishes here are all very fresh.”

Why isn’t 都 translated explicitly in English? The English version just says “The fish and vegetables are very fresh.”

English often doesn’t need a separate word for “both/all” when the meaning is already clear from context.

Chinese:

鱼和菜都很新鲜。
Literally: “Fish and vegetables both very fresh.”

English natural translations:

“The fish and vegetables are very fresh.”
Optionally: “The fish and the vegetables are both very fresh.”

Both are correct. Adding “both” in English just makes the parallelism more explicit, like 都 does in Chinese, but it’s not always required for a natural-sounding sentence.