La carta or el menú del día?
In a Spanish restaurant you can order from la carta — the full list of dishes, each with its own price — or take el menú del día, the set lunch menu served on weekdays: a first course, a second course and a dessert, usually with bread and a drink, all for one price. In a restaurant la carta is the menu; anywhere else it is a letter.
| Can you bring me the menu, please? | ¿Me trae la carta, por favor? |
| The set lunch menu costs twelve euros. | El menú del día cuesta doce euros. |
| The set lunch menu has a first course, a second course and dessert. | El menú del día tiene primero, segundo y postre. |
Ordering: de primero, de segundo, de postre
The waiter asks ¿Qué van a tomar? and you answer course by course, with de in front of each one:
| course | Spanish | example |
|---|---|---|
| starter | de primero | de primero, sopa |
| main course | de segundo | de segundo, ternera |
| dessert | de postre | de postre, fruta |
| What are you going to have? As a starter, salad. | ¿Qué van a tomar? De primero, ensalada. |
| For the main course, beef with potatoes. | De segundo, ternera con patatas. |
| And for dessert? A chocolate ice cream. | ¿Y de postre? Un helado de chocolate. |
Meat and seafood
La ternera is beef from young cattle, el chorizo a red pork sausage made with paprika, el atún tuna and las gambas prawns. El marisco is seafood as a whole, and it stays singular: mucho marisco, a lot of seafood.
| I want some prawns with garlic. | Quiero unas gambas con ajo. |
| On the menu there is fish and seafood. | En la carta hay pescado y marisco. |
| A chorizo sandwich, please. | Un bocadillo de chorizo, por favor. |
Talking about taste
El sabor is the taste or flavor of food. Picante means spicy — and most Spanish food is not spicy at all. Delicioso agrees with the food it describes: deliciosa, deliciosos, deliciosas. With ¡qué…! it makes a compliment for the cook.
| I don't like spicy food. | No me gusta la comida picante. |
| How delicious the soup is! | ¡Qué deliciosa está la sopa! |
| I like the taste of the chorizo. | Me gusta el sabor del chorizo. |
