Everything you need to talk about food, cooking and eating out naturally in English, cooking methods, describing taste, and restaurant phrases, with exam practice.
📖 Reading time: ~9 minutes✅ Reviewed by a CELTA-qualified teacher🎯 Covers B1 to C1
Food is a genuinely universal conversation topic, and English has a surprisingly rich, specific vocabulary for describing how food is cooked, how it tastes, and the whole experience of eating out. This guide moves well beyond basic food names to the words that let you describe cooking methods, taste and texture precisely, and navigate a restaurant with real confidence.
2. Cooking Methods
Word
Meaning
to boil
to cook in bubbling water
to bake
to cook in an oven using dry heat, typically for bread, cakes
to roast
to cook meat or vegetables in an oven with fat/oil, usually at high heat
to fry
to cook in hot oil
to grill
to cook using direct heat from above or below
to steam
to cook using the vapour from boiling water, without direct contact
to simmer
to cook gently in liquid just below boiling point
to stir-fry
to fry quickly over high heat while stirring constantly
💡
Roast vs bake — what's the difference?
Both use an oven, but "roast" is generally used for meat and vegetables (roast chicken, roast potatoes), while "bake" is used for bread, cakes and dishes with batter or dough. This distinction confuses many learners since some languages use one word for both.
3. Kitchen & Preparation Vocabulary
Word
Meaning
ingredient
one of the individual foods used in a recipe
to chop / to slice / to dice
to cut into pieces / thin flat pieces / small cubes
to peel
to remove the skin from fruit or vegetables
to season
to add salt, pepper or spices to improve flavour
to marinate
to soak food in a flavoured liquid before cooking
to whisk
to beat quickly, usually eggs or cream, to add air
leftovers
food remaining after a meal, saved for later
4. Describing Taste & Texture
Word
Meaning
savoury
salty or spicy, not sweet
bland
lacking flavour, needing more seasoning
bitter
a sharp, often unpleasant taste, like dark chocolate or coffee
rich
heavy, often with a lot of fat, cream or strong flavour
crispy / crunchy
firm and making a sound when bitten
tender
soft and easy to cut or chew, especially meat
stale
no longer fresh, especially bread
5. Eating Out — Restaurant Vocabulary
Phrase
Meaning
Could I see the menu, please?
A standard way to ask for the menu
I'd like to order...
A polite way to state your choice
Could we get the bill, please?
British English standard phrase (American English: "check")
Is service included?
Asking whether the tip is already added to the bill
I'm allergic to...
Essential phrase for informing staff of a food allergy
Could I have this to go?
Requesting takeaway/takeout
6. Common Idioms About Food
Idiom
Meaning
a piece of cake
something very easy
to spill the beans
to reveal a secret
to bring home the bacon
to earn money for the family
to have a lot on your plate
to have many things to deal with
the icing on the cake
an extra good thing added to an already good situation
to cry over spilt milk
to worry about something that's already happened and can't be changed
7. Common Mistakes
❌ Incorrect
✅ Correct
Why
The food has good taste.
The food tastes good.
"Taste" as a linking verb takes an adjective directly, not "has good taste" (which describes a person's judgement, not food).
I cooked the meat in the oven with fat, it was roasted.
I roasted the meat in the oven.
"Roast" is already a verb; no need for "cooked... it was roasted."
Can I have the check?
Could we get the bill, please? (British English)
"Check" is the American English term; British English uses "bill."
This bread is old.
This bread is stale.
"Stale" is the specific, natural word for bread/food that's no longer fresh, "old" sounds unnatural here.
8. Exercises
A. Gap Fill — Complete correctly (8 questions)
1. I usually ___ vegetables instead of frying them. (steam/roast)
2. This coffee is quite ___, I need more sugar. (bitter/savoury)
3. Could we get the ___, please? (British English for the payment)
4. This bread is ___, it's three days old. (stale/rich)
5. I ___ the vegetables into small pieces before cooking. (chop)
6. This sauce needs more ___, it tastes bland. (season)
7. "To reveal a secret" is to ___ the beans.
8. I'm ___ to peanuts, so I can't eat this dish. (allergic)
Show Answers (A)
1. steam 2. bitter 3. bill 4. stale 5. chopped 6. seasoning 7. spill 8. allergic
B. Multiple Choice (5 questions)
1. Cooking meat in an oven with fat is called... (a) roasting (b) steaming
2. "Lacking flavour" describes food that is... (a) bland (b) crispy
3. "Something very easy" is described as... (a) a piece of cake (b) icing on the cake
4. British English for the restaurant payment is the... (a) bill (b) check
5. "To have many things to deal with" is to have a lot on your... (a) plate (b) hands
Show Answers (B)
1.a 2.a 3.a 4.a 5.a
C. Error Correction (3 questions)
1. The food has good taste.
2. Can I have the check? (in a British restaurant)
3. This bread is old.
Show Answers (C)
1. The food tastes good. 2. Could we get the bill, please? 3. This bread is stale.
D. Freer Practice — Write Your Own Sentences (2 tasks)
1. Describe your favourite dish, using at least three vocabulary words from this page.
2. Write a short restaurant dialogue using at least two phrases from the "Eating Out" section.
Show Answers (D)
Model answers will vary. Examples: 1. "My favourite dish is roast chicken with crispy potatoes, it's rich and full of flavour." 2. "Could I see the menu, please?" "Of course. Are you ready to order?" "Yes, I'd like the pasta, please."
9. Mini Quiz
10. Exam Focus — Cambridge, IELTS, SELT
Exam
How This Is Tested
Sample Question
Cambridge B1 Preliminary / B2 First
Food and eating out is common in Listening dialogues and Speaking Part 1.
A listening task set in a restaurant, ordering food.
IELTS Speaking
Food is a common Part 1 topic and often appears in Part 2 cue cards.
"Describe your favourite meal." "How has your diet changed over the years?"
Trinity GESE/ISE (SELT)
Food and daily eating habits are a natural, common conversation topic.
"What do you usually eat for dinner?" "Do you enjoy cooking?"
11. Frequently Asked Questions
Both use an oven, but "roast" is generally used for meat and vegetables, while "bake" is used for bread, cakes and dishes with batter or dough.
"Chop" means cutting into general pieces; "slice" means cutting into thin, flat pieces; "dice" means cutting into small, even cubes.
"Bill" is standard British English for the restaurant payment; "check" is the American English term.
"Bland" means lacking flavour altogether; "bitter" describes a specific sharp, often unpleasant taste, like dark chocolate or black coffee.
"Could we get the bill, please?" is the standard, polite British English phrase.
Yes — food, cooking and eating habits are common, natural conversation topics that come up frequently in the interview.
Reading a vocabulary list takes you part of the way. Real fluency comes from using these words in conversation, with a tutor who corrects you immediately. Book a free level test with Elite Language Solutions and find out exactly where you are.