Ordering Food in Cantonese: A Practical Guide for Hong Kong Restaurants and Cha Chaan Tengs

Hong Kong food culture rewards you the moment you can say a few words. You do not need full sentences to order well — a handful of short, high-frequency phrases will carry you through a cha chaan teng breakfast, a dim sum lunch and a late-night bowl of noodles.

This guide focuses on the Cantonese actually used across the counter in Hong Kong. Each phrase comes with Jyutping so you can check the tones, and Traditional Chinese so you can point at it if your pronunciation needs backup. Tones are marked with numbers from 1 to 6: 1 is high and flat, 4 is low and falling, 6 is low and flat.

Start with 唔該 (m4 goi1)

唔該 (m4 goi1) is the workhorse of ordering. It means "please", "excuse me" and "thank you for a service" all at once. You use it to flag down a server, to hand over your order, and to thank someone for bringing your food.

• 唔該，落單。 (m4 goi1, lok6 daan1) — Excuse me, I'd like to order.
• 唔該。 (m4 goi1) — Excuse me. Said while catching someone's eye or raising a hand.

Separately, 多謝 (do1 ze6) is the thank-you for a gift or a favour rather than a service. If a friend buys you lunch, that is 多謝. If a waiter brings your noodles, that is 唔該.

The four verbs that do most of the work

Once you can handle these, ordering becomes a game of assembly.

• 要 (jiu3) — want / I'll have
• 唔要 (m4 jiu3) — don't want
• 加 (gaa1) — add
• 走 (zau2) — literally "leave", but in food orders it means "without" or "hold the"

So a complete order can be as short as:

唔該，要一杯凍檸茶，走甜。 m4 goi1, jiu3 jat1 bui1 dung3 ning4 caa4, zau2 tim1. One iced lemon tea please, no sugar.

Notice the shape: 唔該 + 要 + quantity + item + adjustment. Almost everything in this article follows that pattern.

Counting what you order

Cantonese uses measure words, and food has its own set. You will hear these constantly.

The number goes before the measure word: 一杯 (jat1 bui1) one cup, 兩碗 (loeng5 wun2) two bowls, 三個 (saam1 go3) three of something. If you are unsure, 個 (go3) is the safe default and usually understood.

You can also skip counting altogether and just say the item. Servers will often confirm the quantity with you.

Ordering drinks in a cha chaan teng

The drink menu is where Hong Kong Cantonese gets wonderfully precise. Instead of long explanations, staff use single characters as dials for ice, sugar and milk.

The classic orders

• 熱奶茶 (jit6 naai5 caa4) — hot milk tea
• 凍奶茶 (dung3 naai5 caa4) — iced milk tea
• 凍檸茶 (dung3 ning4 caa4) — iced lemon tea
• 咖啡 (gaa3 fe1) — coffee
• 檸水 (ning4 seoi2) — lemon water
• 好立克 / 阿華田 (hou2 laap6 hak1 / o1 waa4 tin4) — Horlicks and Ovaltine, served hot or iced at most cha chaan tengs

Adjusting your drink

• 走冰 (zau2 bing1) — no ice
• 少冰 (siu2 bing1) — less ice
• 走甜 (zau2 tim1) — no sugar
• 少甜 (siu2 tim1) — less sugar
• 走奶 (zau2 naai5) — no milk
• 飛沙走奶 (fei1 saa1 zau2 naai5) — no sugar, no milk. Classic cha chaan teng slang: 沙 is short for 砂糖 (sugar), so 飛沙 "flies the sugar" away.

A full iced milk tea order might sound like this:

唔該，凍奶茶，少甜少冰。 m4 goi1, dung3 naai5 caa4, siu2 tim1 siu2 bing1. Iced milk tea please, less sugar, less ice.

The adjustment words go at the end. You do not need 要 or 一杯 if the context is obvious, though adding them never hurts.

Dim sum: 點心 (dim2 sam1)

At a traditional dim sum restaurant, ordering often happens on paper rather than aloud. You fill in quantities on a 點心紙 (dim2 sam1 zi2), a printed order card, and the kitchen stamps it when the dishes are delivered. Many newer restaurants have swapped the card for a QR code or tablet, but the dish names are the same.

Even so, these names are worth knowing, both to read the card and to ask a server directly:

• 蝦餃 (haa1 gaau2) — shrimp dumplings
• 燒賣 (siu1 maai2) — pork and shrimp siu mai
• 叉燒包 (caa1 siu1 baau1) — barbecue pork buns
• 腸粉 (coeng2 fan2) — rice noodle rolls
• 鳳爪 (fung6 zaau2) — chicken feet
• 蛋撻 (daan6 taat1) — egg tart
• 菠蘿包 (bo1 lo4 baau1) — pineapple bun, so called for its crackled top rather than any fruit

To ask for a basket of something directly:

唔該，要一籠蝦餃。 m4 goi1, jiu3 jat1 lung4 haa1 gaau2. One basket of shrimp dumplings please.

For tea, 一壺 (jat1 wu4) is a pot. When it runs low, you don't even need to speak: lift the lid and rest it ajar on the pot, and a server will come and top it up with hot water. If you'd rather ask, say 唔該，加水 (m4 goi1, gaa1 seoi2), "more water please".

Asking about the menu

These three questions cover most situations:

• 呢個係咩嚟嘅？ (ni1 go3 hai6 me1 lai4 ge3?) — What is this?
• 有冇辣嘅？ (jau5 mou5 laat6 ge3?) — Is there anything spicy?
• 幾多錢？ (gei2 do1 cin2?) — How much is it?

Pointing works perfectly well with any of these. 呢個 (ni1 go3) means "this one", 嗰個 (go2 go3) means "that one", so you can pair the gesture with the phrase.

If you have dietary needs, keep it simple and direct:

• 唔要蔥。 (m4 jiu3 cung1) — No spring onion.
• 走青。 (zau2 ceng1) — No spring onion or coriander. Hong Kong shorthand for the chopped green garnish.
• 唔辣。 (m4 laat6) — Not spicy.
• 我食齋。 (ngo5 sik6 zaai1) — I'm vegetarian.

堂食 or 外賣?

Near the start of an order, staff may ask whether you are eating in or taking away.

• 堂食 (tong4 sik6) — eat in
• 外賣 (ngoi6 maai6) — takeaway

A short answer is enough: 堂食，唔該 (tong4 sik6, m4 goi1) or 外賣，唔該 (ngoi6 maai6, m4 goi1).

Getting the bill

When you are done, catch someone's attention:

唔該，埋單。 m4 goi1, maai4 daan1. The bill please.

埋單 (maai4 daan1) is the everyday Hong Kong phrase for settling up. You may also see 結賬 (git3 zoeng3) written down; it means the same thing but sounds more formal out loud.

At a cha chaan teng you will usually pay at the counter on the way out rather than at the table, so 埋單 at the table is really a request for the tally.

A short practice routine

Pick one order and rehearse it until it comes out automatically. Something like:

唔該，要一碗雲吞麵，唔要蔥，凍檸茶少甜。 m4 goi1, jiu3 jat1 wun2 wan4 tan1 min6, m4 jiu3 cung1, dung3 ning4 caa4 siu2 tim1. One bowl of wonton noodles please, no spring onion, and an iced lemon tea with less sugar.

That single sentence contains the whole grammar of ordering: 唔該 to open, 要 to request, a measure word, a dish, a removal with 唔要 or 走, and a drink with an adjustment. Swap the nouns and you can order most of Hong Kong.

The other half of the skill is listening. Servers speak fast, abbreviate freely and often confirm by repeating your order back. Do not worry about catching every word — if you hear your dish name and 唔該, you are almost certainly on track.